“I want to ask you a few questions, then I’ll order us lunch.”
“Okay.”
“Do you remember on which street he got off the bus?”
I filter through the memories and remember the bus conductor announcing the street name right before the bus stopped. “It was Balaji Road.”
“Who else got off at the stop?”
“Just him and a random girl.”
“Which area did your car break down? Do you remember the time?”
“Margaret Street. I had my car towed before taking the bus around twelve-thirty pm.” His interrogation makes me apprehensive. “Why are you asking all of this?”
“You don’t need to know,” he mysteriously answers. Kissing my forehead, he switches the subject. “Should I order Chinese like last time for you?”
“Yes, please.”
Sidestepping me, he heads for the exit and pulls out his phone. He’s almost to the door when I blurt out before I can think better of it, “Do you think you can fall in love again?”
With me?my heart screams. Because I think I’m falling for you.
He turns, face devoid of emotions. “What makes you think I waseverin love?”
“Weren’t you?”
Nothing in his expression changes as he watches me intensely. My stomach knots, waiting for him to shut me out when suddenly his gaze turns warm yet sad. “I thought I was. But I am not so sure anymore.”
Because of me?
He twists and walks out, leaving me speechless and in suspense.
***
Nathan also got me a tub of strawberry ice cream—my favorite, even though I’ve never told him—and chocolates. My heart full, I glance at him with Pihu cozying up on his lap. “How did you know I like strawberry ice cream?”
Petting Pihu’s fur, he answers, “Saw the leftover tub the last time I was here.”
“I didn’t know you were this observant,” I tease. “You’d make one hell of a detective.”
His lips quirk. “I might have to switch professions if I’m not the CEO after the next board meeting.”
“I won’t let that happen.”
“I believe you.”
“What then?” I sense he wants to say something more.
Tilting his head against the back of the couch, he shares, “I don’t think it’ll bother me if they chose someone else.”
His revelation shocks me. “I thought you loved your company. You’re an amazing leader and businessman, Nathan. I researched Singhania and Sons and you’ve taken it to heights your father couldn’t.”
“I was never supposed to be the leader,” he tightly says. “The legacy was Kian’s to carry.”
Except he left their family and built his own from the ground up. There are rumors circulating but I don’t know the real story or reason behind Kian’s separation from his family.
“I was just a replacement,” Nathan utters, staring at the ceiling. There’s a deeper meaning in his statement that I can’t pinpoint.
