Chapter 9 - DECISIONS AND DOUBTS

𝑩𝑬𝑳𝑳𝑨 𝑷𝑶𝑽

"Two weeks' time," Ace had invited me to his place to discuss his mom and my mom setting our wedding in just two weeks from now, which seemed too soon to me. "Ace, I feel it's too soon. I mean, I haven't gotten many things done yet, and I—"

Before I could continue, Ace took my hand and said, "It's all right, okay? My mother and your mother will help all the way, so just relax, okay."

I couldn't relax now because his hands were holding mine, and my heart was beating really fast. I needed to focus. I said to myself before looking at him and saying, "You're right, you're right. Well, I also came here for another reason, to talk to you about—"

He looked at me and said, "Okay, let's talk about it then, 𝑴𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆."

Damn it, he's trying to get me soaked now. Focus, focus, right. "Ace, it's about my job interview. You still haven't gotten back to me yet, and I know that your family paid for all the expenses for the engagement party, but I still need a job to be able to provide for my family so we can help out with the wedding too, so—"

Ace didn't only pay off my parents' debt but also helped revive my parents' company, and I really felt too much in debt to him, and I had no job to pay him back. I had been looking down to avoid his eyes because I thought maybe my interview wasn't really great, and maybe I didn't get the job, or maybe I did, that's why I needed him to clear everything up right now, because I also had to meet up with my girls—it's a girls' night out.

Ace had said with his soft but husky voice, "Look at me, 𝑩𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒂."

I tried to look, but I couldn't. He said, "Bella, please 𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆."

And with that, his hands gently raised my face up just enough for our eyes to meet, then he said, "I sent you your job acceptance the next day after your interview to your email. Did you not get it?"

Damn it, my emails—I hadn't opened them since the whole marriage thing began. I felt so embarrassed right now.

My silence said it all, and he began to laugh—a cute one that I couldn't get mad at him for—but I did say, "Stop, Ace, don't laugh at me. It's all your fault I've been busy with our engagement and marriage planning that I forgot to check my email, and why send it to my email? You could have just told me, meanie."

I pouted my lips. He was still laughing and said, "Okay, okay, I'll stop laughing at you *laughs_ at you, okay? Now, stop pouting, okay."

I still didn't stop, and when he finally stopped laughing, he said, "Okay, I'm sorry. I won't laugh anymore."

I was still pouting, and he took my face in his hand and came even closer this time and said, "If you don't stop right now, I might not be able to hold myself from kissing you."

Then and there, I could swear my face was like that of a tomato. Before I could reply, he whispered to me, saying, "Can I 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖?"

I nodded my head yes, but he came closer again and said, "No, darling, I need you to tell me if I can. 𝑼𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆."

Fuck, I said it. I said it loud and clear, "Yes, Ace, please kiss me."

And within a second, our lips were colliding. He kissed me so passionately and gently. When we pulled away, he said, "You make me want to kiss you every minute."

I said to him, "And so do you."

We looked at each other for a while, and then he said, "About the other things, you don't have to worry about any expenses. I'm the one who asked you to agree to marry me, so it's only fair if I paid for everything, love, okay?"

Before I could say anything more, my phone rang, and it was Riley calling. Then it hit me—I was late for our girls' night. I picked up the call and told her I was on my way. I looked at Ace again and was still about to say something when he said, "Forget it, okay? Go, your friends are waiting. We can always talk later, okay, 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆? Bye."

He kissed my forehead and walked me to my car and said goodbye. Damn it, he wins again, and in a sexy way, always.

A few minutes later, I was at Riley's house. Her boyfriend was out of town, so she had all the house to herself. Stella was already there when I got here, and she said, "Wow, wow, why are you late, girl? You promised to be on time, and I'm here before you, and I was late."

I said, "I'm sorry. I was with Ace, and—"

Like always, the two of them said, "Aww, that's so cute."

Riley came closer to me and said, "So, have you guys done it yet?"

I blushed so bad and said, "No, we haven't."

And after I had just said that, Stella handed Riley 50 bucks. I said, "You guys made a bet, really?" Riley said, "Of course we did. Stella thought you guys had done it, but I had a feeling you guys haven't." I laughed and smiled at them and said, "Yeah, you win this time, Riley."

Stella said, "Well, I'm just glad I lost. I don't think I'm ready for that kind of news yet."

We all laughed, and I said, "Well, let's just focus on the wedding for now, okay?"

Riley nodded and said, "Okay, deal. So, tell us, how's the wedding planning going?"

I sighed and said, "It's been crazy. Our moms are taking over, and I feel like I'm losing control."

Stella said, "Well, maybe that's a good thing. You can just sit back and let them handle it."

I shook my head and said, "I don't know, guys. I feel like I'm just going through the motions. I'm not even sure if I'm ready for this."

Riley put her arm around me and said, "Bella, you're going to be fine. You're just stressed out right now. Once the wedding is over, you'll feel better."

I nodded, hoping she was right.

We spent the rest of the night chatting and laughing, and for a few hours, I forgot about my worries.

But as the night came to an end, and I drove home, my mind started racing again.

Two weeks. That's all I had left before I became Mrs. Ace.

Was I ready?.

As I pulled into my driveway, I couldn't shake off the feeling of uncertainty. I took a deep breath and stepped out of the car, trying to clear my mind.

As I walked towards the front door, I noticed a figure waiting for me on the porch. It was Ace.

"Hey," he said, smiling at me. "I was waiting for you."

I smiled back, feeling a flutter in my chest. "Hey."

Ace stood up and walked towards me, his eyes locked on mine. "How was girls' night?" he asked, his voice low and husky.

I shrugged, feeling a little self-conscious. "It was good. We just hung out and talked."

Ace nodded, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "And did you tell them about us?" he asked, his voice teasing.

I blushed, feeling a little embarrassed. "Maybe a little."

Ace chuckled and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close. "I'm glad you're sharing our news with your friends," he said, his voice sincere.

I smiled, feeling a little more at ease. "Yeah, me too."

We stood there for a moment, wrapped in each other's arms. Then Ace spoke up again.

"Hey, I was thinking... since we're getting married in two weeks, maybe we should start making some decisions about our future."

I looked up at him, feeling a little curious. "What kind of decisions?" I asked.

Ace smiled, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "Well, for starters... where do you want to live after we get married?,in my apartment or mansion "

"Well I think staying in your mansion well be better cause that's where most real married couples do " I said .

He said " ok then, how about we go out on Just a dinner date tomorrow night and discuss a little more, I want to know everything about you, I want us to grow more and more in this our marriage arrangement so that one day it can really become a real one. "

And just like that he did it again rescued me from my thoughts and fears just like he always does.

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Author note

Thank you for reading another chapter of clumsy b, please vote and comment, thank you 💕💕