Page 120 of Tiger's Curse
“Well, what I mean is, I—”
He leaned forward and spoke in a low voice, full of meaning, “Kelsey, Iknowyou reciprocate my feelings. Don’t pretend anymore that you don’t have them.”
When did he figure all this out? Maybe when you were kissing him like an idiot, Kells.I’d hoped that I’d fooled him, but he could see right through me. I decided to play dumb and pretend I didn’t know what he was talking about.
I waved my hand in the air. “Okay! Yes! I admit that I’m attracted to you.”
Who wouldn’t be?
“But it won’t work out,” I finished.There, it was out.
Ren looked confused. “Why not?”
“Because I’m too attracted to you.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying. How can your being attracted to me be a problem? I would think that’s a good thing.”
“Fornormalpeople . . . it is,” I stated.
“So I’m not normal?”
“No. Let me explain it this way. It’s like this . . . a starving man would gladly eat a radish, right? In fact, a radish would be a feast if that’s all he had. But if he had a buffet in front of him, the radish would never be chosen.”
Ren paused a moment. “I don’t get it. What are you saying?”
“I’m saying . . . I’m the radish.”
“And what am I? The buffet?”
I tried to explain it further. “No . . . you’re the man. Now . . . I don’t really want to be the radish. I mean, who does? But I’m grounded enough to know what I am, and I amnota buffet. I mean, you could be having chocolate éclairs, for heaven’s sake.”
“But not radishes.”
“No.”
“What . . .” Ren paused thoughtfully, “if I like radishes?”
“You don’t. You don’t know any better. I’m also really sorry that I’ve been so rude to you. I’m not normally. I don’t know where all the sarcasm comes from.”
Ren raised an eyebrow.
“Okay. I have a cynical, evil side that is normally hidden. But when I’m under great stress or extremely desperate, it comes out.”
He set down my foot, picked up the other one, and began massaging it with his thumbs. He didn’t say anything, so I continued, “Being coldhearted and nasty was the only thing I could do to push you away. It was kind of a defense mechanism.”
“So you admit you were trying to push me away.”
“Yes. Of course.”
“And it’s because you’re a radish.”
Frustrated, I said, “Yes!Now that you’re a man again, you’ll find someone better for you, someone who complements you. It’s not your fault. I mean, you’ve been a tiger so long that you just don’t know how the world works.”
“Right. And howdoesthe world work, Kelsey?”
I could hear the frustration in his voice but pressed on. “Well, not to put too fine a point on it, but you could be going out with some supermodel-turned-actress. Haven’t you been paying attention?”
Angrily, he shouted, “Oh, yes, indeed Iampaying attention! What you are saying is that I should be a stuck-up, rich, shallow,libertinewho cares only about wealth, power, and bettering my status. That I should date superficial, fickle, pretentious, brainless women who care more about my connections than they do about me.Andthat I am not wise enough, or up-to-date enough, to knowwhoI want orwhatI want in life! Does that about sum it up?”
