The Royal Contract

"What do you think of that woman?" Jacky asked him as she drank her fourth champagne for the night, pointing to a stunning woman in her black gown, laughing at whatever the man beside her was saying.

She had been entertaining Lance with her personally invented game of CSI, Character Sensory Investigation. He had to guess the personality of a target of her choosing using only his five senses.

He could use all or any of his senses to assess the person. Even predict what action she would do next if he felt confident enough with his ability to read people.

"Oh, let me see." He followed the line of her fingers and found a beautiful woman at the other end. 

He could see that she looked elegant and stood confidently in her gown. Her figure indicated that she frequented a gym and followed a regular regimen. Not an athlete since her muscles were not firm enough.

The way she controlled her laugh told him that she attended a boarding school. They were usually refined and had to act according to a certain standard. Her parents raised her well to fit in with society.

"So?" She nagged at him, impatiently waiting for his observation. "What do you think?" She continued, trying to catch his attention as he kept staring at the women.

Suddenly she felt a pang of jealousy from the way he was scrutinizing the girl. A thought occurred in her mind. What if he found that girl a more suitable date for him?

Jacky turned her attention to the woman. She did not recognize her. But from her point of view, the woman could easily pass as a member of the royal family. If not, she would bet that she belonged to the upper class.

"Well, she could be a model, an actress, or someone in the fashion scene." He expressed his partial assessment. "Or maybe a daughter of a wealthy businessman." He added.

Well, in truth, he had not much experienced in reading women in general. The only women he had scrutinized in his entire life had been the handful he had a relationship with, including his mother and the woman next to him.

He glanced again in the direction of the woman before saying his final thoughts. "I think..." But he never finished the sentence when she interrupted him.

"You know what I think." She slightly snapped at him, unable to control her emotion. She was not mad at him but more to herself because she was starting to act irrationally.

She was through with this game. Not the game they were currently playing but the one that Lance started. She was doing well, as she tried to forget about him.

Then, he walked back into her life, acting like he belonged as he weaved his way back into her heart. Then, here she was waiting and hoping that something good would come out of this.

"What?" Lance was suddenly curious about her sudden change of mood. "What did I do?" He moved closer to her and stared into her eyes.

He searched his brain if he had something wrong or said a word that might have offended her. But his mind turned out blank. He could not come up with an explanation for her current state.

"Nothing." She quickly backed away, looking away from him, finding her behavior unwarranted. She had no right to feel that way since he did not promise her anything from the very start.

"No. I don't buy that." He used his hand to gently forced her to look at him. "Jacky, something happened. But I am not a mind reader. I can't tell what you are thinking." He pushed the hair that blocked her eyes away from her face, wanting to see what she might be thinking.

"I said it was nothing. I just remembered something. But if you'll excuse me, I need to leave." She stood up from the table they were occupying. But before she could go far, he stopped her.

He stood up from his seat and held her arm, preventing her from running away. "What are you doing? Why are you running away?" He whispered as he stepped closer to her.

"I'm not running. I am facing the truth." The words escaped her lips before she could stop them.

"What truth?" He asked, not having any idea of what was going through in that head of hers, but he had a feeling that it had something to do with him. "Please do enlighten me." He stood over her, but she still hid her face from him.

"I am just fooling myself that you like me." She finally admitted as she looked up at his face and stared into his eyes. But she gave up, unable to hold his gaze. It was like it was boring to her soul and digging into her secrets.

She quickly looked away, afraid of what he might find. She was already feeling embarrassed by her actions. There was no need to add to her frustration.

"What if I do?" He asked, not letting go of her. When she failed to respond, he moved closer and enveloped her in his arms. As if they were also dancing with the slow beat that echoed in the room. 

"What will you do if I like you?" Lance asked again, whispering it through her hair as he nuzzled his face closer to her, burying her face into his body from the way their body intertwined.

She knew she should have run. She should have shoved Lance away in the first chance she got. Instead, she rested her cheeks on his chest, hearing the fast beating of his heartbeat. It sounded like it matched the way she felt.

"Do you?" She eventually asked, knowing she was not moving away anytime soon from the way he was holding her firmly in his arms.

She could feel her hands shaking. It would be a miracle if Lance did not feel it too. But her biggest fear was how she would respond to his answer. That was if he said no and most especially if it was yes.

"No." He answered her, sensing her reaction to what he said. He could not read her face since she was still hiding it from him, but he could feel her body language.

"Oh!" The disappointment in her reply was very evident in her tone. "That is good." She slightly stuttered. "Because…" Her mind was blank, unable to form a coherent sentence as a response to him.

He quickly moved his right hand and placed it on her chin, forcing her face to look up to him. "No, I don't like you." He repeated his answer earlier.

"You already said that." She answered defiantly, not wanting to feel humiliated anymore.

But before she could add to her response, he lowered his face to her and attacked her lips with a kiss that was full of passion. A longing that he had been yearning for since he had a taste of her lips earlier.

He pulled away for a bit, trying to stare at her dazed eyes. "I think I really... really... really... like you." He enunciated every word, making sure that she understood it.

When she only nodded, unable to form any words, let alone a sentence, he resorted to kissing her again to get his answers to his unspoken question.

The kiss earlier affected him, and he guaranteed that she felt it too.. He only wanted to unravel the truth behind that kiss.