Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 265: I.L.Y

Anne wasn’t too surprised, if him holding that pillow hadn’t been any indication that it was what he intended to do, but what she wondered was...

"Why?"

His gaze flicked to hers for a moment, and then looked away again taking his time before answering.

if Anne didn’t know any better, she would think he was taking this much time to reply because he was thinking of something to say.

"Because..." He began then hesitated again trailing off, Anne who was waiting to hear his reason for deciding to sleep in her room urged on,

"Because?"

"Because there’s a fucking roach in my room. Don’t ask me how it got there, I have no clue." He suddenly uttered these words without a ripple in his expression.

"A what?" Anne said with a chuckle in her voice.

"A cockroach Annelise, don’t tell me you’ve never seen one before." He said to her as if berating her for not understanding the first time.

"So you mean to tell me you ran away from your room just because you found a single cockroach."

Anne noticed how he seemed to go rigid when she said that. He averted her gaze and turned to the bed, pulling back the blankets as he said.

"I wouldn’t exactly say ran away because of a roach Annelise, the heater in my room is faulty, and it’s a cold night. Do you want me to sleep in a cold room with a roach to keep me company?"

Anne held back a smile, almost letting out a chuckle.

It seemed to her like he was making excuses, he didn’t leave his room because of a roach or the cold, he might just want to spend the night in her room. Anne thought, which made her smile widen further and she suddenly felt a need to tease him.

"Okay, and the entire manor doesn’t have any other rooms for you to sleep in tonight?" Anne asked, further pushing the topic because somehow, it was quite fun making that speechless look show on his face.

He sat on the bed, making himself comfortable. Lounging on the bed in a relaxed yet assertive way, slightly reclined against the pillows. He looked quite alluring with his hair falling over his face, and his eyes fixed on her as if he wanted to charm her.

Anne knew it was just a way to deliberately stall before he could think of what to say next.

"There’s a roach in my room, that means the whole house is infested, I don’t trust any other room to not have one of those and your room is the safest place." He remarked in a matter of factly tone.

"Really? What makes my room safe? There might be roaches here too if they’re all over the manor." Anne said folding her arms.

"If there was a single roach in here, you would have screamed by now. Take it as me protecting you from them. I don’t sleep in a cold room and you don’t sleep alone with insects for company. Win-win." He said with a shrug like someone negotiating a business deal yet being magnanimous at the same time.

It was very obvious he was telling blatant lies. Anne was sure there weren’t any cockroaches, nor was the heater in his room spoiled.

Did he think she was a four year old to not see anything wrong with his mismatched story?

"Then we’ll go to butler Jones, I’m sure he can find insect repellent to take out the roaches that way you can go back to your room." Anne said then began to head towards the door as if she was really going to the butler but he quickly stopped her.

"It’s late, leave the butler be, he’ll sort it out tomorrow."

Anne could have continued to push his buttons if she wanted to but she decided to let it go.

If he wanted to sleep in her room, couldn’t he just say that? Tsk. Such a big man, but he was actually making excuses. Anne relented, deciding not to make it too difficult for him.

"Fine."

As she said this, she caught a ghost of a smile on his lips with a hidden sheen on excitement in his eyes that couldn’t fully be concealed.

Who would have thought that Andrew Sterling had this child-like and quite adorable side to him?

Anne headed to the other side of the bed and laid down on her back, but she felt the bed dip beside her when he laid on his side facing her.

She could feel his gaze so intently on her making her feel self conscious till she turned on her side to face him as well.

The space between them was very minimal, where she could feel his breath lightly tickling her skin.

Anne moved to turn of the lights, plunging the room into a deep blue darkness a slight illumination coming from the moon through the windows casting a warm glow over everything.

"You were going to help me Annelise, have you forgotten about that already?" He suddenly asked and it took Anne a few seconds to realize what he was talking about.

Was he talking about that time at the terrace when she had said she would help him heal from his old pain.

"I didn’t forget about that." She whispered.

"Then shouldn’t you come a little closer to me? You’re too far away, for someone who wants to help me forget the bad things that happened before."

Her lips fell open but she didn’t know what to say, she was left wordless at his remark.

What did her distance have to do with her helping him forget?

And if she hadn’t persistently tried to make him open up, would he have opened up that much for her to offer to help him heal from the past?

Why did he act like the weather sometimes, so unpredictable.

She scooted a bit closer, the distance between them getting smaller.

"You can do a lot better than that." He said, looking down with displeasure at the remaining space between them.

Anne wanted to say something but changed her mind, clicked her tongue then scooted closer, so close that she tucked her arms over and around his waist and the warmth of his body suddenly engulfed her, then she laid on his chest while hugging him.

Remembering how he often hugged her when they shared a bed, Anne decided to take the lead and hug him this time.

