Maybe he knew something that she didn’t. Maybe it wasn’t about her. Maybe it was about him. A lonely man. A broken man, at heart. A man who came to her father for a partnership. A man her father had no doubt hired someone to look into before he made the crazy proposal of an arranged marriage of sorts.
He wasn’t trying to trade her away. Her dad loved her. She loved him. It had always just been them. Did he know something that she didn’t? Did he realize something that she hadn’t?
Was that small stirring in her chest, which went past mere physical attraction, actually something she could trust and listen to?
She didn’t want to. She didn’t want to listen. She didn’t want to trust.
“Alright.”
The word echoed through the car like cannon fire, bouncing around just as dangerous and as destructive.
“Alright?” Byron echoed, his eyebrows shooting nearly to his hairline.
If he was hot normally, he was irresistible when some real, true shock filtered through. His thick lashes swiveled up and down, as he blinked at her. For once it seemed like he was at a loss for something to say. Finally, she’d struck him speechless.
“Yeah. Okay. Waffles. Then you’ll leave me alone for good?”
“If that’s what you want.”
She already knew, in the deepest, most evil, devilish, pleasure seeking, orgasm loving, egocentric, darkest corner of herself that it wasn’t what she wanted. She also didn’t know if she could trust someone who had just put on such an elaborate ruse of tailing her across the country, lying about who he was, renting a house, renting a car, and making it all look natural. Should she run for her life or be flattered in a sick kind of way.
“It depends how good the waffles are,” she finally muttered. She held out her hand. “Now. My keys.”
“I’ll only give them back if you promise to meet me. You know that I’m going to hold you to it, now. If you don’t show, I’ll track you down and find you again until you give me that date.”
“That’s really creepy and way too stalkerish to be at all romantic.”
He winked. “I’m that serious about the waffles.”
“Well, if it’s just waffles you want, you can get those anywhere.”
Before she could pull away, he leaned across the seat and gave her a chaste kiss, just a brush of his lips on hers, but it turned her insides into fire. He pulled away before she could think fast enough to slap him.
“It’s not just the waffles.”
She still hadn’t formed words when he dumped the keys into her lap and slid effortlessly out of the car.
She waited until he was back behind her before she thrust her hand out the open window and flipped him off one more time for good measure.
He waved back at her and she knew that he’d won whatever war they were waging.
She also had to admit that just a little tiny part of herself was glad she’d lost.
EPILOGUE
Byron
“You know, I was thinking that it would be fitting it for the menu, we just requested ten different kinds of waffles and like, a hundred different toppings. Do you think anyone would complain if there were vegan and gluten free options?”
Noemi glanced up from the book she had spread across her lap. She was lounging by the pool, sunglasses and a little black bikini and all. She slid the glasses down her nose and turned to study him. He’d come up behind her, taking her by surprise, but she was used to him and all his surprises after two years together.
The little swell of her stomach was just noticeable, but only because he knew it was there and her bare, sun kissed stomach was on full display.
“You’d really do that to our guests?” She rolled her eyes, just to let him know how she felt without saying a word.
She was so damn beautiful it made him sweat a little extra under the dress shirt and dress pants he had on. He reached up and loosened his tie as she shifted the mass of her hair over her shoulder, like she knew what it did to him and wanted to draw any extra attention there that she could. He freaking loved the black mass of her hair. Loved running his fingers through it. Loved caressing it. Loved using it as a set… okay. He cut that thought off there before it was pretty damn obvious to any neighbors that might be on their decks and patios watching them just how he’d managed to put a baby in his fiancé’s belly.
“Well, we could have other options. Like waffles and chicken. Waffles and baked potatoes. Waffles with salad on top. Waffles on top a steak. Just as long as it involves waffles.”
“Are you going to explain to our guests why you have this waffles fetish?”