Chapter 469 - Las Vegas (13)

Sarah and Aiden are facing each other in an oversized tub full of bubbles.

"Ahhh… it's nice to relax after an intense day…", Sarah exhaled while sinking deeper into the bubbles.

"Yes, it's nice…" Aiden had to agree. "What will you do with the money?"

Sarah gave him a reprimanding look. "WE can use it to equip our bat-cave…" She had to remind him that it's THEIR money. Sarah found it frustrating that when something he got it was theirs, and when she got it was hers. She didn't like this different treatment. Seeing that he didn't object to her correction, she added. "I was thinking that we can add one additional house a bit further from our main one in California… For the kids."

"Why do you think they need a separate house?"

"Even now they are not small. By providing them with a separate house, they can be independent, and we get privacy… and we are all nearby. What do you think?" Sarah looked at him expectantly, hoping that he will approve.

"Makes sense… Even after that, there will be A LOT of leftover money." He was rubbing her feet underwater.

"We still need to get a helicopter… and how about we build another house? Somewhere in the mountain? Or we can buy a mountain!" Sarah giggled. For a moment, she was not sure why buying a mounting would make her giggle, and then she realized that it's caused by Aiden rubbing her feet. It was ticklish. She wiggled her feet out of his hands and leaned toward him. "It would be nice to go skiing, and then we cuddle up in a fluffy blanket next to the fireplace with some hot cocoa…"

"I like the sound of that…" He likes to listen Sarah's plans for the future. Even though she does not talk about marriage and kids, she still makes sure that he is included. The thought that Sarah's plans for the future include him made him very happy. So happy that he felt like proposing. Right then. In that tub full of bubbles. 'Damnit! I don't have a ring!' He was so consumed in his thoughts about the ring and proposing that he didn't notice Sarah climbing on top of him.

"Are you with me?" Sarah's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

He smiled. "More than you know." Aiden's hand went behind Sarah's head, his fingers caressed her hair for few seconds before he pulled her down for a kiss.

…

Aiden came out of the bathroom, ready to call it a night when he saw Sarah on the bed with her laptop.

"It's late… come to bed.", he was getting under the bedsheets.

"Yes, yes… just to check this." She threw him a glance.

"What is so important that it can't wait tomorrow?"

"My curiosity." Sarah flashed a smile. "I'm looking up Mr. Jarred Smith."

"Who?"

"Old man who helped us tonight."

Aiden was interested. He left the sleeping off part for later, took a bowl of strawberry ice cream and sat next to Sarah to watch her work. "What did you find?"

Sarah saw him put ice cream in his mouth and raised her eyebrows expectantly.

Aiden understood her signal and put a spoon of ice cream in her mouth.

She smiled happily and looked back at her laptop. "I found a lot… Look at all this, and I didn't even dig deep…"

Aiden gave her another spoonful of ice cream and scooted closer to see the screen better.

They found that Jarred Smith has a large family, and they are involved in all types of business.

Sarah was obviously excited while speaking. She didn't have an idea who the old man is before this. And now she can clearly see that he is very influential. "They have income from military, weapons, cars, motorcycles, pharmaceuticals… these guys are everywhere. Even in politics…"

Aiden shook his head and smiled. "And one of the main guys from that family told you that you can call him for ANYTHING. You really know how to pick them."

Sarah thought for a moment. "Actually, I didn't pick him. He approached me during that break, remember?"

"Yes. Let's put this into already huge category: Sarah attracts trouble." He gave her another spoonful of ice cream.

Sarah frowned from his words and smiled because of ice cream. Mix of two ended up with a silly face. She didn't want to leave it at that. Why is she the one attracting trouble? "What if my luck changed and I'm attracting good things?"

Aiden would never think of Sarah as someone who attracts anything bad, but part of him enjoyed teasing her. He can't miss this opportunity, so he dismissed her idea. "Not a chance. You only attract trouble… And something needs to happen in life in order for luck to change. Something that acts like a trigger."

Sarah thought for some time hard.

"What are you thinking about? Your brain will start steaming." Aiden teased.

