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Chapter Thirteen
The trek back to thehotel was filled with uncomfortable silence. Although they’d taken the long way to the lake, they’d taken a more direct route back to the hotel, reaching the hotel by mid-day.
Instead of waltzing through the front door, they’d changed from their hiking clothes into something they would wear on a brunch date. Nisha turned her back on Kien as they both changed at the edge of the woods bordering the hotel. They still didn’t go through the front door but entered through a side entrance with their keycard. From there, they went straight to the hotel restaurant and were sat in a visible table.
Everything had gone according to plan. Everything but the ache currently gripping her heart.
“We’ll stay the night here, be visible, then leave early in the morning,” Kien said, his voice almost a whisper.
“I thought the plan was to spend another day at the hotel and in town, portraying the happy couple?” Not that she wanted to spend anymore time than absolutely necessary with Kien. She was done. Over it. And wanted to get home to nurse her broken ego and equally as broken heart.
“We wasted a day staying on the ship. We have to get back on track.”
Wasted.
Nisha winced. She stole a quick glance at Kien. His eyes scanned the small crowd in the restaurant. She said a small thank you for small favors. He hadn’t noticed.
She’d been in heaven those two nights on the ship. She’d imagined what it would be like traveling space with him, being together as a couple. In that little fantasy, she’d convinced herself he would allow her mom to come. The fantasy hadn’t stopped there. She’d also imagined Tasha would be there with Phate. They would be a small family, living out the rest of their lives exploring and loving each other.
Wasted.
Her little fantasy shattered.
Nisha grumbled obscenities about Kien and their wasted time together under her breath.
“No one will believe we’re a happy couple of your grumbling.”
Nisha stabbed her Cobb salad with her fork, her eyes downcast on her plate. “I don’t care what we look like.”
She stuffed her food in her mouth. It was a good salad. She wished she could actually taste it. Her stomach recoiled as the greens slid down her throat, but she swallowed—hard. She wasn’t hungry and she didn’t want to eat.
“Smile and try to pretend that you’re happy. You agreed to this. We have to see the mission through to the end.”
“The mission was to get to your ship and reprogram your replicator thing. Mission accomplished and over.”
“The mission is complete once we get back to Solgre. So, lift your head up, look at me using those eyes that say, ‘fuck me’ and smile.”
Her anger boiled over the edge. Nisha slowly lifted her head and instead of giving him her best “fuck me” stare she narrowed her eyes onto Kien. “Fuck you. Is that what you wanted?”
Kien dropped his fork. It clanged against his plate. “That’s not what I wanted, and you know that.”
Nisha calmly put her fork down and sat back, resting her spine against the cushion of her chair and clasped her hands, letting them rest on the table. “I don’t give afuckwhat you want Kien. Just like you don’t give afuckabout what I want.”
He lifted a thick blond eyebrow. “What do you want, Nisha?”
She wanted him to feel the same pain and hurt as she did at this very moment. She wanted him to feel discarded, like an experiment. She wanted him to feel...something.
“I want you to delete whatever log you have on me. I don’t want your scientists reading anything about me—”
“Done.”
She had more she wanted to say on the subject, but his one word made her breath stick in her throat.
He crossed his arms. The muscles in his biceps flexed, making the material around his arms strain.
