just for a bloody contract | Roman Godfrey au

ch. 18 • not so good at dates

I stayed in my room and studied the rest of the day. At night, Shelley came into my room and told me she and Letha would be spending the day together tomorrow and asked if I wanted to join. I declined and told her I had some errands to run in the morning.

The next morning, the empty house seemed emptier and bigger. I hated how big this mansion was. Way too much space for only three people. I ate breakfast alone then went out to work on that medicine that I was unfortunately going to give to Pryce. Then, I came home and spent my time laying on my bed and closing my eyes. I was too awake for a nap, but still needed to rest my eyes.

Then, I heard a knock on my door. Shelley wasn't around. Comway?

"Come in," I said. My feet were still dangling from the bed, and I had my eyes closed.

"Uh, it's me."

I opened one eye and saw Roman in a black leather jacket and his hair gelled but still soft. Gorgeous as always.

"Sorry about yesterday. I just value this company a lot, and if anything happened I don't know what I'd do. Like I even agreed to marry you for this company. You know?"

"Apology accepted," I said, closing my eyes again. Goodness, couldn't he apologize a little more normally. But I mean, at least he said sorry. More than enough coming from Roman Godfrey.

"Yeah, now that that's out of the way, I had a question," Roman said, clearing his voice. "Will you, I don't know. Are you busy tonight?"

"I guess not," I said, opening my eyes and getting up. "Why?"

"Well, I was thinking if you aren't busy maybe we could go out to dinner."

My eyes lit up." You mean like on a date?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure. A date?" he said, pursing his lips. What was he so coy for? Was I married to the same guy who could have any girl he possibly wanted?

I tried not to sound too excited. " Uh yeah sure. That sounds good. Ready by 7?"

"7" Roman nodded.

I closed my eyes again and heard my bedroom door close.

He asked me on a date!! Roman Godfrey probably never went on a date. It was probably always meet somewhere and go straight to bed. I was excited at how this was going to turn out. Sure it was a fake marriage, but this date wasn't fake. The little past teenage girl in me jumped up and down. I got up and started to scan my wardrobe for something to wear.

I think I spent a whole hour trying to decide on what to wear. Jeans were too casual. A long dress was too formal. I decided to wear a knee-length floral print dress. I decided to wear earrings and slip on my wedding ring. I didn't know how I felt about wearing it, but we were on a date. And it was a public place. Therefore, people should know we were "happily married".

Roman waited for me in the foyer. He wore a dark purple button-down shirt and black pants. His hair was still gelled down. He smiled at me. It felt like a genuine smile.

"You look pretty," he said looking at me.

"Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself," I said back. I didn't really know what else to say.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"I made a reservation at one of the places downtown," Roman answered.

When we got to the venue, I think my mouth fell open. I should've known Roman would choose a place as opulent as the mansion we lived in. The ambiance was dark, and there weren't a lot of people around. A waiter took us to the deck. It overlooked the sleeping town.

"Roman, this is beautiful. Thank you," I said.

"You're welcome," he smiled quickly and sat us both down.

We ordered our food pretty much right away. I ordered classic pasta. He ordered some French thing I've never heard of. He wasn't talking, so I just looked at the cars going here and there. There weren't any stars in the sky either. There really wasn't much to look at.

Thankfully, our food arrived. I thanked Roman again and began to eat. The pasta was honestly one of the best things I've ever had. But that was expected considering how expensive this place was. Roman really outdid himself.

This was more awkward than I thought. We had nothing to talk about. In the middle, Roman was just like "Fuck it, who was I kidding. This isn't me," and excused himself to go to the restroom.

I stayed behind and began savoring the pasta. I should've known Roman wasn't the romantic type, and I should've just considered this a Roman-paying-for-something-unnecessarily-expensive venture. I was disappointed but not necessarily at Roman. What could he do. He wasn't used to this at all.

When he returned, I smiled at him. "Hey, it's alright. I haven't been on a lot of dates, so it's not like I know how this is supposed to go either. Just eat your food."

"I'm not hungry," Roman replied.

"That's $25!" I looked at Roman, wide-eyed. Until I remembered he was a billionaire. He was about to say it too, but I beat him to it and said "Yeah, I know, I know."

The rest of dinner was pretty much silent. I enjoyed my own food and half of Roman's. He really did lose his appetite. It was a good date, though. Not what he wanted, but it would do. We had food together. That was something.

After dinner, I thought we were going home, but Roman drove the other way.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"You'll see," Roman said. "Patience."

"Ugh, fine," I say, throwing my head back so it touched on the headrest.