Page 184 of Tall, Royal Hater
“Why are you fucking stalking me?” I snapped.
“I’m not,” he said calmly, but there was a shiver of cold in the background of his raspy voice that made my guilty conscience prickle. “I wanted to make sure you got home safely.”
I dramatically flared my arms out. “Well now you know, so piss the fuck off and stop lingering like a fucking creep.”
“I’ll leave,” he said, easing a step closer. “But I’ll be back in the morning to pick you up for work.”
“What? No. I don’t want you dropping me off to work or picking me up or whatever, Shehryar.”
A frown weighed over his brows. “Why not?”
I opened and closed my mouth on incoherent noises before I snapped it shut. “What do you mean ‘why not’?” I jabbed a finger into his chest. “Because you’re not my boyfriend, Shehryar, that’s why.”
It was the wrong thing to say.
Determination darkened his gaze as he moved closer and closer until I had to tilt my head back to keep my eyes on his. All the hairs on my skin stood to attention as my heart pumped harder. The heat radiating off his body was so inviting, and his clean, citrusy scent made my belly flop about.
Angry, remember? So angry.
“Why did you come outside, Mariyah?”
My body was on a mission, trying to fight the effect of his proximity on my brain, heart, and senses, delaying my answer. “Wha…” I gave a slight shake of my head. “Because you’ve been standing outside my building for nearly an hour, Shehryar.”
“You could’ve ignored me.”
I could have. But I didn’t. Because I couldn’t. Not really.
And he knew that. He saw it.
A blush attacked my cheeks, but I gritted my teeth and smiled sarcastically. “Thanks for the suggestion.”
I tore away, ready to charge off, but he caught me by the arm and dragged me almost flush against him. “There’s no pretending to hate each other anymore, Mariyah,” he said, his voice low and gravelly. “Not when we know what it feels like to be on each other’s side. And you still feel it even if you’re angry. That’s why you came out here.” He brushed the back of his cold fingers against my cheek. “Because you want us to be together, but you need me to know that you’re still angry. You need me to know I still have a lot of work to do before you forgive me.”
He’s wrong. He’s wrong. You’re wrong.
That’s what I wanted to spit at him. But he wasn’t entirely wrong.
I was more angry than I was hurt. And even then, it wasn’t the kind of anger where I wanted nothing to do with him ever again. But I refused to take him back without the guarantee that something like that would never happen again. For that, I had to give him a chance to prove himself, but whether I wanted to give him that chance was the real question.
“And I’m willing to put in the work,” he continued. “Which is why you should take advantage of everything I’m giving you and put me to the test. Let me buy you breakfast. Let me drive you to work and pick you up. Let me fill your shelves with new books and make you dinner.
“Let me spoil you, Mariyah. Give me a chance to show you how much I want you in my life. And not just for now or for sex. But for everything else too. And for a long time. A long, long time.”
Doubt? Where? At least not in his voice.
He knew what he was saying. His heart was displayed in his piercing stare, vouching for every word.
Even as stubborn, petty, and proud as I was, I couldn’t deny his earnestness.
Didn’t make me any happier about the situation or any less determined to kick his arse, but…
“Fine,” I gritted out and stepped back. “But let’s set some ground rules.” I lifted a hand, raising one finger for each requirement. “No sex. No excessive touching. Don’t ask me if I’ve forgiven you. Actually, limit how much you talk to me entirely. You buy me coffee every day and the books I want. You take me wherever I want, whenever I want. You don’t bother me when I don’t want you around. And no calling yourself my boyfriend until I say you can.”
“Done,” he said with confidence. “But I want to set some rules of my own.”
I reared back, brow arched. “You really think you’re in a position to be making demands?”
“Only two.” He grazed his fingers so slightly along my jaw. “You sit up front in the car wherever we go. And if you consent to it, I still want to be able to kiss you.”
