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NOAH

Maelstrom

“You’ve got your work cut out for you with that one,” Callum says as he sidles up to me. “She’s feisty.”

I watch Millie march across the room to her cousin, her shoulders rolled back in defiance. She says nothing to Ellis, but she tosses a glare at me over her shoulder.

“She’s like a quiet little hurricane,” I murmur. “You sense something’s coming, but it’s too late when you do because she’s destroyed everything.”

“What’s she destroying?” Callum asks.

“My patience.”

Callum chortles. “I like the fact you’re seeing someone who’s not going to put up with your shit. It’s what you need.”

Yes. I need her. Millie is what I need. A woman who has a motive to stay with me and who won’t put up with my shit.

I sigh. “She had every right to get pissed at me. I was a dick.”

“And she’s getting you to admit when you’re wrong?” Callum slaps me on the shoulder. “That’s some powerful hurricane.”

“Who’s a hurricane?” Mack asks as he and Dan join us.

“Millie’s a force to be reckoned with,” Callum informs him. “Millie the Hurricane.”

“Maelstrom,” Dan grunts.

The three of us turn to look at him.

Callum squints. “What?”

“Maelstrom,” he repeats, nodding at Millie. “Goes better with her name.”

The three of us exchange glances before Mack fishes out his phone and dictates from the screen. “ A powerful whirlpool in the sea or a river. Or a situation or state of confused movement or violent turmoil. ” Mack looks back at Dan. “How the fuck do you know that word?”

I see the word flash in front of my eyes, and I grin at Dan. “It’s the name of a surfing book.”

Dan nods. “And it’s the name of those insane whirlpools that sink ships.”

“Doesn’t sound like the nicest nickname,” Callum muses.

“I need to apologise,” I sigh, running a hand through my hair.

“How come you never call me a maelstrom?” Mack asks. “I can be confusing and violent. Goes with Mack.”

“But you’re not powerful,” Dan quips. “You’re weak and loud and predictable.” He glances at Mack with a blank expression and Mack’s mouth drops open. “I guess you leave enough damage with that blabbermouth of yours.”

“You’re a dick,” Mack spits.

“I’m right,” Dan says with a shrug.

My gaze travels back to Millie, wondering how the hell I convinced a maelstrom to sign a fake-dating contract.

I give Millie space for the next hour or so but always keep her in my line of sight. She does a good job of ignoring me, but there are several instances where I catch her searching the room and quickly looking away when she spots me.

When I notice her slip outside away from the guests, I follow her around a bend to the right, where a private alcove overlooks the waves. She leans against the railing, the wind lightly blowing on her face as she stares out at the horizon.

I slow my pace a few steps behind her. “There’s the little maelstrom.”

She peers over her shoulder, her eyebrow quirked. “Maelstrom?”

“Millie the Maelstrom,” I clarify. “What do you think?”

“You think I’m a maelstrom?”

I frown. “Does it not mean what I think it means?”

A soft laugh escapes her lips, easing the tension in my shoulders. “A maelstrom is usually referred to as a powerful whirlpool or a situation of chaos.”

I move closer, leaning against the fence next to her. “Yep, that’s what I thought.”

“I’m hardly chaotic, Noah,” she sighs, returning her gaze to the breathtaking view. “But I suppose my life has been lately.”

I survey her profile, the way she stares longingly out at the horizon. She looks so at peace; the term maelstrom feels ill-fitting.

“Can we start over?”

Millie tilts her head to look at me, uncertainty on her face.

I take that as my cue to proceed. “I’m sorry, for what I said to you on the beach that day. You caught me off guard with your comments and I lashed out at you. Plus, the guilt about the camera is eating me up.”

Millie’s face softens before she sighs. “God damn it. Now I have to apologise.”

I snicker. “No, you don’t.”

“I lashed out at you first,” she grumbles. “I’m sorry.”

“I was flirting with you to try to distract you,” I admit.

“I knew it!”

I grin at her, relieved when she smiles back. “I’m sorry if I overstepped the mark earlier.”

She shrugs. “Turns out I am a bit of a prude.”

“No, you’re not. You don’t want to divulge personal details to a stranger. I get it.”

She turns to face me front-on. “That’s part of it. I revert to my seventeen-year-old self when I’m with you. I’m suddenly embarrassed by every little thing.”

She scrunches up her nose at her revelation, and I laugh. “I wish I could say the same for my behaviour, but in fairness, I act like a fool most of the time. Dan’s always clipping me ‘round the ear for it.”

“He really doesn’t like the idea of this arrangement, does he?” she asks, biting her bottom lip.

I frown. Dan’s the strong, silent type who can come across as grumpy and moody to those who don’t know him. But Millie’s right. The fake-dating idea has certainly rubbed him the wrong way, but I have no idea why.

“Let me worry about Dan,” I assure her. “He’s probably annoyed he couldn’t make a move on you first.”

She tries to stifle a grin, but fails miserably, a laugh escaping her lips. It feels like a win on my board to make her laugh and I inwardly cheer.

“I won’t bring up your sex life again,” I promise.

“Thank you.”

“We’ll discuss it when you want to.”

She rolls her eyes. “I won’t.”

“You will,” I insist. “You’ll come to trust me, Millie Maelstrom.”

She snorts.

“I know you signed a contract, but I’ll tear it up if you want to bow out of this.” It’s the truth. I don’t want to drag her through something that’s going to cause her any more stress in her life.

She appears to think it over before shaking her head. “No. I made a promise. Plus, I need the money.”

I nod, relief flooding through me. “And I need you to rub some of that sainthood on me. Come to think of it, it wouldn’t hurt to make my ex a little bit jealous.”

She laughs. “You really are seventeen.”

I grin. “I’ll be on my best behaviour from now on. I don’t want to push you beyond what you’re comfortable with.”

She surveys me, her eyes roaring whirlpools of code I wish I could decipher. She gives me a determined nod, as if she’s made some silent agreement. “Give me a few more days. It takes me a little longer to show affection in relationships with people I like .”

“That’s fair. In terms of teasing and winding you up, that comes with who I am.”

Amusement dances on her lips. “You’re saying you’re going to take every opportunity to embarrass your fake girlfriend?”

“I do this with real girlfriends too,” I assure her.

“How comforting.” Her gaze drifts to the house behind us. “Do you think anyone’s buying it?”

“I think most of the people I haven’t seen in a while are onboard.” I spin so my elbows rest against the railing, watching people mill about the backyard. “Mack and Callum don’t seem suspicious and will lose interest in my love life pretty quickly. Can’t say the same for Ellis.”

“She’s always suspicious,” Millie says. “She’s going to keep an eye out, that’s for sure. Me dating someone in the spotlight was not on this year’s bingo card. She thinks I’m having a late-twenties crisis.”

“I’m not that bad,” I argue. Millie gives me a reproachful look. “I haven’t been great lately, I admit. But I’ve got some ideas on how to try to turn that around. Starting with our first public date.”

Millie’s face hardens, alarm in her eyes. “What sort of ideas?”