Page 79 of Arrogant and Merciless

“I don’t mean to be rude, but that’s none of your business.”

“Everything about you is my business, for now.”

I notice a few staff members passing by, curiously observing our interaction. “We shouldn’t be talking here. People are watching.”

“I’m coming with you.”

“To a bookstore?”

He looks surprised. Where did he think I was going? To meet someone? A man? “Mmhmm.”

“I didn’t invite you.”

“I’m inviting myself.”

“Why?”

“I need to buy a book too.”

“I changed my mind.”

“Don’t be childish.”

“I’m not. I just have plans afterward.”

“What plans?” he asks, suspicious, which annoys me.

I should tell him to mind his own damn business—but I’m weak when it comes to him. “Fine. But don’t laugh at my book choices.”

“What kind do you like?”

“I don’t remember. But I have a game in mind—when I stop in front of one that makes my heart race, that’s the one I’ll take.”

William

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

"When I stopin front of one that makes my heart race, that's the one I'll take."

They were almost the exact same words she said to me in the shower that weekend:"As long as you make my heart race, I'll stay."

Liar.

I pretend to browse the shelves while forcing myself to focus on the present, but being here feels like a replay of the day I found her buying books. I deliberately brought her to the same bookstore, and even if she might be faking everything else, it doesn’t take me long to realize that Taylor genuinely loves books.

I watch closely as she passes by the classics section but doesn’t stop at the Jane Austen box set.

“I already have that one,” she says.

“I was with you the day you bought it.”

“You were?”

“Yes.”

“Can you tell me something about the past?”

“What do you want to know?”

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