I returned to the table and opened up my newspaper. “What do you mean, you need to clean up your food truck?”
She didn’t. I’d had people do it for her. I just hadn’t told her that.
“Well, I need to get back to work and now we’re married and I’m done with the file. I’ll be ready for the board meeting in a month. So…” She shrugged her shoulders in her baggy, worn shirt. It was way too big for her, fit her like a dress, and had Jimi Hendrix on the front.
Probably an old boyfriend’s top. Instantly, I wanted to tell her to take it off.
After the good couple of weeks we’d had, I knew I couldn’t.
“I don’t think the food truck is a good idea.” This was going to be enough to push our day into negative territory anyway.
Immediately, the energy shifted in the room and on her face.
The fact I was even thinking about energies was a problem.
“I have to work, Bastian.”
I straightened my newspaper and turned the page. “You really don’t. You’re about to be a multimillionaire based on those shares alone. You could also sell your grandmother’s house.”
Considering she hadn’t moved on it yet.
“Oh, that’s smart.” Her tone was sarcastic. “Where will I live after all this ends then?”
“Here, of course.” Was she dense? I wasn’t going to be living here.
“This is your place. I wouldn’t continue to stay here.”
“This is our place,ragazza.”
“For now.” She plugged in a little ball that spurted her essential oils into the air or something. When the mist puffed from it, she squealed. “Perfect. It smells like lavender. We’re going to be so relaxed.”
I took a deep breath, hoping the air was wafting my way to calm me down right now. “If it’s just mine for now, how do you expect me to get the scents out of here when you leave?”
“I don’t know. You could sage the place or something. I didn’t even do that when I moved in. I probably should have, considering you’ve probably slept with women and brought bad—”
“I didn’t live here before.” I slammed the paper down.
“What?” Her eyes bugged out and she froze by the island counter that she’d practically morphed into a wellness station.
I sighed at my omission. “I bought the place for us.”
“No. I came here and you walked me through it…” She shook her head.
“I’d just purchased it. I figured it was close and you like tiles that look like the ocean.” I sounded idiotic, like I’d been pussy whipped from the beginning.
“The bathroom tiles?” Her jaw dropped. “Bastian, I can’t pay you back for that.”
“I don’t want you to.” I rubbed my eyes. “It’s just… I’m saying it’s here if you need it once we’re divorced. That’s all.”
She walked over to me as I lifted the newspaper back up and put her hand on it so we could stare at one another. “I don’t expect you to keep this place for me but thank you for buying it in the first place.”
Something was happening between us even if we were on good terms. I was falling down a damn slope into wanting Morina as more than just my arranged marriage partner. I didn’t know how to stop the descent. I didn’t know if I could.
She took a breath and clapped her hands, stepping away from me. “Anyway, I’ll be back from the food truck this evening and–”
“My driver will take you to the food truck and back.” I looked back down at my newspaper. “He can also be in the food truck with you for security purposes.”
“You want someone in the food truck with me?” she asked like it was ridiculous. “No.”