Except the last time I initiated a simple kiss between us and got brutally rejected slams to the forefront. What if he laughs at my proposition and says no?
Can I handle it?
The heat of his thumb on my lip falls away as he moves back. His expression becomes closed off. “We should talk about your meeting with my father.”
The abrupt change in the topic pulls me out of my dilemma. Could he listen to the debate going on inside my head?
How he can go from dripping with seduction to freezing cold boggles me.
“What do you wanna know?” I ask, my wayward thoughts scattering away.
“Everything. From the minute you walked into his office to the second you left.”
Clasping my hands together in front of me, I tell him about my morning. I don’t leave a single detail out except for the bad-mouthing of Iris as he listens raptly. His face is unreadable. A blank mask. Once I finish, he doesn’t say anything for the longest time.
“You won’t tell him anything without running it by me first.”
“Of course,” I promise. “I’ll keep as much distance from him as possible.”
“I will deal with Erika so she doesn’t repeat the mistake,” he assures me in a hard tone. “You also can’t let our personal lives get in the way of business, Arya. If anything out of the ordinary happens or you’re uncertain, check in with me.”
“It won’t happen again.” I’ve learned my lesson after today. “Can we talk about the leaked texts? It’s the second time someone’s tried to defame you.”
“What are you saying?”
“I believe somebody is out to ruin you. We should investigate and uncover the person to make them stop.”
“I am not involving the police,” he says resolutely.
“I’m not suggesting filing an FIR. We have a private freelance investigator at my firm who helps us with our clients. I think it’s wise to take their help and counter any future attack,” I urge him softly. “If you give me the go-ahead, I will reach out to her today.”
“I don’t see the point,” Nathan argues. “They’ve already gotten what they wanted. There are no more secrets related to my engagement.”
“What about secrets unrelated to it?” My tone is unflinching. “You underestimated the hacker the first time. Don’t do it again.”
A dark look passes through his eyes. “I don’t have any more ugly secrets.”
“Nothing at all?” My intuition screams he’s lying. “I need to know so I can protect you better.”
“I said no.”
“Fine,” I relent. Another pressing matter nags at me that I decide to address. “You need to trust my judgment and stop turning down my suggestions, Nathan. Or refuse to take them seriously. Last night was the perfect chance to interact with board members and you wasted it. If it’s how you’re going to continue to act, then I’ll let Radha take the lead. I get the feeling there was truth to your words when you assumed I was an intern. You weren’t just saying it as a jab at our first meeting. We can’t work together if you don’t respect my expertise and aren’t willing to meet me halfway.”
His shoulders pull taut, my words catching him off guard. I’m all for facing challenges and proving others wrong, but it’s impossible to do so when that person has already made up their mind. It’s like banging your head against the wall.
Ever so slowly, his features ease into admiration as he raptly studies me.
“I do respect your opinion, Arya,” says Nathan quietly. “I don’t want Radha.”
“Your actions speak otherwise.”
“Hire the freelance detective.” Tilting his head, he asks, “Does that prove to you I take you seriously?”
His acceptance feels like he is doing it to shut me up. “I want you to genuinely trust my skills.”
Stepping up to me, he tilts my chin to keep our eyes locked onto one another. In a somber voice, he assures, “I don’t let just anyone close to me, Ari. Whether in my personal life or at work. I’m not ignoring your ideas because I think less of you or that you aren’t amazing at what you do. Despite how I treated you in the past, you never once let it affect your job and backstabbed me. It made me respect you even more than I did from the start.”
“Then why?” I curl my fingers around his wrist, unable to stop myself from touching him. “Are you letting your ego get in the way? Talking to them doesn’t mean you’re bowing in defeat to them.”