"I'm thinking what is the trigger that changed my luck.", she honestly responded.

Aiden was amused, "And? How far did you go with that?"

"Assuming that this old man and Shing are in the category of good luck, that happened while I played card games. So, if I play, I attract good luck."

"And don't forget Patel." Aiden reminded her. "He gave you his card during a game as well."

Sarah excitedly nodded, confirming that it's all because of gambling.

Aiden flicked her forehead. "Saying that your luck is good because you are playing games does not make sense. We played many different things earlier and nothing happened. But conclusion that in last two nights you met some interesting people is not wrong. What else was different than usual?" He wanted to hear what other ideas she will come up with.

Sarah thought for some time before lifting her head and looking at Aiden. "You."

"How was I different?" Aiden was taken aback. From all the things, she ended up picking him?! He was eager to hear what crazy idea came to her mind now.

"You were my husband." She proceeded to help herself with ice cream from his hands which stopped moving. Sarah was happy that he didn't resist at all when she took the spoon from his hand.

Aiden stared at her, unable to form a word. But his mind was racing. 'Did she say that she had good luck because we were acting as a married couple? That means that us being married is good, right? Does this mean that she is thinking about marriage?' He felt his face heat up, even his ears were burning. 'Oh, God… I hope I'm not blushing!'

Aiden was in a daze for some time before he cleared his throat and asked, "Will we use Mr. and Mrs. Black again?"

Sarah shook her head. "No. They served their purpose. We will dispose of those IDs."

Aiden was disappointed seeing how easily she confirmed that they will not be married. He knows that it was just pretending, but it was closest to the real thing they ever got.

"You don't seem happy…", she observed.

"It's just… I have a feeling that you don't like being my wife." He felt a relief to finally speak his mind, and at the same time he feared to hear her response.

Sarah cupped his cheeks in her palms, kissed him on the lips and spoke between kisses, "Don't be silly... if there is anyone… on this world… whose wife I would be… that would be you."

Aiden held his breath while listening to her response. He was so stiff that he didn't even return her last few kisses.

Sarah smiled seeing that he is dazed, happy that he didn't seem to be upset anymore. She explained her plan while finishing the last few bits of ice cream from the bowl he was holding. "We will not use Mr. and Mrs. Black, but we still need to be a married couple. Remember that Mr. Patel thinks we are married? And he is the organizer; he will be able to observe us. We must assume that they will watch us, maybe even when we think that we have privacy... It's not mandatory, but I think it will be much easier than to explain that we are not married… I have different IDs ready for that. Those are just as a backup since we are going as Omega and Sigma anyway, and they should all address us as 30 and 31… tomorrow after we check out from here, we are heading to the hotel reserved for the conference…"

Aiden's face lit up. He liked the idea of them acting as a married couple. And he was not sure what was the cause, but he felt a change in Sarah. He was certain that she is not opposing the idea of marriage. 'Did Sarah just say that she does not mind being my wife? I need to get that ring!' Aiden stared at Sarah with a silly grin on his face.

"Hey! Are you listening?", she protested.

"Yes." He lied. After she said that they will continue as a married couple, he didn't hear much.

"What did I say last?"

He looked offended. "Why are you quizzing me? Don't you trust me?"

Sarah felt guilty. "Oh, sorry… that was not my intention…"

He smiled seeing that her attention was successfully diverted and started raining kisses on her.

She giggled. "Hey… I thought we are having a serious conversation… Discussing plans for the event."

"What serious conversation? We are doing more than planning. We are practicing."

Sarah was happy that Aiden is back from his daze. She could not help but wonder why lately he has frequent mood swings. But his actions were distracting her, and soon she forgot what she wanted to say. "What exactly are we practicing?"

"The married part… when we are married, I will kiss you and hold you and do this…", he pulled her body closer and started removing her pajamas.

Sarah wanted to say that they are doing that quite often already, but her attention got pulled away as her leg brushed over something cold. "Ah! You dropped the bowl on the bed!"

"Just leave it…"

"But the bed will get all sticky…", she weakly protested.

The bowl stayed as is… eventually it fell off the bed as they moved around.