No asking personal questions

Quinn saw those long slender fingers clench the pen tightly and she suddenly thought of something. Why was the feeling this man gave her so familiar?

She suddenly recalled someone stubbornly staring at her when she asked to borrow a pen. After two minutes of 'you look at me and I look at you', he finally relented.

She finished drawing her not so impressive art that could only be described as that done by a toddler before giving it back but he wouldn't take it back. The kid had then proceeded to say that she should keep it. Thinking it was a gift Quinn was very happy but it turned out that he disliked things other people used. When she realised she had been disliked Quinn didn't take that so well.

Quinn didn't think she would meet someone who had the same behaviour in the same lifetime. If her lackey hadn't passed a long time ago she would have thought it was him. Leif pointed at a pencil in the pen holder on the desk. Quinn wanted to ask why she couldn't use his but even she knew she shouldn't mess with him too much otherwise with Leif's temper she might truly go missing.

She picked a pencil and it was sharpened but seeing that she had been out of school for a very long time she pressed too hard and the tip broke.

The pointy broken piece rolled on the white paper and the two of them stared at it, each with their own thoughts. Quinn picked up the broken piece and was about to place it on the coffee table but she felt Leif's piercing gaze and didn't dare do it.

She threw the piece in the bin and turned to Leif asking, "Can I have another one? Mine is broken."

Leif, "..."

"Just sharpen it," he said and Quinn noticed there was a rotating pencil sharpener on the desk.

"Oh," she said and walked over to sharpen the pencil under Leif's glare. Maybe it was because she was nervous about being watched by this big bad wolf that she couldn't figure out how it worked for a while.

Unable to bear it anymore Leif gnashed his teeth before asking, "Are you doing it on purpose?"

Quinn, "..."

'No, but I kind of wish I was,' said Quinn to herself but she showed an apologetic smile.

Leif pinched the space between his brows in annoyance. He suddenly had an epiphany. It was as though Quinn was deliberately trying to sabotage the agreement.

It was a smart plan really. Annoy him enough and he would take the initiative to pull back the agreement. Unfortunately for her, she didn't know he was now Quinn-proof. He had developed a strong resistance to her behaviour from the short time they interacted. Besides, it had to be her and no one else. Yes, she bullied him but she was the only person he could at least tolerate being in his space.

"If your plan is to annoy me into not signing the contract then you are wrong. There is nothing you can do that can foil this plan," he said and Quinn was suddenly enlightened. Why didn't she think of that?

Seeing the familiar sparkle in her eyes like she was cooking a terrible plan, Leif couldn't help but shut it down.

"I just told you it won't work so don't bother trying," he said and watched the slight quirk at the corner of her lips fall.

He was the most revered and feared person in the country yet this person showed little to no respect for him at all. It was like they were back at school and he was that pitiful teenager again.

Quinn crossed out kissing and studied the rest of the happily married couple's duties. With both parties satisfied they moved on to the next item on the agenda.

"Can we change the marriage period or that's fixed?" asked Quinn while looking at the twelve months written on the contract.

"No. The old lady should be dead in a year so we should maintain it for a year," he replied while carefully reading through the conditions of the contract.

"You seem not to like her," she casually said and he suddenly raised his head before saying,

"Another thing. No asking personal questions," he said and Quinn rubbed the back of her neck asking,

"Then what questions can be regarded as personal? For some taking two sugars in their coffee is personal. I need to know the type of boundaries we have to set."

"The question just now was personal. Any questions on my personal feelings about family members are personal. Anything you wouldn't want me to ask you should be considered personal. The same applies to me," he said and Quinn nodded her head.

"Then how about information about your family members? Is that off-limits? If it is then wouldn't I have a hard time when we go to family gatherings?"

"This is why I said my personal feelings about family members are off limits but their information isn't. You will be provided with the necessary information when the time comes," he said and nodded in understanding.

After a short silence, Leif raised his head and asked, "Are you satisfied with the compensation upon termination? I included three apartments and a beach house on top of the money," he said and Quinn thought seriously for a moment before saying,

"I take the apartments in monetary form and will keep the beachfront property."

Quinn wasn't at all shy or polite about it. She wasn't marrying him for true love but for the benefits and protection so she accepted it.

Leif expected as such thus he made a note of it on the contract. While he was doing that Quinn suddenly added, "Can you protect us from Mrs Bach even after the contract is over? I really don't want to be entangled with her.

"Sure. That's no problem. If that's all then I will have someone amend it and we can sign it today."