“What?”
“Ask me everything .”
“When did you find out?” I ask hesitantly .
“When did I find out that your father wanted me to marry you before he would make me CEO ?”
I nod, unable to say any words .
“Three years ago. It was when he promoted me to VP .”
My eyes are wide. He’s known for three years that he is going to marry me. He could have come up to me at any point in those three years and told me. He could have at least introduced himself to me. He could have done anything, but he didn’t .
“Why didn’t you tell me ?”
He runs his hand through his hair, slightly messing it up, but somehow, it looks even better. “I wanted to. I learned a lot about you from your father. I stalked you on social media. I quickly realized that your father was right. You weren’t ready to meet me. You were too young and naive to meet whom you were supposed to marry. You’re still too young .”
“I am not!” I protest .
He smiles a smug smile. “Yes, you are .”
“Then, why did you agree to marry me if I’m so young and naive ?”
“I haven’t yet .”
My eyes grow wide at his response .
“What do you mean, you haven’t yet? I thought …”
“I told your father I would think about it, but I’ve never really had any intention of marrying anybody—ever. I’m perfectly content as I am .”
“Then, why are you here? If you are not going to marry me, why are you here ?”
He looks smugly past me as he contemplates his answer. “Because I want to be CEO. I’ve earned it. And I’ll marry you, if I have to, to get it, but I think there is another way, a better way .”
His words sting. It stings a lot to hear him say that he doesn’t want to marry me even though I don’t really want to marry him either. It still hurts though to hear a man who I thought at least found me attractive wouldn’t even consider marrying me .
“What was last night then? Why did you almost sleep with me if you didn’t want to marry
me ?”
He cocks his head and smirks at me. “I can fuck women without marrying them. And, if I recall, we never got around to the fucking .”
I wince every time he says the word fuck . I’m not used to men using language like that around me. Although it usually sounds sexy when falling from his lips, right now, it feels like a punch to the gut .
“Why were you at the casino last night?” I barely whisper .
“Like I said earlier, I didn’t go into that casino, seeking you out. Then, I saw you at that table, and I thought it would be fun to mess with you. After watching you for a while, I found that you were almost a complete contradiction from everything that I had known about you. You seemed confident at that table, sure of yourself. You didn’t seem like the naive young girl I’d thought you were .”
“And now ?”
He sighs. “I still think you are a naive young princess .”
I glare at him when he says the last word. “You’re wrong .”
The waitress interrupts us, bringing us plates of salmon with asparagus. I lift my fork and dig in, just needing my hands to do something. Otherwise, I might just do something stupid, like climb over the table and ring Killian’s neck .
“I know that you went to Yale to study theater. Who does that? You don’t go to Yale to study theater. You go to Yale to study business or economics or finance—something useful. It just goes to show that your father paid your way in, and you could only make it as a theater major .”