As she walked towards the bathroom her steps paused when she saw a king sized bed covered with rose petals.

'Aaron can't be serious! There's no way I'll share a bed or anything else with that person and especially this marital bed. I will talk to him when he will come.'

Livia walked into the bathroom. Someone had already lighted aroma candles and had filled the tub with warm water and it too was decorated with rose petals.

'No, I am not going to think about anything else. I am just going to relax or else I'll just go crazy by all that has happened today.'

Livia stripped herself free of clothes and entered the bathtub. The aroma from the candles and warm water was so soothing to her aching body and brain that she didn't even realised when she entered the sleep.

***

Livia felt something soft touching her skin...something as soft as fur and the sensation made her smile. Then she felt a weight on her waist and then hot breath on her face. Her eyes flew open. she tried to look into surroundings but it was dark and only the soft light of the moon was entering the room.

She moved a little and looked up...'Aaron! Why is he sleeping with me? Why are we on the same bed and Why is his hand on my waist ?' Livia was shocked.

'No, Livia calm down. Ok try to remember what happened.' a voice inside her spoke to her, a voice which was maybe her common sense.

'Ok.. I was in the bathtub. Relaxing and trying to forget the life changing 24 hours of my life. Bathroom was filled with soft and sweet aroma...and..and crap! I was completely naked!'

Livia screamed at this memory but Aaron quickly woke up and placed his hand on her mouth and switched on the bed side light.

"What happened? A nightmare again ?" Aaron asked while still covering her mouth with his hand.

'Yes and that nightmare is you!' Livia wanted to scream. She tried to force his hand away from her mouth but it was not easy.

"I'll move my hand only if you promise not to scream and scare the hell out of everyone." she nodded in a yes and Aaron uncovered her mouth.

"What are you doing here?"

"Sleeping, I guess."

"On this bed, I mean."

"People normally use a bed for sleeping purposes and there are other purposes too though.." Aaron looked at her with mischievousness in his eyes.

"Aaron, will you please stop it?" just then she remembered a more important topic.

" I was in the bathroom, why do I not remember getting out?"

"Because you were fast asleep."

"Oh."

"So I helped you out of the bathtub." "What?" Livia's eyes widened in shock.

"And dried your body."

'Crap I was naked!' she blushed furiously and slowly lifted the quilt just high enough so that she could peek inside as to what she was wearing right now or...is she sleeping completely naked?? 'Completely naked with a man..No! even the thought is scary. Thank goodness I am wearing a bathrobe at least.'

She relaxed a bit but then "Who gave me this bathrobe?"

Aaron gave her a look which made her feel as if she said that 2 + 2 is equal to 5. "Who do you think? of course I draped you in the robe."

Livia, embarrassed tightly shut her eyes. 'God! Am I a fool?'

"Do you not know that you shouldn't be entering a bathroom without knocking especially when someone's inside?"she questioned him trying her best to not let the anxiety, anger and embarrassment show on her face.

"Do you think I didn't knock? I knocked a hundred times and got worried when there was no reply. So I had to enter. And there you were sleeping....again..Are you a koala by the way? Because just like you they too sleep a lot."

"Whether I am a koala or not it's none of your business and-" she felt some weight on her waist again.

"Why is your hand on my waist?"

"Oh! I was wondering where my hand is."

" I am not in the mood to joke around." Livia slapped his hand away and sat on the bed.

"We can't sleep on the same bed!"

"You can't expect me to sleep on the floor."

" I am not telling you to sleep on the floor. Just go and take some other room."

"Livia, it's midnight and what do you think that I will tell my staff? What will they think if I slept in a separate room? A couple who just got married and not even 24 hours have passed and they are sleeping separately."

"Your staff?"

"It's my hotel."

"Is it? Really?"

"Come on don't tell me you didn't know."

"How would I have known?"

"How can you be so oblivious? Now you know. So go to sleep."

"We can't sleep together."

Aaron sighed in frustration.

"Livia, I don't have any contagious disease which will spread to you by sleeping beside me."

"Aaron, ours is not a normal marriage. What we have here is just a business contract, a deal between you and my father at the expense of my freedom."

"Then you decide and do whatever you want but I am not moving anywhere from this bed." Aaron announced.

"Fine!" Livia said and walked out of the bedroom. She came back 2 minutes later with heaps of pillows in her hands and threw them on the bed.

"What are you doing?" Aaron asked.

She climbed on the bed and started arranging the pillows in a straight line in between them."Making a border." she replied.

"What?"

"This is my side and that is yours. No one will cross this border or else..."

"or else ?" Aaron raised his brows.

" or else there will be consequences."

Aaron chuckled. "Ok fine but what consequences are those ?"

"Argh!!" Livia groaned frustrated with his nagging. "Mr. Rodri..." she remembered Aaron's warning that if she called him formally again he'll kiss her.

"Aaron, please stop it." saying this Livia took to her side and lied on the bed with her back towards Aaron. She could hear him laughing.

'Devil!'

Aaron switched off the lights and faced Livia's back.

"So you are going to ignore me again? Or are you hiding from me, Livia?"

Livia didn't reply. So he continued,"Ok ignore me as much as you want. It isn't like I haven't seen anything. The memory of you lying in the bathtub is still quite clear in my mind.."

"Will you please be quiet?" Livia got up on her elbow, her face flushed, she turned her head to look at Aaron.

"You are that 7 letters word. Hmph!"

And she turned her head again and her back to him.

Aaron tried to recall when he had last heard anyone utilise such care to avoid a swear word and he was amused.

She was fun and it might not be that bad of an idea to marry her. Thinking this he smiled to himself.

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