I Made a Deal with the Devil

CHAPTER 13

Eva immediately felt gooseflesh spreading all over her skin at the light touch of his breath and also coupled with the fact that he had just used her name this time. She whipped her head around, planning to tell him to stop whispering like that at her when he wanted to say something. That was just plain teasing! But the man was already a few steps away and leaving. This damned devil!

Heaving a long sigh, Eva paced back and forth. Her last chance to back out, huh…

…

When Gage returned to the kitchen after an hour, he was already holding the contract in his hand. It was all nicely printed out and bound in a clear folder.

“Alright, I told Mr. Park to wait for another hour.” Gage said as he sat across from Eva. “Well…?? Still no change of mind?” he looked at her and raised an elegant brow.

Eva’s instant reply to him was with a fierce and unrelenting gaze. After staring at him for a while, she opened her mouth.

“No.” Eva answered firmly, and Gage just smiled again.

“Alright. Then why don’t you take a look at this first.” He handed the papers over to her. “I am giving you a month to decide on whether or not you would marry me. And even if you do not accept my main bargain yet, I will still accept Mr. Park’s offer now and give you what you wanted. However, within that one month… I have my own conditions. It’s all written out in there.” He waved his hand at the clear folder that she held and nodded at her, indicating to her that she should have a read.

Eva nodded at him then looked down at the papers in her hand. She was a little bit nervous, but she calmed herself and silently read the contract. She was pleased with what she had read from the content so far. But she knew it was too early for her to celebrate yet. She had not reached the part where the clauses for his conditions were stated yet.

Finally, she reached that most awaited part.
[Condition #1: Party A must present to Party B one kiss every night.]

‘Ka-boom!!’ She could literally hear the explosion that happened in her mind.
Eva felt as though her brain had screeched to a halt again. She lifted her gaze and peeked at him over the edge of the paper. She wanted to ask if he was even serious about this section, but she managed to hold herself back.

However, she had to clarify on this matter. “One kiss… when you mean one kiss…” 
Gage nodded slowly as he kept his avid gaze on her. “I meant it as how it sounded, pet. Just one kiss… every night” he smiled at her devilishly. “It should not be that hard to do, right?”

Eva’s mouth opened and closed a few times, speechless and not being able to make a sound. Only after a few tries, she finally choked out, “You’re saying that you’re not going to do more than just having that one kiss?”

He nodded, his dark eyes gleaming mischievously but mysteriously.

Eva could only take a deep breath and composed herself before dropping her head to continue reading.

[Consequence if Condition #1 is not met: If Party A fails to present Party B with a kiss within one night, punishment will be meted out for Party A.]

Looking at him again, Eva’s brows knitted together before she returned her gaze to the paper.

[Punishment for failing to do Condition #1: Party B will be the one to initiate the kiss. Party B will be allowed to kiss party A however long or whatever way Party B wants. Party A has no right to deny Party B in this punishment.]

WHAT!? Slowly, Eva peeked at him again. Somehow, the more she read through these conditions, the more she wanted to just… What the hell is with these weird conditions?!

‘Calm down Eva.’ Her inner demoness whispered to her, and she could only return her gaze to the paper, knowing that time was ticking and Mr. Park was still waiting for them. 

[Condition #1.1: Party A must not touch Party B while kissing Party B.]

[Consequence if Condition #1.1 is not met: Party A must grant Party B one request. Request is fully up to Party B’s discretion.]

Eva looked at him, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. He was just leisurely sitting there, leaning his chin against his knuckles as he stared at her in an almost innocent manner. Eva wanted to blurt out something, but she bit her tongue and refrained again. She rested her temple on her knuckle and continued reading, covering her face from his view with the paper.

[Condition #2: Party A will be Party B’s bed warmer* every night.]

Eva suddenly choked on her saliva at what she had just read. Her eyes sharpened and narrowed. Her fists clenched and unclenched a few times. She knew that this man would definitely ask for something big in exchange, but she really thought that he would not ask for this. Based on their conversation a little while back, she thought that he did not have such a thought of making her a... damn did she just get tricked by this damned devil? He even said beforehand that he was not keeping her to bed her, right? She was quite sure of what she heard earlier. Then why the hell did he ask for one kiss and no touching if this was his bargain all along?!

She threw him a scornful look and Gage seemed to have immediately understood what was going on in her mind. “Oh, don’t jump to conclusions and get the wrong idea, pet. There’s a footnote there. Read it first.” He even pointed one long and elegant finger toward the bottom of the paper she was holding.

[Footnote: the term ‘bed warmer’ is defined in literal terms.] 

Eva blinked at him owlishly, not quite able to comprehend his words for a few seconds. “What… what!?”