"They'll try to find out who you are, then they might stake outside your apartment to figure out your personality. They will see if you talk to guys and speculate on the nature of our relationship. They will also make it look like we have broken up." Cage looked at her face carefully and saw the panic rise in her eyes. "Don't worry. You'll meet my team and they will guide you through everything. Happy couples aren't newsworthy and we are a happy couple. They'll get bored of it soon enough."
"That's good to hear," she said, revealing a small smile. "It'll be hard because we won't have privacy, but nothing is more important than being with you. I trust you." She nodded.
"If you're worried about dates, there are always back entrances and sneaking away." He looked thoughtful.
"But there is social media. It's not just the paparazzi anymore," she said with a shrug. How a private person like Cage had survived in the spotlight was beyond her.
"I'm used to it," Cage sighed. "I worry about you, though. They will come for you if they find out. It might be too overwhelming for you..." He trailed off.
She looked at him incredulously. "Are you scared that I will be overwhelmed and run for the hills because I can't cope with it?" she said softly. "I might be embarrassed when they find out the lewd fan art I have made but other than that, there isn't much they can say about me." Except for her not being up to Cage's standards.
"What are you thinking about?" he asked, the suspicion rising in his mind.
"They'll shit on me because I don't look... a certain way." She shook her head.
That was the dumbest thing Cage had ever heard. She was beyond beautiful. He held her face in his hand and tried to show her exactly how he saw her. "If they don't see what I see, they are clearly blind. And I'm going to throw a hissy fit if anyone comes after you."
Katherine laughed nervously. "So childish!"
"But I will do everything in my power to prevent it from happening. Bodyguards, more media professionals. Anything to keep you safe." Katherine cut him off by kissing him. For now, her mind was at peace. She didn't want to ruin the vacation by talking about the grim future. They could worry about it once they needed to. Right now, they needed to reassure each other that no matter what, neither of them was running away.
"Dating you won't be easy. You'll be away filming for most of the year. There will be kissing involved. But it is your job. I am definitely not one to discriminate because of your career." She was displeased that he would have love scenes with others but it was all fake. What good was it when they were surrounded by tens of people, all of them gawking and instructing them on how to make the script look flawless. Didn't sound very romantic to her.
"I don't enjoy love scenes either," he groaned. "But we always have phone calls and emails to communicate. It will be nice to take breaks from filming and finding your dirty texts on my screen," Cage said, a grin spreading across his face.
"I can do that. We'll make it work. I don't need bodyguards or extra media personnel unless things hit the fan. It will just make me more conspicuous, in my opinion. Aren't there other celebrities dating?" she asked curiously.
"Look at you being all calm. With our looks? We blow them out of the pond." Narcissist.
"I have two choices. You or not you. I choose you with all the shit that comes with it. I want to enjoy my time with you and if we decide to come out, we will deal with the results. I don't care how big the backlash is, I am not leaving you unless you tell me to go away." There was stubbornness in her voice.
He kissed her hard. "I'll never do that. I love you and you are perfect for me."
"Damn straight! If you dare forget..." she trailed off, giving him a fake glare.
"Never," he promised. They went back to their scripts. Hunger pangs hit them soon enough and they decided on eating instant noodles. With that... the tone of the evening changed drastically. Who had known that noodles could lead to ambiguity...
As the South Koreans say it, "Wanna come over for Ramyeon?"
- - -
Cage carried the silicone ice tray and entered the room. Katherine was lying in bed, her clothes hanging off her body. She looked up lazily and smiled.
"Take them off, love," he asked huskily. She complied, slowly teasing him, taking off her clothes at a delectable pace. She slipped her t-shirt over her head and shimmied out of her shorts, leaving behind her lace bra and matching panties. His broad grin left her giggling. He neared her, placing the things on the bedside table and then slid out the ties he had brought for the explicit purpose of using on her.
"Stay still," he said in a hushed voice as he kissed her right elbow, caressing it with his finger before pulling the arm over her head, securing it on the headboard with a firm knot. She squealed as she struggled. "Hush," he commanded, giving the same treatment to her other arm and then her legs.
He crawled out of the bed, looking over the masterpiece he had created and smirked.
"Now that's a sight to see," he m.o.a.ned. His natural instinct was to pounce on her and get straight to the point, but he had a lot of plans. He saw her staring at him with a hungry look and gave her a wink.
"Time to sleep, love," he taunted as he slid over her body and slid the silk tie over her eyes, securing them behind her head, making sure she could not see.
"Why am I blindfolded?" she asked, her voice wavering. Despite her subservient fantasies, Katherine had a fear of letting her control go. She was always a curious one, needing to know everything and have a plan about what would happen next, he knew that very well. That was exactly why he had chosen to show her how to lose complete control.