Page 101 of Carnal Games

A glimpse of what our future could be like.

Only for my fantasy to burst when he curiously asks, “Why are you marrying so young?”

I contemplate how to answer while sipping my tea, which is really amazing. He’s intelligent enough to know I’m stalling, but not gentlemanly enough to give me an out. So, I give him the half-truth. “Because it’s one of my dreams to marry the man I love and build a life with him and have kids and a big house. My parents have an amazing marriage. I want what they have. So, I don’t want to wait once I find the man meant for me.”

“Found,” Kian says tightly.

“What?”

“You said find the man.” Zooming in on my ring, he states, “But you found him. Didn’t you?”

Pushing past the sudden dryness in my throat, I lie, “I did.”

“What about your career?” Kian counters after a tense beat. A furrow between his brows. “You haven’t even graduated.”

“Why does it have to be one or the other? I want both and I don’t care what the world says that women can’t have both. I’ll prove them wrong. When you meet the one, everything fallsinto place. I’m not saying it’ll be easy balancing both in the beginning, but I…”

“Like a challenge.”

I chuckle, making his gaze drop to my mouth. “What about you?”

Like a curtain on a stage, his walls come up. As if the last hour was my imagination. “I don’t believe in love. So, no, I don’t think marriage is in the cards for me.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“The same way you’re sure about Nathan.” Wiping his mouth with a tissue, he balls it and stands up, grabbing his plate too. “Thanks for the breakfast, Miss Mannan.”

“You’re leaving.” I stand up too, following him to the kitchen.

“I have a meeting.”

“But it’s Sunday.”

“Not in Boston.” Before I can stop him, he has both our plates washed and drying on the countertop. On his way past, he says, “See you tomorrow. Come and lock the door.”

I mutely trudge after him.

Why is he always running away from me?

Stepping into the hall, he turns, “And, Miss Mannan?”

“Yeah?”

“This breakfast was a one-time thing.”

No way. Nuh-uh. “We’ll see.”

“That’s not—”

“Buh-bye,” I sing, cutting him off. “You don’t wanna be late for your meeting.”

I hear him curse something likesmart-ass.

Then I shut the door in his too stunned face.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Kian

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