Chapter twenty-nine : Everly

It was already an hour and I was still tossing and turning in the bed. My mind was racing a thousand miles per second, taking in every scenario of what might happen if I were to accept or reject the idea. And till now the odds were in the favour of accepting it. I jackknifed and looked at the bedside clock, it was almost 3 AM. I got out of the bed and headed out. Thankfully Lucifer yielded to my request of leaving a light on, I walked to his room and knocked on the door lightly. I tried harder the next time and a few minutes later the door creaked open. Lucifer stood there half asleep with his bed hair but his T-shirt was inside out. His eyes adjusted to the light and he murmured something incomprehensible. "Everly," he said in his deep groggy voice, "You need something?"

"Yes, I wanted to tell you that I'm in." He looked at me with a look like I was an idiot. So I elaborated, "I agree to your plan."

"Oh," he murmured. Good he finally understood.

"So good night and sorry for disturbing you." And I headed back to my room. Now I could sleep well.

***

It was already eleven when I woke. Last night I had told Lucifer that I was in his plan with full determination but now with the sun up my confidence was fading. I washed my face and headed downstairs, I had to return to my apartment today. As I got out I saw Lucifer standing in the living room surrounded by boxes.

"What is this all about?" I asked when I got down. He turned to me, he was in a pair of dark jeans and a denim shirt with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his hair were still damp from his shower. "You're finally up," he smiled, "Anyway this your stuff." He motioned around himself.

"My stuff?" I asked horrified, he nodded and picked up a few stacked boxes.

"Your books and other things are already in the study. I wanted to keep these in your room but the door was locked." He headed up the stairs.

"But why? Weren't I supposed to return to my apartment today?" I asked.

"That was if you refused but you didn't, so from today onwards you'll be staying here for the coming months." He disappeared inside the room.

Wait, I didn't have any idea about this. Oh man was I right making this decision. I looked at sole box lying on the table and took it upstairs. He was already out of the room when I started up the the stairs, "Lucifer, I didn't know about this part. You know the staying here part."

"Oh come on Everly, we talked about it yesterday, remember?" He took the box from me and I followed him. Yes I did remember now that he mentioned it. "Freshen up we can talk over breakfast." He said and left the room. What had I gotten myself into? Damn my stupid memory.

I locked the door and rummaged through the boxes. I took out a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt and then grabbing the other essentials I headed to bathroom. I had to talk to him but first I needed a shower.

When I got down Lucifer was on phone, so I gave myself a chance to look around. Last night I was too mad to even take a glance and now that I looked at it, it was beautiful and huge. The house was modernly designed with hard wooden flooring. It wasn't colorful and mostly consisted of black, grey, blue and white. And to my surprise the house did have a homey feel to it. "Want to eat outside?" He asked. I looked outside on the terrace and weather was great. It was already fall and a gentle breeze was blowing so I agreed.

As we settled down on the table and began eating Lucifer spoke, "Everly last night you surprised me when you agreed on my plan. I want to be completely honest with you, I told you earlier that I like you so let me tell you that I'll be taking complete advantage of this situation. I really want you to like me too and now that you've agreed there's no way I'm letting you step back. And if you happen to have any second thoughts about it just throw them out of the window I'll not entertain them."

I swallowed, there it goes. No chance of getting out, maybe I should've taken a little more time. No. I shook my head I was not someone who regretted their decision. I made that decision myself and I'll honour it. "Okay," I nodded.

"Good," he smiled.

"Shall we get down to business?" Lucifer asked. I was sitting on one the chairs near the jacuzzi. Yes his house had freaking jacuzzi as big as the one back at the hotel. He settled down on the chair beside mine. I turned in my chair to face him. "You already get the gist of this right?" He asked.

I nodded.

"I consulted with my PR head and we came to a conclusion that for the coming five months, you'll be staying here with me. We'll act as a couple for the outside world. You'll have to attend some events with me and appear in the public from time to time. And we'll be visiting my family next Sunday."

"Family? You're family is involved too? I cannot lie to your family Lucifer. What if I they catch up with our act?" I said.

"You're not lying to them Everly in anyway, and they won't know anything about us."

"But what if they do, I don't want to hurt them."

"Everly there's nothing for you to worry about. You will not be hurting them."

"How would you know I'll be the one lying," I huffed.

"I just know, so don't worry. There's one thing I need to ask of you though."

"What?" This was probably the first thing in the conversation that needed my say.

"A wardrobe transformation. It's not that I don't like what you wear but–"

"Yes I completely understand. I know you have a certain reputation to hold in the society." I could agree with him on that, I couldn't just show up at one of those events in a pair of jeans. But there was one problem. "I don't like shopping."

"I guessed that much already. My personal shopper will help you out with everything. So is there anything else you want to ask?"

"Could you tell me about your family?" It was the aspect that interested me the most.

"My family? So I have a sister who's two years younger than me and I have two stepsiblings, my stepsister who's four years younger than me and a stepbrother who's five years younger than me. My stepmother died in an accident three years ago. And then I have the old man. That's it." He smiled.

"And your mother?"

His expression changed in the blink of an eye, long gone was the warmth, "I don't like to talk about her." He said coldly.

I had to change the topic. "How old are you though?" I blurted.

He was surprised at my sudden outburst but chuckled, "I turned 28 a few months back." I'll be 21 in a few months, so he had seven years over me.

"Is there anything else I should prepare for?" I asked.

"You see I'll be trying my best to make you fall for me the whole time. So you better be prepared." He turned to face me.

My face heated up almost immediately, damn I got embarrassed far too easily. I hated it.

"And one more thing," I looked up at him, "since we'll be in a relationship outside, there will be some display of affection. If you understand what I mean." He smirked.

Was he trying to tease me? Even so I kept my composure, "Does that even matter, I mean you go around kissing me every time."

"Kissing? Oh sweet Everly, that is not what you call kissing," he leaned forward and whispered in my ear, "but I'll be glad to show you what a real kiss is."

I pushed him away and covered my ear, "No that's not needed. And PDA is an absolute no." I shouted and he laughed a deep throaty laugh.

Oh god will I be able to survive this? More importantly, will I be able to survive this man?