Nope, I was still in my mom’s bathroom. Zayden was still partially naked and he was looking at me with a gaze that I had never quite seen on his face before.
“I’m sorry, what?” I asked, almost on the verge of nervous laughter.
“I said.” He walked further towards me and kneeled across from me so we were almost eye-to-eye. He took my hands in his, looked me straight in the eyes, and said once more, “Aria, please marry me. I love you.”
THE BOSS #5
Chapter One
Aria
I stared at Zayden, comically kneeling in front of me half naked while I sat on a toilet seat, asking me to marry him, and burst out laughing. There was no way he was being serious. For one, he had yet to tell me he loved me. And we hadn’t even been dating that long – granted, the few months we had shared each other’s company was rather eventful – and he had already been married once, so I kind of assumed he wouldn’t be interested in going down that road again. No, the only logical explanation was that he had been joking and I would make a complete fool of myself if I were to take him remotely seriously.
“Sure,” I said, trying to make a straight face. “Let’s run off to Vegas tomorrow and get hitched. Would you like a couple dozen babies to go with the marriage?”
Zayden raised his eyebrows high and screwed his nose upwards in confusion. “I mean…sure, kids, yeah. I am not sure about dozens though. How about just three or four? After you’re settled in your career, of course.”
“What career?” I played along with a completely serious face. “I don’t suppose I will be requiring much of a career after marrying you, now will I?”
He chuckled. “Okay. You can stay home and spend all my money if you like, but I have the slightest bit of a suspicion that you won’t be happy unless you’re trying to run my company for me.”
“Nah! What’s the point of tricking a rich businessman to fall for you if you’re not going to spend the rest of your life lying around doing nothing?”
“Oh, so this was your grand plan the entire time?” He grinned. “That makes a whole lot of sense.”
“Mm-hmm,” I said, putting my hands over his head and pulling him towards me for a quick peck on the lips. “Now we should probably start putting some clothes on.”
I got up and started looking for my panties. But Zayden remained on the floor on his knees, looking intense.
“This is not a joke, Aria. I would actually like us to be married. Sooner rather than later, if that is okay with you.”
It took me quite a while to process the fact that Zayden was being completely serious. Suddenly, all humor disappeared from the room, and my giggles were replaced only by the thudding sound of my own heart, which was now pounding as though I had just gotten off the scariest roller coaster in existence.
I tried to open my mouth and speak a few times. A futile effort, since my tongue now pretended it was glued into my mouth, and words were alien concepts to which it had never been introduced. My mind, on the other hand, was working on extra-time, trying to understand the meaning behind Zayden’s request. Marry him? Perhaps he meant something else? Like, uh, like…
“Do you know what you are saying?” I finally summoned the ability to make some sounds and sounded idiotic.
“Not at all. I’m just blabbing on nonsensically.” He shook his head sarcastically. “Seriously Aria, yes or no? Will you marry me?”
“You know I once took an advanced level college Economics test while I was still a sophomore in high school. I have never in my life encountered anything as difficult as that test had been that afternoon. One particular question got me so stumped; I threw up and ran out of the exam hall.”
“What does that have to do with anything we are discussing?” Zayden asked impatiently.
“I thought that would be the hardest question I had ever been expected to answer in my whole life,” I said. I added softly, “Until now.”
Zayden’s face changed colors so fast, I felt that I must have been imagining it for a little bit. I had never seen him so red, and wasn’t sure it particularly worked towards adding charms to his handsome features. If someone had told me Zayden Sinclair was capable of blushing to begin with, I would have laughed in their face. But watching his perfect olive skin get patched with deep red, while his eyes focused firmly on the bathroom floor, made me feel thoroughly uncomfortable.
Was he nervous?
Embarrassed?
What had I said or done wrong?
Zayden was demonstrating a sign of weakness like he never had before, and I knew right that moment that I never wanted to see him that way again. Weakness did not suit this incredible man. He was better than that.
When he spoke next, his voice was shaky, to my surprise. “I get it. It’s okay.” He wasn’t looking at me still, but I finally understood. He thought I didn’t want to marry him. Ever.
“I haven’t said no,” I offered sweetly. “It’s just…it all seems so ridiculously sudden. You’ve never even told me you love me.”