A laugh builds inside my chest.
I haven’t looked at another woman since she came into my life like a wrecking ball. Even when Samaira was on my arm, my eyes were tracking her around the room.
“I want you there as my publicist, Ari.”
A flash of pain flickers on her face when I say her nickname before she masks it with a professional veneer.
I ache to lean closer and pull her into my arms. Every inch of me hurts from having her so close and not being able to touch her.
But I can’t be the wound and the balm.
I try convincing her with another tactic. “It’ll make my father suspicious if you aren’t with me.”
She mulls it over, biting the inside of her cheek. When her lips part, I’m certain she’ll give in. Instead, she proves me wrong.
“I don’t think I can,” she says resolutely. “I have prior commitments that I can’t move. I’ll find a way to distract your father from here.”
“All your hard work will be in vain if he gets wind of our plan,” I lie.
“Then you better be discreet.” Wrapping a hand around the straps of her purse, she asks, “Anything else you want to go over? If not, I need to go.”
She’s in a hurry to run while I scramble for a reason to make her stay a little longer.
Oh, how the tables have turned.
“Did you drive here?” I ask.
“No, I took a cab.” Taking that as a cue to end our meeting, she stands and hefts her purse onto her shoulder. “Email me if you have any questions about the report.”
“Let me drop you off.”
Her shoulders go rigid. “No thanks.”
“It doesn’t have to be like this, angel,” I sigh.
“It’s what you wanted.” Anger sharpens the contours of her face. “Don’t regret it now.”
“You’re acting like you can’t stand to be in the same room as me.”
“Do you want to know the first thing I promised myself after Aryan left me at the altar and I spent months locked in an apartment?” She leans over the table and answers fiercely, “That I’ll never let another man toy with my heart. And your little speech about protecting me? Bullshit. You’re protecting yourself because you’re afraid to be vulnerable and let someone love you.”
After giving me a look full of pity, she turns and walks away.
Chapter Forty
Arya
“A blind date?” exclaims Noor, gaping at me through the phone. “Wait… did Anaya coerce you? Blink twice if yes.”
Up until an hour ago, I was pondering if I woke up on the wrong side of the bed because there’s no way I said yes to Anaya setting me up on a blind date.
Then again, I’m full of surprises lately.
“Shut up!” huffs Anaya. “I merely told her I may have found the perfect man for her and she was intrigued.”
I wasn’t intrigued—still am not.
I just don’t want to be alone because my mind drifts to Nathan like a broken hand on a clock. The devastation has become like a living, breathing thing behind my ribs. I let it simmer for too long and it’ll consume me until I wouldn’t want to get out of my bed.
