Chapter 44
Mariyah
T he next morning as I exited my apartment building to head to the bus stop, I came face to face with Shehryar again.
Same position against the same black car—likely a rental—same coat, different trousers—dark blue jeans this time—and in his hand was a takeaway coffee cup and brown paper bag.
I clenched my teeth and spurned him with a roll of my eyes, but his stupid-arse humongous body blocked my way on the pavement.
“Morning,” he said and held up the cup and bag. “I brought you breakfast.”
“I don’t want it.”
Undeterred, he added, “It’s a hazelnut cappuccino with a swirl of cream, and a carrot cake muffin and chocolate twist.”
Fucking Neves. My favourites. Everything. He knew it exactly.
My mouth watered greedily as I glared between the items in his hands and his stupidly patient expression. My stubborn pride demanded I tell him to shove it up his arsehole, but my caffeine-addicted body was weak, and the smell of freshly baked goods…fuck…
“Take them, Mariyah,” he said softly. “I’m not going to assume you’ve forgiven me just because you do. And they’ll go to waste if you don’t.”
I blamed my parents who’d taught me not to be wasteful as I took them from him. Plus, I was soon to be unemployed and needed to save money, so I’d accept a breakfast I hadn’t had to pay for.
He smiled. “Thank you.” He nodded to the car. “Let me drop you to work.”
“Yeah, no.” I stepped back, drawing a literal line between us.
“I—”
“No, Shehryar,” I said sternly. “Now move. Before you make me late for work.”
His eyes sparked with argument, and his mouth set firm, but he reluctantly moved.
“I’ll pick you up at the end of the day,” he said as I walked past him.
“Don’t bother.”
He did bother.
I exited my workplace at five-fifteen that evening and he was parked right in front of the building. In the rush hour as everyone tried to get home, his six-foot-five frame stood out like a sore thumb.
Shehryar came off his car when he saw me, but wasps hissed and buzzed through my blood as my eyes followed the women and men passing by who gawked at him open-mouthed. Their objectification of him was sickening, and there was no point of their ogling because he wasn’t even looking at them.
I only headed right for him to dismiss him. It had nothing to do with the fact I wanted everyone to know that he was there for me . Nothing at all. I’d deny it with a gun held to my head.
And I wasn’t glad he eagerly met me halfway either. Nope. Never.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I growled.
“I came to pick you up.”
“Well, I’m not going with you, so you wasted your time.”
I turned away, but he jerked an arm out, catching me around the waist. “I just want to drop you home, nothing more.”
“Move your arm, Shehryar,” I hissed, noticing the stares of a few curious onlookers. “You’re creating a scene in front of my workplace.”
His gaze darted around, and a muscle in his jaw ticked as he clenched his teeth together. After a second, he lowered his arm. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t show up here again,” I warned.
He raked a rough hand through his hair, then shifted closer. “Can I at least walk you to the station?”
“No.” And with that, I whipped away and strutted off.
Except…at the entrance of the train station, when the back of my neck prickled with awareness, I glanced over my shoulder and found Shehryar standing by the red light crossing I’d come across.
He stayed there until I passed the ticket barrier, and we were no longer in each other’s eyeline.
Dickhead:
Did you get home safely?
Dickhead:
Mariyah please
Dickhead:
I just want to know you got home safely
*Dickhead missed call (3) *
Dickhead:
I’m outside
Dickhead:
Just show me you’re okay please
I curiously peeked out from the side of the curtain through the window that overlooked the road and quickly released the fabric as my heart went tumbling like a bowling pin again.
Forty minutes after his last message, Shehryar Dickhead Timur was still standing against his car on the pavement outside my apartment building.
I chewed on my bottom lip nervously as I flicked at my nails.
It’s cold. He’s standing in the cold. He probably hasn’t eaten either.
Irritation had me straightening and glaring at the curtains.
Not my problem. Who told him to be an idiot and stand outside like that?
I swirled away. Halted. My insides churned in discomfort and anger, worry and vexation. I wanted to break something. Instead, I growled aloud and grabbed my door keys off the small dining table in my open-planned living area. I yanked my coat on over my fluffy pyjamas by the door and shoved my bare feet into a pair of cosy, woollen boots.
“Fucking idiot,” I murmured under my breath as I left my apartment. “I’m gonna kill him.”
The cold winter breeze made me shudder when I stepped outside. Shehryar eased off his car as I stomped towards him, pulling his hands out of his coat pockets and meeting me halfway. His gaze trailed down my unappealing state of dress with a soft glow of warmth and affection.
“Why are you fucking stalking me?” I snapped.
“I’m not,” he said calmly, but there was a shiver of cold in the background of his raspy voice that made my guilty conscience prickle. “I wanted to make sure you got home safely.”
I dramatically flared my arms out. “Well now you know, so piss the fuck off and stop lingering like a fucking creep.”
“I’ll leave,” he said, easing a step closer. “But I’ll be back in the morning to pick you up for work.”
“What? No. I don’t want you dropping me off to work or picking me up or whatever, Shehryar.”
A frown weighed over his brows. “Why not?”
I opened and closed my mouth on incoherent noises before I snapped it shut. “What do you mean ‘ why not’ ?” I jabbed a finger into his chest. “Because you’re not my boyfriend, Shehryar, that’s why.”
It was the wrong thing to say.
Determination darkened his gaze as he moved closer and closer until I had to tilt my head back to keep my eyes on his. All the hairs on my skin stood to attention as my heart pumped harder. The heat radiating off his body was so inviting, and his clean, citrusy scent made my belly flop about.
Angry, remember? So angry.
“Why did you come outside, Mariyah?”
