Page 24 of Between Love & Ruin

She was a little disappointed when I said that I would let him know everything after discussing it with Mark, but I couldn’t just say yes without talking about this with him.

He was so mad when he got to know that I would be in NYC without him for our tour. So, I don’t think he will take this news well when he gets to know that I will be staying here in the states to work on this project.

I don’t entirely get the point of him suggesting I stay here to work with him directly on this project. It seems absurd, and it’s not like we can’t do business while we live in different places.

But he has the money and the power in this situation, so as annoying as I may find him, and slightly arrogant too, I can’t help but agree to this.

Because no matter my personal feelings, this is a big offer. Something people don’t get as easily as I did, and I don’t want to be ungrateful.

So, as Aisha suggested once we reached my room, the first thing I did was call Mark and set up a good mood for the both of us.

He seemed to have gotten over the fact that I came here before him.

I honestly still can’t understand why he got so pissed when we barely spend much time with each other even when we are living together.

He likes his personal space and alone time and I have never had someone intrude mine so I don’t think I have any problem with that.

“So, how was your event?” he asks with a small smile, before taking a bite of his food, and my heart immediately warms up at his question.

“It was so great,” I say, on the verge of bursting with happiness. “I have never seen so many people be excited to see me.”

He chuckles, and I can’t help laughing too.

God bless whoever or whatever put him in a good mood.

“Also, guess who I met at the event?”

“Who?”

“Dominic Wolfe.”

His eyebrows furrow, and he drops the spoon, and I try not to show that I am nervous about the next bomb I am about to drop on him.

“What? The one who got your book viral?”

I sigh. “The one and only.”

“I don’t understand,” he says, and I control the urge to roll my eyes. “What was he doing here?”

“He was there to get his book signed,” I say, and he looks at me as if I have grown two heads. “And we had a meeting too. In our hotel.”

“Wow,” he says. “What did he want?”

“He didn’t want anything specific,” I hide the fact that he did in fact want a yes from me. “He just proposed an idea which I think is good. Even Aisha thinks it is.”

“Can you please be more specific?” he asks in that business tone of his that I have seen him use with his clients, and I don’t let out how much that annoys me.

He is always too stern with me. A little controlling at times. I sometimes find it hard to separate how he treats me and the rest of the people in his life.

The moments of affection he shows me sometimes feel superficial because of this, and when I second-guess his intentions, I can’t help but wonder if I’m asking for too much.

I don’t think I’m wrong for expecting a little more affection from the man I call my boyfriend. Am I?

“I mean, he said that if I’m going to work closely with him on this project and make sure his team doesn’t take away from the essence of my book, I need to stay here in NYC until some of the main layout is done. Once the important parts are over, I can go back to Chicago. We can go back and forth after that.”

“What?”

His face turns red and he almost looks a little comical.