The Faceless Billionaire Celebrity Wife-Chapter 96: Friends.

Shikera’s hands automatically wrapped around herself as she felt the gust of the cold wind blow against her exposed body, but the warmth of Ethan’s overcoat which was suddenly draped over her made her hands change positions to wrap around his back.

All this was done without breaking the passionate kiss which was gradually escalating into another level as Ethan’s hands travelled across her body. Slowly, he guided her inside the house and locked the door when they were both inside.

Pressing her back against the door, his hand flew across his chest and within a minute, his shirt had been unbuttoned and Shikera could only watch as he threw the innocent cloth on the sofa. Elated that Ethan seemed to understand her wish without having her speak out, Shikera didn’t hesitate to run her hands from his neck downwards and when she was about to get to those abs she had been wanting to run her hands over for some time now...

"Wait! We can’t do this today, Kera. You have to go to work tomorrow and I need to be considerate," Ethan whispered in a deep and husky, desire filled voice.

Shikera gave him a reassuring smile. She didn’t need this little breaks they were having as it was giving her the chance to think twice about the whole thing. And this was something she didn’t want to do, thinking twice.

"It’s alright. I have the day off tomorrow," She answered him, expecting his hovering lips to draw closer to hers but she was shocked when he did the direct opposite.

"What happened? Did you get hurt while working?" To Ethan’s understanding , Shikera had never gotten a weekday off except when she was sick or when she was poisoned by Erica Jordan. And that was why he was worried now, hearing she had a weekday off.

"No, Ethan. It’s actually two days off in preparation for the trip..."

"What trip?" Ethan interrupted her, wanting to get her reassurance as fast as he could so he could continue his unfinished business. He was barely able to hold himself back at this moment.

"Just a trip to the military base camp at the suburbs—"

"Two days off for preparation for a day’s trip? I didn’t know your team leader could be that generous."

He took her hand in his and pulled her up the stairs to his room as he talked, already reassured in his heart that nothing was wrong with her.

"Of course, she can’t. It’s a two weeks trip and not for one day..." Shikera was saying when Ethan stopped dead in his tracks, turning to stare at her with an undecipherable but cold expression on his face.

Shikera stopped too, though she didn’t notice the look on his face as she was busy talking,"... though I had the chance to choose between that and following the president that came to Lucian Rays for his surgery. I can’t travel so I chose the two weeks trip instead."

It was just then that she noticed the decreased temperature in that atmosphere and traced it to the man standing in front of her.

"What’s wrong Ethan?" She asked, her soft voice penetrating the coldness that shrouded around him.

"If I didn’t ask just now, when were you planning to tell me?" he asked, his hand tightening around hers and making Shikera flinch.

"When...? I would have surely told you, probably tomorrow but—"

Ethan sighed out loud, showing that he was finding it hard to withhold his impatience, "Who am I to you, Shikera?"

Frowning at the turn which their conversation just took, Shikera answered, "Of course...you are...Ethan?"

"Just Ethan? No personal relationship whatsoever?" Ethan asked again.

"We do have a personal relationship. Should I say friends...we aren’t dating, right?" As soon as the words fell from her lips, Shikera felt Ethan’s tight grip on her hand loosen.

Knowing she was trailing after him, he walked to the top of the stairs to stand directly under the chandelier before turning to face her.

"Just friends, Shikera? You don’t like me that much yet...I do know that. But i didn’t know it was to the extent where you simply saw me as a friend, and not as a man, not to talk of your husband."

"Ethan..."

"It’s alright," he smiled, and Shikera could sense that familiar eerie feeling. "As we are still officially married though, I’ll have to refuse your joining the trip. It’s just Preston TV, right? You don’t have to worry about being punished."

"Ethan, what are you saying?! Even my father didn’t stop me from working whenever I wanted to," Shikera protested, holding unto his arm to stop him from leaving.

"And I am not your father, Shikera. I am your contracted husband, and maybe...if I loved you, I would have allowed you to do as you wished. But then, we don’t share those kind of feelings so the relationship between us will simply be official and I won’t have to care about your feelings when instructing you—"

Without waiting for him to complete his sentence, Shikera stormed away from his front and towards her room. She slammed the door after herself as she stepped in, while making sure to see that she didn’t lock it. Well, she wanted to pretend she was angry but she didn’t want to lock him out if he finally decided to come into her room and apologize to her. For what? She didn’t know. She just wanted him to be the one to come.

As soon as she got into her room, Shikera went straight into the bathroom and shed his coat and the half torn clothes on the ground.

Draining the cold water which was previously in it to fill with warm water, she poured in her favourite bath bubbles and relaxed in the water to think. That was all she wanted to do, to think.

Her mind went back to earlier in the evening when she had just discussed with Chris, and she recalled the anger she had been feeling then. At that moment, she had wondered if it was her fault that she was sick and if she really couldn’t contribute anything to Ethan’s life if they stayed married, except the burden which was she herself.

She had decided then that it wasn’t her fault, and that was when she decided to seduce Ethan that very night and then get pregnant. She was attracted to him anyway and she knew he was too, so she had thought there should be nothing to stop them anyway. But who knew he would consider her to the extent of thinking about the next day, and one thing would lead to another until he got angry that she was only seeing him as a friend.

Could she dare to see him as more than a friend though? As much as he said he had been attracted to her since four years ago, he had never thought of asking her out until her father brought up the contract marriage which she was sure he gained something from. How then did he expect her to trust him enough to tell him he was more than a friend to her? That for the first time since she could remember, he was the only one who treated her more like an ordinary person than a sick person.

As long as they were in the villa and he was in charge of the kitchen, he always made sure she ate whatever the others ate so she would not feel left out. Even though he hated reporters and she could still see the slight hatred in his eyes whenever she talked about her job, he seemed to already respect her for it and had also helped her in different instances.

She knew she didn’t love him yet but still...she wished she could tell him that he was not an ordinary friend to her. That he was the first person that came to her mind when she fantasized about having a family someday, which she knew would always remain a fantasy; that he was the first person that made her think of taking her ’get pregnant mission’ seriously, as she was also excited for however the process would be.

The sound of her phone ringtone snapped her out of her reverie as she turned to look at the device which was lying on Ethan’s coat that she wore earlier.

Stretching her hand to pick up the phone, she saw that the caller ID was Ruthlyn’s. Wondering why she was calling late at night, Shikera didn’t hesitate to pick the call.

"Ruth?"

"It’s me, Kera. Ethan told me you would be going on a two weeks trip so I wanted to know if you need anything."

Though shocked, Shikera was quick to realize herself. Didn’t he just tell her he would not allow her to go?

"Don’t bother, Ruth. I can pack my stuff myself," she replied.

"It’s no bother. I have to pack for Raymond too, anyway so I can just get yours on the way."

"Alright then—Ah!" Shikera screamed as the phone slipped from her hands into the water.