My body was on a mission, trying to fight the effect of his proximity on my brain, heart, and senses, delaying my answer. “Wha…” I gave a slight shake of my head. “Because you’ve been standing outside my building for nearly an hour, Shehryar.”
“You could’ve ignored me.”
I could have. But I didn’t. Because I couldn’t. Not really.
And he knew that. He saw it.
A blush attacked my cheeks, but I gritted my teeth and smiled sarcastically. “Thanks for the suggestion.”
I tore away, ready to charge off, but he caught me by the arm and dragged me almost flush against him. “There’s no pretending to hate each other anymore, Mariyah,” he said, his voice low and gravelly. “Not when we know what it feels like to be on each other’s side. And you still feel it even if you’re angry. That’s why you came out here.” He brushed the back of his cold fingers against my cheek. “Because you want us to be together, but you need me to know that you’re still angry. You need me to know I still have a lot of work to do before you forgive me.”
He’s wrong. He’s wrong. You’re wrong.
That’s what I wanted to spit at him. But he wasn’t entirely wrong.
I was more angry than I was hurt. And even then, it wasn’t the kind of anger where I wanted nothing to do with him ever again. But I refused to take him back without the guarantee that something like that would never happen again. For that, I had to give him a chance to prove himself, but whether I wanted to give him that chance was the real question.
“And I’m willing to put in the work,” he continued. “Which is why you should take advantage of everything I’m giving you and put me to the test. Let me buy you breakfast. Let me drive you to work and pick you up. Let me fill your shelves with new books and make you dinner.
“Let me spoil you, Mariyah. Give me a chance to show you how much I want you in my life. And not just for now or for sex. But for everything else too. And for a long time. A long, long time.”
Doubt? Where? At least not in his voice.
He knew what he was saying. His heart was displayed in his piercing stare, vouching for every word.
Even as stubborn, petty, and proud as I was, I couldn’t deny his earnestness.
Didn’t make me any happier about the situation or any less determined to kick his arse, but…
“Fine,” I gritted out and stepped back. “But let’s set some ground rules.” I lifted a hand, raising one finger for each requirement. “No sex. No excessive touching. Don’t ask me if I’ve forgiven you. Actually, limit how much you talk to me entirely. You buy me coffee every day and the books I want. You take me wherever I want, whenever I want. You don’t bother me when I don’t want you around. And no calling yourself my boyfriend until I say you can.”
“Done,” he said with confidence. “But I want to set some rules of my own.”
I reared back, brow arched. “You really think you’re in a position to be making demands?”
“Only two.” He grazed his fingers so slightly along my jaw. “You sit up front in the car wherever we go. And if you consent to it, I still want to be able to kiss you.”
I licked the back of my teeth, thinking about it. “One kiss.”
“Three,” he countered.
My lips parted. “You’re fucking trying to barter with me?”
A lopsided smirky smile tugged at his mouth. “Yes.”
The fucking audacity. It was irritatingly hot. And that wasn’t going to do.
I cocked my hip and crossed my arms over my chest. “Say it on your knees, and I’ll consider it.”
Of course, he wasn’t going to do it. That was the whole—
Why the fuck is he getting shorter by the second?
My arms slipped to my sides in stunned disbelief as Shehryar got down on one knee right there on the pavement.
There weren’t many people around, but there were people walking up and down the pavements on either side of the road, coming out of apartment buildings in couples or with dogs and families. And they were looking, probably assuming what his one-knee position was known for. I didn’t mind being the centre of attention, but being serenaded in public was a big fucking no .
“Get up,” I hissed through my teeth.
The fucking dickhead grinned. “Let me kiss you three times a day. Please, little menace.”
I widened my eyes in warning. “Shehryar, get up.”
“Say I can, and I will.”
“ Fucking get up .”
“Please, Mariyah.”
“Okay, fine,” I snapped. “Now get up.”
My face was burning and no doubt blotchy by the time he stood. Thank goodness it was dark out.
He smiled at me, but I glared, fuming through my nose. “I fucking hate you,” I said.
His smile widened as he clasped my fingers and lifted them to his mouth. “I know.” He kissed the back of my palm, his bristly skin cold, eyes bearing into mine, and my heart jumped.
I gulped slowly. “That counts as a kiss.”
“I know.” He kissed over the same spot again before lowering our entangled hands. He didn’t let go and traced his thumb in circles over my skin as he asked, “Have you eaten yet?”
“No,” I grumbled, irritated by how good it felt to be touched by him.
“Can I make you dinner tonight?”
“No.”
“Should I order something instead?”
I mulled it over. “Maybe. I’ll think about it and message you when I decide.”
“I take it that means I can’t come up,” he queried, staring down at our hands.
“No. You can’t.”
His eyes didn’t dull with hurt or offence by my refusal, they softened in understanding. “Okay.”
I lifted my chin. “I have a Pilates class in the morning tomorrow, so come at seven-fifteen.” I narrowed my eyes as a thought occurred to me. “Where are you even staying?”
Shehryar nodded to his left. “There’s a bed and breakfast five minutes away.”
“For how long?”
“For however long it takes you to forgive me. I have an open checkout date.”
That couldn’t have been cheap, but also— “What about Esmeralda and your work?”
“I took some time off.”
My brows flew up. “You—took time off? For me?”
A slow smile spread across his mouth as he closed the gap between us. “Hmm. Let’s leave it at that for now.”
“Meaning?” I questioned.
“I’ll explain later.” He cupped my cheeks in his hands. I was ready for his lips to touch mine…but he set his mouth to my forehead instead in a long, soft kiss. “Don’t forget to tell me what you want when you get inside. I’ll wait.”