Her taking the initiative seemed to have shocked him because she felt him go rigid.

"Is this fine or can I do even better?" Anne asked with a triumphant smile on her face. It felt quite nice to have silenced him like this.

Him trying to find excuses to get close to her like this felt quite sweet too. She was just beginning to relax in his arms when she heard his deep voice as he uttered,

"Not enough."

"Huh?" Anne glanced up, her chin on his hard chest as she looked up at him. "This still isn’t enough?"

She asked.

She was hugging him already how come it wasn’t enough?

He suddenly grabbed the back of her head drawing her closer as he pressed a warm lingering kiss to her mouth then pulled away abruptly leaving her stunned.

"You learned one good habit, let’s add another one." He said with a light teasing note to his voice as he lightly tapped her nose before adding, "You learned to hug your husband to sleep, learn to kiss him goodnight too. He really likes it."

His words were light whispers trailing into her ears making her feel like she was in a dream. His arms closed around her body making her lay back against him while she still looked stunned, and sleep had certainly deserted her now while her heart was filled with infinite sweetness.

Something completely unexpected awaited her the next day.

Anne’s morning began like any other, with soft sunlight filtering in through her windows, and a quiet smile on her face.

She woke up to an empty bed, Andrew was no longer next to her, but throughout the night she had felt the comfort of being in his arms, even if she subconsciously moved away in her sleep she would feel him pull her back against him, not once allowing a single distance between them.

There was a quiet possessiveness in his actions that made her heart soar and flutter as if she had a thousand butterflies frolicking in her stomach, it was a delightful feeling that changed the very rhythm of her heartbeat.

Maybe it was because she had been awake for quite a while, replaying his words in her head over and over again but she felt somewhat sluggish this morning.

Anne quickly got ready knowing it was a work day then went down for breakfast. When she was leaving the manor, butler Jones suddenly stepped in front of her stopping her with a brilliant smile on his face.

"Mistress, please come with me."

"What’s wrong butler Jones?" Anne asked wondering what could be the matter, she knew the butler couldn’t stop her from going to work if it wasn’t anything important.

"Nothing is wrong mistress, I just need to deliver master’s message to you."

Andrew? What message did he leave for her?

Curious about this Anne nodded and followed the butler who took her towards a descending flight of stairs that took the to a grand auto garage.

The roll up door to the garage slowly rose up as butler Jones pressed a remote, he beckoned Anne to follow him.

Walking into the expansive garage, Anne was met with several displays of luxury vehicles here and there. The vast, gleaming space smelled like leather and wax, it felt like a museum of luxury vehicles housing a collection of Andrew’s luxury cars, sleek black sedans, Italian sports cars, and a formidable looking SUV. They all sat under soft lights looking majestic.

Among all the cars, three distinct looking cars stood out, displayed in the very center of the garage side by side. All three vehicles had enormous, lavish red bows attached to their hoods as if the whole car had been wrapped like a gift.

On the left was a sleek and modern, champagne colored car. A graceful Aston Martin convertible that looked like it was curated and designed for a female.

The one in the middle was an elegant looking Range Rover Velar with a glossy emerald color that made it look like a vehicle designed for a modern day queen.

The third was a majestically timeless cherry red Porsche 911, classic and fierce with a soft and feminine exterior.

Anne looked at the butler curiously, her mind struggling to catch up and he came forward handing her three velvet lined boxes.

"Master asked me to give you these. He says they’re yours." The butler gestured to all three cars and the small boxes he held to her.

She was taken aback.

"Mi...mine?" She stammered, her heart beginning to beat in a strange frantic rhythm. "You must be mistaken...why would he give me..."

"Master prepared these for you as a gift. Please take your keys mistress." Butler Jones said naturally.

Those three set of cars were infinitely elaborate. Anne refrained from taking the boxes butler Jones was offering her, they were too elaborate of a gift.

Butler Jones noticed her expression and quickly said,

"Before you think about anything mistress, please open these boxes and see for yourself first, then you can make a decision."

The butler pushed the small boxes into her arms and in order to understand what butler Jones meant, Anne opened the first box.

It held a car key for the Aston Martin, with a unique looking key chain, attached to which there was a cute little pink and plush teddy bear key holder. The teddy bear had a single golden letter on it’s stomach like an insignia made upon it.

A vivid looking letter ’I’

The second box held the same thing, a key for the Range Rover with a teddy bear that had the golden letter,

’L’

Anne saw a pattern in those two keys and her heart stopped beating for a moment. Those letters felt like an indirect message Andrew wanted to tell her.

Her hands shook slightly as she opened the third box, it was the exact same thing except this time with the letter,

’Y’

Butler Jones said that Andrew had left a message for her, these three letters...

I.L.Y

Her eyes suddenly went wide, something crashed over her like a tidal wave of emotion so powerful it stole the air from her lungs.