“How do I not know about this? How could you discuss me with Caleb?” Skylar asked, feeling upset with her brother. She couldn’t believe Caleb had kept secrets from her.
“No one knows except me and Sebastian. “Lillian told us.” Christian knew she was getting worked up, but he had promised to open up if she agreed to go on a date with him. He had intended to tell her more, but maybe she wasn’t ready for his confession yet. It might complicate things between them. The server arrived for their order and the discussion ended for a while. After he left, Skylar looked up at Christian, her eyes full of curiosity.
“So what else did you discuss about me?” Christian smiled with her enthusiasm. Could he tell her exactly what they discussed? Maybe he could, if not all of it. He could tell her some of it.
“We discussed our wedding.” I watched her jaw-dropped look with amusement.
“Who’s wedding?”
“Yours and mine!” Skylar couldn’t believe the bombshells he had been throwing at her since they arrived here.
“How can that be possible? “I was supposed to marry Sebastian.”
“Seb has always loved Erica. “I have backed out of this wedding years ago, leaving me to marry you,” said Christian. Before Skylar could react, the server arrived with their food. Skylar pondered over what he just told her. So he knew all along that he would marry her! Did Caleb know? Why didn’t he tell her? Why didn’t anyone prepare her for this?
“Did Caleb know about this?” Christian shook his head, making her feel a little better. She would have been terribly upset if Caleb had let her down. Ever since their parents died, she looked up to him for comfort. He was more to her than her older brother. He was her family, her guide, her protector.
“Seb didn’t want anyone to know, especially Grandpa Ben.” Skylar helped herself to the food, glad that she agreed to this date. Christian had kept his promise so far and answered all her questions honestly. She hadn’t expected it out of him when he had been playing a mind game with her since they met.
“Do you like the food, Skylar?” She looked up into his eyes, seeking hidden implications for his question, but found none. His eyes portrayed sincerity, honesty, and an expression that she couldn’t decipher. Was it a combination of longing and desire? No, she was hallucinating!
“Yes, I love it. “Thank you.” Christian smiled with relief and looked away. He masked his feelings from her, but it was getting too difficult for him. He had longed for this date for so long. Now, when it was actually happening, he was at a loss. He wanted to do so much with her that one date wasn’t enough.
“Why do you want to marry me, Christian? Didn’t you have ample opportunities to back out of it?” Christian was quiet for a moment, concentrating only on his food. Maybe he hadn’t heard her! Skylar was about to repeat her question when he released a deep sigh and looked up at her.
“This will be the last question I’ll answer, Skylar. Grandpa Ben gave me an ultimatum two years ago. I had two choices. Either I left my ways and listened to him or he would disown me from the family business. It brought me back to reality, and I changed myself. I came back home. He made me sign an agreement that the business will be mine only when I get married and settled down in life. Until then, Seb would manage everything.” He sipped some water while Skylar gave him a jaw-dropped look. Lillian was right. He has agreed to marry her because of his business. Would he throw her out of his life once he gets his business?
“But Sebastian you have eloped. Who’s looking after it now?”
“Grandpa Ben is managing it, but he can’t travel much. That’s why he wants me to get engaged to you and start handling the business.” Skylar frowned at their reasoning, wondering why Grandplips, a Ben was being so impossible.
“What difference would it make to your business if you aren’t married?” she scoffed.
“You can ask Grandpa Ben. I’m totally clueless about it. Anyway, that’s not my only motivation, though!” Skylar waited breathlessly for him to confess his other motive, but he didn’t. Instead, I relished his food, all the while watching her with an amused look on her face.
“What’s the other motive?” she asked impatiently.
“That’s all for this date. If you want to know more, you have to go out with me again.”
“Oh!” She chewed her lips, considering his offer. She was bursting with curiosity to know about the secrets he kept buried in his heart.
“Don’t,” he said, gesturing towards her lips. She gave him a wide-eyed, lost look.
“What?”
“Don’t chew them. It might give me ideas!” His eyes twinkled with amusement as two bright specks appeared on his cheeks. Was he flirting with her?
“They’re mine. “I’ll do anything I like with them.” She tried to concentrate on her food, but his unwavering stare was unnerving her. What was this strange awareness? Wasn’t she immune to the man?
“They’ll soon be mine and I’d like to do anything with them.” He chuckled at her reaction. The fork fell from her hands to the plate with a resounding clang, and she gaped at him with disbelief.
“You’re crazy! Do you know that? Stop daydreaming, Christian. Even if we’re forced to marry, it will be a temporary one. Like a contract marriage in name only. The day you get the reins of the company, you can give me a divorce.” Christian scowled, not liking her idea at all.
“Not happening at all, Skylar. We will marry for life and it will be an actual marriage. “I won’t be able to face my parents when I visit them every year.” Skylar knew what he meant. He might visit his parents’ grave every year while she visited every month. She couldn’t argue after that admission. She too wouldn’t be able to face her parents if she didn’t act on their last wish.
Skylar was exceptionally quiet throughout the rest of the meal. It worried Christian a little, but he didn’t bring up the topic again. He wanted to enjoy the temporary trick between them while it lasted.
After dinner, Skylar was ready to leave, but it seemed he had other things lined up for her. “Let’s go to the lakeside for a walk.”
She liked the well-lit pier on the serene lake at the far end of the sprawling premises. It was less crowded and looked rather calm, beckoning her to dip her feet in the cool waters below. She nodded, walking alongside Christian as he led her towards a pier at the farthest end. It was narrower than the main pier and secluded, too.
“Can I dip my feet into the water?” she asked, peering from the edge.
“Sure.” Skylar grinned with happiness while Christian watched her without batting an eyelid. She fascinated him every time. While other girls of her age found happiness in receiving expensive gifts, she loved getting her feet wet in the cold lake waters.
Skylar played with the cool water, slowly dangling her legs in it. She felt free, happy, and relaxed. “You can dip your legs too, Christian.”
He smiled and opened his shoes and socks, his gaze pinned on her radiant face. Would she like him a little more if he listened to her?
Rolling up his trousers, he dipped his legs in the cool water while she gaped at him with disbelief. She hadn’t expected him to listen to her at all. Christian held her gaze expectantly, waiting for her to accept him in her life.
“How does it feel?” she asked him expectantly.
“Tingling, relaxing!” he whispered, watching her face brighten up with a smile.
“I know, right? My friends and I do it all the time. Alyssa doesn’t just dip her feet, she loves to stay in the water. Eva prefers to splash her face and go boating while Sienna prefers to just scold us. Hayley is just like me and does whatever I do.” Christian intently listened to her rambling, absorbing every piece of information he could get about her. Of course, he knew her friends, having kept tabs on her for the last two years. He had seen them at her prom!
“I’m so glad Hayley is in the same college as I am. “We hang out whenever we’re free, but it’s not the same as it was in school,” Skylar rambled on, all the while dangling her feet in the cool water.
“We used to go out with granny and grandpa when in school. Alyssa, Eva, Sienna, Hayley, and sometimes Caleb, Alexander and Ashton would accompany us. “It was so much fun.” Christian knew Alexander was Alyssa’s older brother, while Ashton was Alexander’s best friend. A strange jealousy coursed through his body at the mention of them. Did Skylar like Alexander or Ashton? Was that the reason she was refusing to marry him?
He was so absorbed in his thoughts that Skylar’s next question caught him unaware.
“Oh, I’m so crazy. How would you know them?” Skylar felt conscious of herself for getting carried away. She had hardly expected herself to open up to Christian ever in her life. What might he think about her?
“I know them all.” It escaped his mouth before he could realize it.