Page 59 of The Pakhan's Kidnapped Bride
“I don’t care where you choose. It’s the company that makes all the difference.”
She lifts her head to look at me. Our eyes lock as the city glimmers beneath us. I want to kiss her, and it looks as though she has the same thought flickering through her mind. But we both know what happened last time we stepped past that boundary.
Things between us are good at the moment.
If I kissed her, would she be filled with regret again? Would she put another wall up between us?
It’s not worth the risk, Emmanuil. Just enjoy the moment as it is.
I drag my eyes off her, clenching my jaw and looking out over the horizon.
“It’s wild how far you can see from up here,” I say, trying to distract my mind and body from her magnetic pull.
She’s got a power over me that I can’t explain.
“It must look just as beautiful in the daylight,” she says, her voice touched with disappointment as she turns her head away from me as well.
She wanted you to kiss her.
It doesn’t matter. It’s safer not to get involved like that.
After our ride on the Ferris wheel, we had coffee on the pier. Leaning against the metal railing as we watch waves crash against the walls. We walk along the pier, chatting about life and the latest book she read. Anya has slipped her high heels off andis walking barefoot, letting her heels hang from her fingers as she swings her arm back and forth. She hasn’t stopped smiling.
Neither have I.
I have missed these small moments more than I even understood or realized. In my loneliness, I was so focused on my hurt. I haven’t been enjoying my life, not fully. With Anya at my side, the hollow space in my chest is no longer there.
It scares me to think what is going to happen when this is all over.
Because all this is a business deal, right? Some kind of mutual agreement between two people who were once in love.
This isn’t anything more than that, and I’m stupid if I get attached all over again.
When the walk is over and we’ve driven all around the city, and we’ve had desert and coffee and talked and laughed until our cheeks ached, it’s time to go home.
We drive in comfortable silence, my heart still teasing me with the idea of kissing her. But I’ve come this far through our evening together, and I’ve stayed in control.
Just a little while longer, then we’ll say goodnight and go our separate ways.
Chapter 18 - Anya
It’s been the most incredible night. I can’t stop smiling. Every moment of it, Emmanuil went out of his way to make it special. And the moments that weren’t planned, the spontaneous pieces in between, were just as beautiful.
I honestly thought he was going to kiss me on the Ferris wheel. I wanted him to. I desperately wanted it. But I can’t force something that isn’t there.
He’s been so gentle with me. Caring and thoughtful. We’re becoming friends again, and that alone is something I can be deeply grateful for.
Besides, I don’t want to do anything stupid and end up in another embarrassingly awkward moment like the one I experienced after we had sex.
Driving home, I’m disappointed that the night has come to an end.
I’m not ready to go to bed, even though I’m happily tired.
Emmanuil parks the car outside the mansion and shuts off the engine. We both sit for a moment in the dark. It’s quiet, and my heart is screaming at me to kiss him. But I don’t. I push the passenger door open and climb out.
We walk together towards the front door.
The comfortable silence has turned somewhat tense. It’s likely just me, reading into things. I’m the tense one.
