Page 14 of His Scarlette Obsession
If she needs reminding, I’ll give it to her.
Time to teach my little Scarlette Hood what it means to be engaged to the Big Bad Wolf.
Scarlette
“Earth to Scarlette, hello?”
Vaughn smiles at me in amusement when I blink at him in surprise. “This is your first time to not say hi to me when I come in. Should I be worried?”
I can only smile weakly while hiding my unease. I know he’s just teasing, and he doesn’t really care (he never has) if I notice him or not, but I can’t believe I’ve just ignored Vaughn, whom I’ve been crushing on my entire life.
Is this, like, the Lykan Qahiri Syndrome? And if it is, I need to find out a cure. ASAP.
“Sorry,” I say awkwardly, pushing my cold coffee around in circles. “Just thinking.”
Vaughn pulls out the chair across from me and sits down, his worn leather messenger bag dropping to the floor beside him. Today’s cardigan is forest green with—surprise, surprise—leather patches at the elbows. His light brown hair is rumpled as always, like he just rolled out of bed after a night with his favorite Hemingway novel.
“About?” he prompts, signaling to Grandma Jackie for his usual order.
How to answer that?
Oh, nothing much, just how I’ve apparently agreed to marry a billionaire sheikh who might be demolishing this bakery unlessI go through with our fake engagement, and oh by the way, I’m suddenly questioning my lifelong crush on you because one kiss from him made me feel more than fifteen years of pining after you ever did?
Yeah, that would go over well.
“HR stuff.” This is not a lie.Right?“You know how it is.” I mean, he’s part of HR, by virtue of being, well, human.
Vaughn chuckles. “Like the time you included that fake employee in the newsletter?”
“Noh E. Tall was a valued team member,” I say primly, and Vaughn’s laugh—the one I’ve memorized like my favorite song—makes me smile despite everything.
This is familiar. This is safe. This is what I’ve always wanted, isn’t it? Easy banter with the boy who’s starred in every daydream I’ve had since I was sixteen. The boy who’s always been completely oblivious to my feelings.
So why does it suddenly feel...notenough?
“You’ve got whipped cream on your face,” Vaughn says, leaning forward.
Before I can react, his thumb brushes the corner of my mouth, wiping away a dot of cream from my coffee. It’s an innocent gesture, one he’s done a hundred times before.
And I feel...nothing.
No electric tingles. No racing heart. No burning blush.
Just...nothing.
What is happening to me? Could Lykhan Qahiri Syndrome be really a thing?
“Seriously, though,” Vaughn says, leaning forward. “You seem different today. Everything okay?”
I take a deep breath. Might as well get this over with.
“I’m engaged,” I blurt out.
Vaughn freezes, coffee mug halfway to his lips. “You’re what?”
“Engaged. To be married.”
“To who?” The mug clinks loudly against the table. “Since when do you even date? I thought you were—”
