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“What kind of party?”
“A birthday party for my mother.”
“And you want me to go with you?”
Staring into his sharp green ones, I want to see if he means it or if he’s appeasing me. “I do.”
“What day?”
“The first weekend of October, Saturday.”
For a second, Foster takes his eyes off me so he can type into his phone. The light from the screen illuminates his face in the semi-darkened cabin of the limo.
“I have a breakfast meeting that day. What time?”
“It’s in the afternoon.”
“I’ll go,” he responds simply.
I sit up. “You will?”
“I said I would. It will be good for us as a couple.”
I frown. “I’m not sure what that means.”
“It means it will make our marriage look more convincing. It’s a piece of information I’ll be sure to pass onto my father.”
“You make it sound like our marriage is a sideshow.”
“Paige, try to keep in mind what this is. We need to convince him we’re not lying. We have a year to go before the deal is official and six months after that.”
Foster’s phone rings. It always seems to ring when we are engaged in a deep conversation, ones that need conclusions. Unsettled, I go back to wringing my hands. Foster chatters away with his business associate on the other line about some land deal in San Antonio. I can’t wait to get home and away from him.
“Paige?”
I am doing my best to ignore Foster as we ride up to the penthouse, looking at the lines in the dark tiled floor.
“Paige?” he repeats.
“What?” I mumble, not looking at him.
“You’re upset about what I said in the car?”
“You’re very intuitive.”
“I’m trying,” Foster says, sighing deeply.
“I thought we were becoming friends.”
“We are friends, but that’s all.”
The doors slide open, and I rush past him, hurrying out into the foyer, but I’m not fast enough because he grabs me by the arm and pulls me against his body. I struggle, but he holds fast.
“What do you want from me?” he asks.
“Nothing. Let me go.”
Foster complies, loosening his grip enough for me to slip out of it. As he heads down the hall, I also go to my room, close the door, and turn the lock even though I know he won’t violate my privacy by barging in. My emotions are clouding my brain because I want a relationship, but not with Foster. He is incapable of love.
