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“Who is this?” he asks, looking at Cedric.
“This is—” I start.
But, of course, Cedric, being a gentleman, jumps in immediately.
“I’m Cedric Allum. I’m her date for the evening—and, hopefully, if she will have me, for many dates after this.”
I wince at his words, and Cedric looks at me in confusion.
“I’m not just a model,” Cedric says in a rush, thinking that is the reason that my grandfather and I are so unhappy with what he just said. “I just do that on the side for some extra money, same as Kinsley. I just graduated with a business degree from UNLV. I got accepted into a law school in Chicago. I plan on being a lawyer, sir.”
My grandfather is paying him no attention. Instead, he is looking at me. “I think you’d better end the date now, Kinsley.”
I nod, unable to argue with him in such a public space. I don’t look at Killian. And I don’t look at Cedric as I begin to stand from my chair.
I take a deep breath before I do my best to look strong as I look at Cedric. “I’m sorry. You’ve been wonderful, but I think it’s best if we stop this here.”
“Why? I thought this was going well.” He glances up at my grandfather. “If your grandfather and”—he looks at Killian—“your brother would like to join us, they are more than welcome. Then, they can get to know me a little better and feel more comfortable with us going out.”
I chance a glance at Killian when Cedric calls him my brother. His smirk is gone. He’s rubbing the back of his neck in annoyance instead of the anger I was expecting. It seems he doesn’t even see Cedric as worthy of a challenge.
“That won’t be possible,” Granddad says.
“Another time then?” Cedric asks.
I smile weakly at his persistence, but he needs to learn when to give up.
That’s when Killian steps forward. “I’m sorry, Cedric, but you need to go home and forget about Kinsley. Don’t call her. Don’t think about her. Don’t try to reach out to her in any way. Plenty of other girls are out there who would be more suited to you.”
I close my eyes to keep the sting out of them after what he just said.
“I think Kinsley is plenty suited to me,” Cedric says.
“No, because Kinsley is my fiancée,” Killian says.
Cedric gasps. Then, he looks to my left hand to find that a ring isn’t there. His eyes narrow in my direction. “You’re engaged?”
I twist my hair as I look at him. I don’t know how to answer that. I’m not technically engaged. At least, I wasn’t the last time I spoke with either of the men glowering over me, but it’s too complicated to say that I’m not engaged.
Cedric takes my lack of an answer as an answer. “She’s all yours,” he says as he throws his napkin down on the table before storming out.
I don’t bother to follow him with my eyes when he leaves. I feel like crying. I feel like going home and spending the night taking a long warm bath, trying to forget what just happened.
“Come on, Kinsley. We have a table for us set up upstairs. We will have them add another chair. You’ll eat with us,” Granddad says. His voice is dripping with disappointment.
I just nod, unable to say any words without losing it. I feel so embarrassed. I watch as my grandfather begins walking, but Killian hovers over me, waiting for me to follow my grandfather.
I take a second. “How could you?” A tear falls.
“You can’t be with him. He’s not a good guy.”
“And you are?” I shake my head in frustration. “You can’t tell me you want me to make my own decisions about my life and then make every decision for me. You can’t tell him I’m your fiancé one minute but then tell me you don’t want to marry me the next. You can’t pick up a random stranger at a bar one minute and then say I can’t go on a date myself. Talk about indecisive. What do you want, Killian? Other than the CEO position, what the fuck do you want?”
I close my eyes when I realize I just cursed in front of a table with children. I never curse. But Killian brings out the worst in me, the absolute worst.
“I want to marry you,” are the words that leave his lips.
I haven’t looked at Killian since we sat down at the table, opposite my grandfather. I can’t. I don’t believe what Killian said when we were alone downstairs. He didn’t say anything else. It was just those five words.
