Page 29 of The Marriage Bid
Dinner was as Tyler said it would be. It was light, fun, and carefree. As carefree as a business dinner could be where the boss was present. The crew—Richard, the CFO; Quinn, the project manager; and Matt, Tyler’s assistant—were pleasant and easy to be around. Now that they didn’t have work to do, they were more than happy to include me in the group. The only person who wasn’t present was his driver, who had declined attending the dinner on account of some last-minute shopping he wanted to do.
Tyler had booked a table at the hotel’s restaurant, which, according to the Internet, was the best place to eat when you’re in Florence. Tyler looked more relaxed now than earlier, though that didn’t mean his gaze wasn’t making me less relaxed. He had his eye on me. He spent most of the dinner glaring at me. Even now that we were casually drinking, I still had his attention. Probably making sure I was on my best behavior and that I wouldn’t embarrass him in front of his colleagues. But I wanted to niggle at him.
“What’s it like working for him?” I said to Richard. We sat next to each other while Tyler was opposite us. Richard didn’t need me to repeat who I meant. He instantly knew. He chuckled. “Insane. I’ve never worked harder in my forty years than I didwith those two, but then money justifies it, you know what I mean?” He leaned forward, speaking conspiratorially even though our conversation was benign. I leaned into him for good measure and almost smiled when Tyler’s jaw ticked.
“He doesn’t seem like a good boss.”
Richard glanced at Tyler. He must have seen something because he immediately pulled back and said in a much more formal tone, “Working for Tyler is a great way to work for someone and not feel like a cog in a machine.”
“Richard. I doubt any CFO anywhere would feel like just a cog.”
He chuckled again. “You’d be surprised.” He slapped his hand on the table, brushing mine, which lay next to his. “I was at this tech startup once and…” his gaze caught Tyler and he went silent. I watched as the two men communicated something indecipherable with their eyes, and then Richard said, “It’s been lovely talking to you, Saff, I mean Saffron, but we have a plane to catch tomorrow and I need to sleep.”
I was about to say there’s no rush since it’s a jet and Tyler would hardly take off without him, but he was already leaving. Matt and Quinn were chatting together. They were deep in conversation, playfully arguing about movies I'd never heard of. I found their conversation so intimidating, being a film novice, that I dared not intervene, and now I was left alone with Tyler. He was still staring, self-satisfied with having chased Richard away. “Why did you do that?”
He shrugged. A smug, conceited shrug. “Do what?”
“You know what I mean! You made Richard go away!”
“He has an early day tomorrow, you heard the man.”
Tyler got up. Thinking he was leaving, I turned away from him and dug out my phone from my pocket, only to see him occupy Richard’s former seat. “What are you doing?”
“I wouldn’t waste my time on Richie if I were you. I don’t know if you noticed the ring on his finger.”
“That’s rich coming from Mr. Serial Adulterer, who’s been photographed with models and actresses from all over the world.”
Tyler raised his eyebrows. “You’ve been following my dating life?”
I snorted. “It follows me, not the other way around. You dated two of my colleagues.” Colleague was hardly the right word. They were more models in the business you occasionally work with. Since they were more famous than I, there was hardly any need for them to interact with me, but when we had to work together on a photoshoot, we would talk. One dated him for so long she thought he was ‘the one.’ It had been on the tip of my tongue the entire time to tell her that her boyfriend was married to me.
“And who would that be?”
“Zoe and Isla Fontaine? Please don’t tell me you’ve forgotten Isla? She thought you two were destined for marriage.”
“Oh her. She was cute and a little clingy. But you can hardly call our marriage a real one. It’s not as if you haven’t committed your own adultery. Unless, of course, you were waiting for me all this time. Pining for your old crush.”
“You think too highly of yourself.” But he was too close to the money. I spent most of the early years of our so-called marriage hoping he would come back to me. Hoping he would show up on my doorstep and tell me he missed me. And whenever I saw him pictured at a film premiere with his current girlfriend, my heart would twist, and part of me would harden until I realized that I was in love with a man who hated me before and hates me more now that he was forced to marry me.
“You’re telling me you never thought about that night?”
“No.” Yes. Every night when I went to bed, I put it on replay. I tried to be with other men, but they couldn’t measure up to the fireworks of that wedding night.
“Sure you have. You asked me about it today.”
I blushed. “Doesn’t mean I think about it. I was wondering why you were so bad at it. I’ve been with other men who are more experienced than your average college dude, and I gotta say, you rank at the bottom. I was only concerned, that’s all.”
His jaw ticked again. “Liar. You came like a rocket. Four times if I recall.”
“Soyouhaven’t forgotten about it.”
He turned to fully face me, his hand resting on the back of his chair. “We can replay it and see if you still think I rank at the bottom of all your lovers.”
“No, thanks.” I stood up. “Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.”
It felt so good to leave him at the table. I sashayed away, swaying my hips, knowing he was watching me. The tight little red dress I had on made my ass look bigger than it was, and I patted myself on the back for wearing it. Eat shit, Tyler.
I took the stairs. The elevator was a no-go zone after this afternoon’s disaster, but when I finally got to my room, Tyler was by his, waiting for me. He was leaning on the door, arms crossed, watching me make my way to him. My room was after his, and I had to pass through his to get there. I could go back, but that would only make me out to be the coward after I had shown him off so confidently.
