I looked down at Freya, and I genuinely enjoyed the bright red color spreading across her cheeks. She was always so incredibly confident when she argued with me. She never hesitated to insult my arrogant attitude or challenge my strict rules. Yet, a simple comment about the bathroom glass completely destroyed her usual composure.
"I was not staring at you," Freya lied quickly. Her voice lacked its usual strong authority, and she avoided looking me directly in the eyes. "I was simply looking at the modern architecture of the bathroom, because I have never seen a glass wall inside a house before."
I chuckled quietly, and the deep sound vibrated inside my bare chest. I did not believe her weak excuse at all, and I knew she was deeply embarrassed by her own actions.
"You are a very terrible liar, Freya," I told her while I maintained my close physical proximity. "You can admit that you were looking at me. We are legally married, so you are entirely allowed to observe your new husband."
She glared at me, and her frustration was highly evident. She lifted her hands and placed her palms flat against my bare chest. Her skin felt very warm against my body. She pushed me backward with a surprising amount of physical force, forcing me to take a single step away from her knees.
She quickly stood up from the mattress, and she grabbed her small canvas toiletry bag alongside her simple cotton pajamas.
"I am going to take my shower right now, and you need to put on some clothing before I return to this room," she instructed me firmly without waiting for my response.
She walked rapidly across the bedroom floor, and she stepped inside the tiled bathroom. She pulled the heavy wooden door shut, and I heard the metal lock click loudly into place. She was intentionally ensuring I could not enter the space.
I stood alone in the center of the massive room, and a genuine smile appeared on my face for the first time in several months. I walked over to my large wooden dresser, and I opened the second drawer to retrieve my comfortable evening clothing. I pulled out a clean grey t-shirt and a pair of dark cotton sweatpants.
I pulled the soft fabric over my head, and I took a moment to analyze my own unusual behavior. I had expected to fight with her tonight, but her flustered reaction was surprisingly endearing. I realized I was actively experiencing a severe physical attraction toward my temporary wife.
This realization was highly problematic for my strictly organized life. I had always dated wealthy women who understood the superficial rules of our elite social circle. Nadia had demanded expensive jewelry, constant public attention, and luxurious vacations. Nadia only cared about increasing her own financial status, and she gladly sold my corporate secrets to achieve her greedy goals.
Freya was entirely different from the women in my past. She did not care about my massive bank accounts or my corporate titles. She only cared about practical survival, honest work, and protecting the people she loved. She possessed a natural, fierce beauty that did not require heavy cosmetics or expensive designer dresses to capture my attention.
I thought about the press conference earlier that morning. She had stood in front of forty aggressive journalists, and she had delivered a perfectly convincing lie to protect my company. She had faced my ambitious cousin Aiden without showing a single ounce of fear. She was incredibly strong, and that specific strength was highly attractive to my logical mind.
I pushed my legs into the dark sweatpants, and I tied the cotton string at my waist. I knew I needed to control my growing attraction immediately. Our relationship was strictly a corporate transaction, and I could not allow my physical desires to ruin the legal arrangement. I needed to maintain a professional distance, but her defiant personality constantly challenged my rigid boundaries.
I picked up my damp white towel from the floor, and I placed the fabric onto a nearby chair. I turned my head toward the bathroom to see if she had started the shower water yet.
I stopped moving completely, and my eyes widened in absolute shock.
The thick frosted mist on the bathroom glass wall had completely vanished. The large panes of glass were entirely transparent, and the bright overhead lights inside the bathroom illuminated the space perfectly.
Freya was standing near the marble counter, and her back was turned toward the bedroom. She was completely unaware that the privacy feature had deactivated. She must have accidentally pressed the manual override button on the electronic control panel when she tried to turn on the water.
She reached her hands down to the hem of her white t-shirt, and she pulled the cotton fabric over her head. She dropped the shirt onto the floor, exposing her bare back and her slender shoulders to my direct view.
My heart started pounding violently against my ribs, and my mouth went completely dry. A sudden, intense wave of physical arousal hit my body so forcefully that my hands actually shook.
I knew I should look away immediately. Observing her without her explicit permission was a severe violation of her privacy, and I respected her far too much to behave inappropriately. I needed to turn my head toward the window, or I needed to knock loudly on the glass wall to warn her about the mechanical failure.
However, my body completely refused to follow the logical commands from my brain. I stood frozen in the center of the bedroom, entirely captivated by her natural form.
She reached toward the metal button of her denim jeans, and my breathing became incredibly shallow. The physical tension inside my body was almost painful. I fought a desperate internal battle between my basic human decency and my overwhelming physical desire to continue watching her undress.
Fortunately, the electronic operating system saved me from making a terrible ethical mistake. The privacy glass operated on a strict safety timer when the manual override button was engaged.
A quiet electronic beep echoed faintly through the walls, and the clear glass instantly turned a cloudy, solid white color. The thick mist returned completely, blocking my view entirely just before she removed her pants.
I released a massive, shaky breath, and my knees suddenly felt incredibly weak. I walked two steps forward and collapsed onto the edge of the large mattress.
I rested my elbows on my knees, and I buried my face in my hands.
My entire body was coated in a thin layer of nervous sweat, and my pulse raced erratically inside my neck. I tried to force my breathing back to a normal, steady pace, but the visual image of her bare skin remained firmly planted in my mind.
I had successfully negotiated multi-billion dollar corporate mergers without breaking a sweat, yet a few seconds of accidental transparency had completely shattered my physical composure. I felt a deep ache of arousal, and I squeezed my eyes shut to block out the bright lights of the bedroom.
I needed to calm down before she finished her shower. I could not let her see how deeply her physical presence affected me, because she would use that information against me during our future arguments. I spent the next ten minutes actively trying to slow my heart rate. I focused my thoughts on boring corporate spreadsheets and legal documents, but the distraction technique was highly ineffective tonight.
I heard the sound of the shower water finally turn off, and I sat up slightly straighter on the edge of the bed. I wiped the sweat from my forehead, but I could feel a heavy flush of heat lingering across my face and my neck.
I listened to her moving around inside the bathroom. The wooden door eventually unlocked, and the brass handle turned slowly.
Freya stepped out of the bathroom, and she walked into the main bedroom. She was wearing a pair of loose grey cotton pants and a long-sleeved blue t-shirt. She held a small white towel in her hands, and she was actively rubbing the excess water from her dark hair.
She looked entirely relaxed and comfortable, which created a massive contrast to my own highly agitated state.
I tried to arrange my facial features into my standard expression of cold indifference, but my body refused to cooperate. My chest was still rising and falling rapidly, and my hands were gripping the fabric of my sweatpants very tightly.
Freya stopped walking toward her suitcase, and she lowered the towel from her head. She looked directly at me sitting on the edge of the mattress.
She immediately noticed my unusual physical condition, and her dark eyebrows pulled together in complete confusion. She stepped slightly closer to the center of the room to inspect my face carefully.
She dropped the damp towel from her hair entirely, letting the fabric fall against her shoulder. She tilted her head slightly, and she voiced her confusion clearly.
"Why is your face so red?" She asked me.