Bound By Her Bump novel Chapter 19

As the woman of the night, she descended the stairs first with her best friend and siblings behind her.

Eric could not take his eyes off her. He was dumbstruck as to how beautiful she looked. She was putting on a long red dress which matched with the colour of his tie. The dress had a slit which revealed a bit of her long tanned legs. He was amazed at the curves he saw. Though the dress showed a little cleavage, it showed it decently. He was so damn proud of her and couldn't wait to show her off to the world tonight.

"Hi." She greeted nervously as she held her clutch tighter.

He closed the gap between them and kissed her forehead. "You are very beautiful my Queen." He whispered which made her blush like crazy. He smiled, then kissed her already red cheeks.

"I brought this for you." He handed her the flowers. She muttered a small thank you and collected it.

Eric put his hand in his pocket and reached for a small jewellery box. He opened it and showed her the diamond necklace that was in it.

"I got this for you, No doubt it will look good on you. May I?" He asked for permission to put it on her neck.

Annie tried to keep her tears at bay. All the men that have come and gone in her life, none of them did half of what Eric has done for her neither did they shower her with so much love. Instead, She was always the one living up to their expectations and trying to satisfy them.

"No, I can't accept it, Eric. It...this is expensive. You have to return it. What if I misplace it? I'll never forgive myself."

He caressed her cheek with his right hand. "Please accept it, my love. It's my first gift to you." He pleaded.

She stared at him for a while, thinking of what to do. Sure, it was very expensive but to someone like Eric Ivan James, it's obvious it had no consequence on his bank account.

Giving in to his puppy dog eyes, she nodded reluctantly.

He smiled then made her way to her back, he carefully put her hair to one side and fixed the necklace.

Annie knew he loved it when her hair was down which was why she told Ella she wanted it that way.

He fixed the chain almost immediately and placed her hair where they were.

All these while, they were watched by Ella, Claire and Jayden who are all smiling like crazy.

Claire walked towards the lovebirds with a smile on her face. She had never seen her sister this happy. She was happier because Annie was happy.

"Hi. I'm Claire." She introduced herself to Eric.

"Hey, I've heard so much about you from Laura." He replied as he remembered Laura telling him Claire was her very good friend.

"Here's Annie's bag." She handed him the bag pack which he collected immediately.

"You guys should get going. You don't want to be late." Ella chipped in as she gave Eric a side hug.

She was now friends with Eric after Dylan introduced her to him as his special one.

"I will take care of this. She collected the roses from Annie.

"Have fun!"

"Bye."

"Have a wonderful night."

"Enjoy yourselves."

Ella, Claire and Jayden chorused.

Annie and Eric exited Annie's apartment hand in hand. He helped her settle down in the front passenger seat after which he placed her backpack in the back seat then went over to the driver's seat.

"Thanks for being my date tonight." He said as the engine roared to life.

"Like I have any other choice." She smiled.

"So how are you and my little angel?" He asked sincerely.

"We are fine. Thanks."

"My mom is very excited about tomorrow. She can't wait to meet you." Eric announced.

"I can't say the same over here. I'm as nervous as hell." She mumbled.

Eric chuckled. He knew it was normal for her to feel that way. But there was no need to worry because his parents loved her already.

Eric drove into the Estate where the charity event was taking place. There were expensive cars everywhere and the press were all over the place. Sure, it was only well-to-do people that attended this kind of event.

"Aunt Eva, Uncle Robert, I want you to meet someone special; Annie Davis."

"Annie, this is Aunt Eva, my mom's elder sister and her husband." He introduced.

"Good evening." Annie greeted with a smile.

"OMG! She's so beautiful. Evelyn has told me about you. She will be damn jealous if I told her I saw you tonight." She said, pulling Annie into a warm hug.

"I hope my boy is taking good care of you." She asked. Annie nodded.

"Hello, Sir." She greeted Eva's husband. He smiled and gave her a warm handshake.

"How are Melissa and Toby?" Eric asked about his cousins.

Eva got married in her early thirties so her kids were still kind of young. Melissa, the older one was in her first year of college and Toby, the younger one was still in high school.

"They are doing well. But Toby misses you a lot."

Toby was like the brother Eric never had. They played games together and did all the fun stuff guys find interesting.

"I miss him too, my regards to them."

"So when will you come to visit us?" Eva asked.

"Very soon Auntie, I'll find the time and I'll make sure I bring Annie along." He replied as he held Annie possessively and kissed her cheek.

~~

The event commenced and the guests were ushered to their respective tables. Eric and Annie got to share a table with Aunt Eva and her husband.

The charity event was different from what Annie had in mind. She expected it to be boring and full of donation talks but it was the other way around. She saw some of her high-class clients whom she engaged in conversation with, Eric introduced her to some of his business associates who kept drooling over her and praised Eric for trapping such a beauty queen.

Annie couldn't be more proud of Eric when he gave his speech. That was when she realized he was a co-founder of this great event, raising money for the less privileged.

Eric was so possessive around her as if telling other men that she was taken. He made sure she ate enough and also made sure the wine she was given was a fruit wine, hundred per cent non-alcoholic.