Page 52 of The Pakhan's Forced Bride
There is a pause, Ardalion’s body tenses. “Fine.”
I see his jaw clench, muscles rippling over his face. “I’ll be there.”
He hangs up. His eyes lift, and I can already see it written on his face.
“You have to go?” I say, pouting my lip out and turning the corners of my mouth down.
He nods. “I’m really sorry. I’ve got to go into the office for a few hours. It’s nothing to worry about—nothing for you to worry about, I mean.” He grins and touches my face. “But I can’t get out of it.”
“It’s okay. I understand,” I say quietly. I was thoroughly enjoying my time with Ardalion.
“Will you keep our picnic basket for when I get home? We can just move it to the balcony, finish the snacks and the champagne while we watch the sunset?” he suggests, making me feel a little better about cutting it short.
“That sounds perfect.” I smile, leaning over to kiss him. “You can go. I’ll pack up here. The sooner you get there, the sooner you’ll be home.”
He nods, standing up from the blanket.
“I’ll see you a bit later, Belle. Thank you so much for this. No one has ever taken me on a date before. This was—it was really special.” His smile is genuine and filled with warmth.
“Go on, I’ll see you in a bit.” I wave him off, my cheeks glowing with pride.
While I’m packing up, I think about how lovely it is to be around Ardalion. Maybe, instead of waiting till late afternoon to see him again, I’ll surprise him at the office with the rest of the picnic. He works so hard, and it’ll be so boring there for him all afternoon. I can make his day a little brighter by stopping by and saying hello.
I can’t believe no one has ever taken him on a date before. I imagined women would have been falling over themselves trying to impress him in the past. He’s a very dominant man, though; maybe he just never allowed anyone else the chance to take care of him in this way.
I’m happy it was me.
It means a lot that he let down his walls to allow me to do that for him.
Chapter 16 - Ardalion
I can’t believe I’ve been called away again.
This was quickly becoming the most perfect day, sitting on the grass with Belle, enjoying the sun and this amazing picnic she arranged just for me.
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the effort she put into it. I assumed that maybe she’d take me for lunch somewhere. Something normal, or easy. But she went out of her way to make the date special. I was being truthful when I told her that no one has ever done something like that for me before. I’m the one who plans things. I’m the one who has to take control and the one who looks after everyone else. My family relies on me. Everyone at work relies on me to tell them what to do.
People don’t do things for me—not like this.
I don’t ever get the opportunity to not have to think about things and just sit back and enjoy the experience.
Most of the time, I really don’t mind. I like being in control. But having Belle make the effort for me—it’s unexpected, and I’m disappointed to be called away and put an end to the perfect morning.
I walk across the lawn towards my car, leaving Belle behind in the warm sunshine alone. There is a smile on my face as I push my hands into my pockets. She was even ready for those pesky seagulls. People who don’t live near the beach don’t know how crazy they get. It was hilarious when they came down on her like a pack of savages to grab her donut. I enjoyed how she huddled against me for protection.
I glance over my shoulder to steal one last glance at her in the distance. She’s standing next to the picnic spot, her beautiful yellow sundress dancing in the breeze.
She looks as pretty as ever.
Sighing, I duck into my car and press the button on the dashboard to start the engine. It growls to life and I pull out of the parking area with my windows down, heading towards my office.
***
Nestor was only supposed to arrive in LA on Monday, but he’s here today instead because some shit went down, and that group of rivals attacked again. Emmanuil is still in the city, so he’s going to join as well, and we can try and come up with some kind of immediate solution to this issue without involving the previous generation of leaders and all their politics and ego issues. The last video meeting is a fine example of how everyone has an opinion, and nothing gets concluded. A waste of time.
I don’t want to waste another day where I’ve been pulled away from a lovely moment with Belle to sit in a pointless meeting.
But this one should be fine. It’s just Nestor, Emmanuil, and me. They aren’t like the others.
