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Her gaze drops to my mouth, and if I’m not mistaken, her breath hitches.Very interesting.Has she always reacted to me like that in the past? Nope, I would’ve noticed. We’ve always tried to have as little as possible to do with each other. Like I said, interesting. And unusual.
"First," —she drums her fingers on the table— "are you going to answer my question?"
I tilt my head, the makings of an idea buzzing through my synapses. I need a little time to flesh things out though. It’s the only reason I deign to answer her question which, let’s face it, I have no obligation to respond to. But for the moment, it’s in my interest to humor her and buy myself a little time.
"Priya and I are well-matched in every way. We come from good families—"
"You mean rich families?"
"That, too. Our families move in the same circles."
"Don’t you mean boring country clubs?" she says in a voice that drips with distaste.
I frown. "Among other places. We have the pedigree, the blood line, our backgrounds are congruent, and we’d be able to fold into an arrangement of coexistence with the least amount of disruption on either side."
"Sounds like you’re arranging a merger."
"A takeover, but what-fucking-ever." I raise a shoulder.
Her scowl deepens. "This is how you approached the upcoming wedding... And you wonder why Priya left you?"
"I gave her the biggest ring money could buy—"
"You didn’t make an appearance at an engagement party."
"I signed off on all the costs related to the upcoming nuptials—"
"Your own engagement party. You didn’t come to it. You left her alone to face her family and friends." Her tone rises. Her cheeks are flushed. You’d think she was talking about her own wedding, not that of her friend. In fact, it’s more entertaining to talk to her than discuss business matters with my employees.How interesting.
"You also didn’t show up for most of the rehearsals." She glowers.
"I did show up for the last one."
"Not that it made any difference. You were either checking your watch and indicating that it was time for you to leave, or you were glowering at the plans being discussed."
"I still agreed to that god-awful wedding cake, didn’t I?
"On the other hand, it’s probably good you didn’t come for the previous rehearsals. If you had, Priya and I might have had this conversation earlier—"
"Aha!" I straighten. "So, you confess that it’s because of you Priya walked away from this wedding."
She tips her head back. "Hardly. It’s because of you."
"So you say, but your guilt is writ large on your face."
"Guilt?" Her features flush. The color brings out the dewy hue of her skin, and the blue of her eyes deepens until they remind me of forget-me-nots. No, more like the royal blue of the ink that spilled onto my paper the first time I attempted to write with a fountain pen.
"The only person here who should feel guilty is you, for attempting to coerce an innocent, young woman into an arrangement that would have trapped her for life."
Anger thuds at my temples. My pulse begins to race. "I never have to coerce women. And what you call being trapped is what most women call security. But clearly, you wouldn’t know that, considering" —I wave my hand in the air— "you prefer to run your kitchen-table business which, no doubt, barely makes ends meet."
She loosens her grip on her pencil, and it falls to the table with a clatter. Sparks flash deep in her eyes.
You know what I said earlier about the royal blue? Strike that. There are flickers of silver hidden in the depths of her gaze. Flickers that blaze when she’s upset. How would it be to push her over the edge? To be at the receiving end of all that passion, that fervor, that ardor… that absolute avidness of existence when she’s one with the moment? How would it feel to rein in her spirit, to absorb it, drink from it, revel in it, and use it to spark color into my life?
"Kitchen-table business?" She makes a growling sound under her breath. "You dare come into my office and insult my enterprise? The company I have grown all by myself—"
"And outside of your assistant" —I nod toward the door I came through— "you’re the sole employee, I take it?"
