The Royal Contract

He did promise her exclusivity in the story because of her contribution to the rescue mission. But as of now, he could not say more as the investigation was still in progress.

He could not compromise the current lawsuit by leaking it to the press. It might damage their defense and ruin everything that they were working on.

“Can I just tell you my personal opinion on this? Off the record, of course. I could not comment on the case or the opinions of the victims.” He offered since it was the best he could give her.

As much as he wanted to help her with her story, at the moment, his lips were sealed. He could only share his opinion and nothing else. He wished he would respect that for now.

“I guess I can settle for that,” Eida responded loudly. She suddenly realized the lack of need to increase the volume of her voice as the car had finally slowed down at the pit stop.

“But, it doesn’t mean that you are off the hook from our deal.” She said, adjusting to her normal voice.

.....

The purring engine finally had calmed down. Then, it was just a steady mild hum, echoing inside the small space. A few seconds later, they were parked again from where they started.

What she experienced seemed to be a lifetime, but it was just a matter of a few minutes. It would have been faster if Lance had gone in full speed. But she knew he had slowed down for her.

“Of course, I will not forget.” He promised as the doors opened and the entire crew suddenly turned silent.

He unbuckled his seat, ready to go down but noticed that she was still on her seat. He watched her for a few seconds as she struggled with hers.

Then, he leaned forward towards her when she seemed to be failing to take it off. “Do you mind if I help you with that?” He did not dare touch the buckle unless she gave permission.

He could see that the lock part was around her breast area, so unbuckling the belt would be complicated. He did not want his hands to be swatted away or accused of being a pervert.

“I think I am managing it just fine.” She answered as she clicked on the lock again, but it would not budge. She tried again, getting a bit frustrated as she finally blew some air in front of her face.

She had managed to click it in place earlier, then why would it not dislodged from its hook. She finally pulled on the belts, but she believed it had just worsened the situation.

“Come on, let me see if I can remove it.” He offered again, seeing that she was just being stubborn.

He believed he knew what was wrong with the lock. It had been acting up for a while now. But he had forgotten to have it checked since nobody sat on it anyway. Not until now.

He did not move from his position as he waited for her to acknowledge his help. Otherwise, he believed she would be stuck on the seat for a long time.

“Fine.” She finally gave up since she already did all she could, but it still did not work. She had no choice but to accept his offered help.

She leaned backward on the backrest, hoping to create more space between her body and the belt. The belt was crisscrossed on her chest, where the lock was located just between the valley of her breast.

She noticed that it was not like it was very retractable like in ordinary cars. It was adjusted to fit her size, more or less. Probably for safety precautions.

“Sorry about this.” He apologized for the problem, and in advance, in case he accidentally did something wrong.

He reached his hands on the front portion of her body, careful to handle only the seatbelt and not touch any part of hers. But just like what he had suspected earlier, it was slightly jammed.

He could see that Rick and the crew were watching them, curious at what was taking them so long. But there was no way he could remove the seatbelt without applying a bit of force.

“What is wrong?” She finally asked when his first attempt did not work.

“I think the lock is jammed in the inside. The hook would not dislodge from its position. I will have to do something else.” He explained to her.

Then, he leaned a bit more until he was almost on top of her. He could see that she was on guard once he moved closer, but there was no other way.

“I am sorry about this.” He said again as he moved in a tighter position.

The space was too cramped, so his face was only a few inches away from her face. He could mildly feel the air she was breathing on his face as he forced the buckles to separate.

“Just take it off.” She said as she ended up looking directly into his eyes as he worked on the synthetic fiber wrapped around her body.

After a few more tweaking, he finally released the belt free. He was supposed to move away, but his hands ended up planted on the side of the backrest, holding on to the edge of the seat for support.

While she was supposed to protest that he moved out of her way. But both suddenly found themselves trapped in each other’s eyes, feeling the tension of the closeness of their bodies.

“Ahem!” Rick suddenly spoke up by the door, checking if there was a problem.

Judging from what he was witnessing, he was the problem. He just interrupted something that was about to happen. Suddenly the two occupants of the vehicle became aware of his presence.

“The seatbelt was stuck. I just helped remove it.” Lance quickly said, moving back to his seat. “You should have it replaced.” He added.

He was sure he was about to kiss her, but luckily he was interrupted. He did not know how she would react if he did get the chance.

He was not a womanizer who would just kiss and say goodbye. But he was definitely certain now that he was attracted to her. However, acting on the attraction was a totally different matter.