I’m sure my eyes widened. I spun away from him and grabbed a wipe to clean the counter. I needed something to do to get rid of this ball of tension building in my gut. “So, I’ll just ask him then. We can do whatever we want discreetly beforehand. It’ll be perfect.”
“Perfect?” he whispered like he was shocked at my line of thought. He’d started them though. He could end them too with just a few words.
Just ask me to go with you.
I stared at him, and he licked his lips. The man was holding steady to his original plan of us not being together and this being an easy six months.
I guessed the six months would be a bit harder with us attracted to one another.
“Okay, do you have a plan for the end of the night? Want to profess your love after seeing me with another man or something?”
“That would actually be believable,” he murmured, but he wasn’t looking at me anymore. “You should attend with whoever we like. The date will end with us together though. Do what you want discreetly beforehand. I’ll ask you to marry me by the end of the night publicly.”
“Just me?” I pointed to him. “You should bring someone too.”
His whole face contorted like I was ridiculous. “I don’t want to bring anyone, Morina.”
“Oh, like you don’t have some woman you can bring? This is good for us.” I was convincing myself and him at the same time. “I need you to bring someone, Bastian. It’s only fair that we both get some and have anoutlet.”
His jaw worked up and down, up and down. “This isn’t going to end well.”
“Of course it will,” I said it with confidence. “And once we’re well into the six months, we can separate officially. It can be public enough that we can date other people. That can still work right?”
He sighed and pulled at his neck before he answered. “If people know we respect and care for one another, everything will be fine. You’ll always be an Untouchable. We can discuss the oil company and I’ll go through the rest of the file with you. I’m happy to take you to the terminals and show you what I have planned for them too.”
I shut my eyes. Bastian was appeasing me and compromising for the good of the company. His words twisted my gut into a ball of frustration and something that felt a lot like a letdown. Why had I wanted him to say we could get together instead? We’d done it once before. Why not just do it again?
I’d kissed him. I’d scared him off and instead of wanting anything more with me, he wanted to distance himself with others in between us.
It was the right thing to do. Logical even.
Still… “I don’t need protection like this, Bastian. It feels like we’re both sacrificing so much now. If you’re worried about me, I’m fine. The sheriff knows about the break in at the food trucks and I can…I don’t need you to sacrifice just for my protection–”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” He lifted my chin and waited for me to open my eyes. Why was it that whenever he was nice to me, he looked just about my age, just about as mature as me, like we could be together, like he was a man I would be attracted to? “It was my decision to get engaged to you. I want this company to thrive and I want a hand in it. We can sleep with other people and still be married. Couples do that all the time.”
The coldness of his words, how he so easily tossed me aside even if I’d given him the go ahead had me nodding my head.
“Okay.”
“Okay?” He narrowed his dark eyes and searched mine. I turned away and grabbed a glass from the cupboard to get some water. I needed him to back up, which he did immediately. Without him near me, I would be able to think more logically.
“Yeah. I think it’s a great idea.” I downed the liquid and set the glass by the sink. Then, I stalked off to my room.
I texted Bradley and confirmed he would be my date to the gala.
The wheels were in motion.
I just hoped my heart wouldn’t get derailed.
26
Morina
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be there, Mo.” My friend sounded so broken-hearted over the phone. It was our one call every couple months as she traveled the freaking world.
“Don’t worry about it.” I brushed off her apology because she shouldn’t have felt bad. It was for no good reason. I’d cried enough for my grandma, and now I was pissed at her.
“She played Eminem at the funeral.”