Lie (Betrothed 8)

I wanted this fling to start right now.

“But you have to promise me something.” She dropped her eyes back to the table, like she needed a moment to gather her bearings before she said the next thing. “You said you keep your promises…so I trust you.”

This was taking a turn I did not expect. “What is it?”

She looked me in the eye, fear in her gaze. “You can’t fall in love with me.”

It took me a few seconds to process her request, because no woman had ever said anything like that to me like before. “Does that happen a lot?” Did she have many relationships with men that ended that way? I could believe it because she was incredible, but I was also a bit incredulous that a man would throw himself at her if she clearly didn’t feel the same way.

“Doesn’t matter if it has. This is about us, no one else. And I need you to make that promise.” Her eyes shifted back and forth as she looked into mine, anxiously waiting for me to say those words to give her peace of mind.

“And what if you fall in love with me?” I didn’t expect her to, but I didn’t understand why she treated this as a one-way street.

“I won’t allow myself to. And even if I do, I’ll never admit it.”

“Why?”

She tucked her hair behind her ear and shook her head slightly. “Because it just can’t happen. So, I need you to make that promise to me. I need this to have an expiration date. I need you to use me and disappear. I need you to get tired of me and forget about me.”

In my experience, women wanted the exact opposite. They wanted to be remembered, wanted to be worshiped. She wanted nothing from me, and for some reason, it was a little offensive. “I didn’t realize I was so terrible—”

“That’s not why,” she said quickly. “It’s not you…”

“Then why?” Why did she believe this relationship would turn into love? Maybe it was just inexplicable physical chemistry. Maybe we would fuck the way we fought, but then that would fade and we’d become indifferent to each other.

She ran her fingers through her hair and turned her face so she could look out one of her windows. She seemed to debate with herself in silence, to wonder if she should tell me about her thoughts. “I don’t want to sound crazy…” She turned back to me, releasing a sigh of resignation. “Do you believe in prophecies?”

That was the last thing I’d expected her to say.

“Like fate, fortune readings, stuff like that…”

I was silent because I didn’t know what to say. No, I’d never given thought to any of those things. “I believe we make our own fortune.” I didn’t believe the universe had a master plan for each of us, that we were stuck with whatever hand of cards we were dealt. We had choices, and those choices dictated our future. She seemed too smart to believe that nonsense, but even if she wasn’t, I didn’t know how that applied to our situation. “Why?”

She pulled her hands closer to her body, her fingers intertwining and fidgeting. “Forget it. It’s stupid. I’m just being paranoid…”

“Being paranoid about what?”

She shook her head quickly. “Forget I said anything.”

I wanted to know more, but it probably was stupid, so I let it go. “Forgotten.”

“I still need you to make that promise to me, though.” She lifted her gaze, patiently waiting to hear me say the words.

I was surprised it was so important to her. “I promise.” I’d never been in love, and I didn’t intend to be at any time in my life. I did want a deep and passionate relationship with this woman because it satisfied me, gave me a kind of excitement I hadn’t felt with anyone else. I wanted to be with her, completely, until it ended.

But that was it.

She breathed a sigh relief as if those words meant the world to her. “That makes me feel better. You don’t seem like the kind of man who would love a woman anyway, so it probably doesn’t matter.”

“Why do you say that?”

Once she’d heard my promise, she visibly relaxed, as if she’d just gotten the best news she’d ever heard. “You are so damn hot and rich. Men like that never settle down. There’s no reason to. There’s always another beautiful woman after the last beautiful woman.”

That accurately described my life. “I might settle down.”

She grew uncomfortable again. “Yeah…?”

“I’m not against the idea of being with one woman for the rest of my life.”

A slight look of surprise came into her face. “Really? Even as the Skull King?”

“If I really found a woman that I couldn’t live without, that I didn’t want to share, I wouldn’t be stupid enough to let her go.” I wasn’t sure why I said that to her when I hadn’t even said it to myself, but I knew how I felt about it. “I’ve been with a lot of women, but none of them mattered. If one of them did come to matter…” I shrugged. “I wouldn’t let her walk away.”