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He would move on with his life and find a suitable bride He would find soa to his friends and colleagues Not someone who had the potential to embarrass him or destroy his reputation via an ill-timed comment to the press from one of her crazy relatives

Why did it have to be this way? Why couldn’t she be the one he chose? Why couldn’t she accept him if he did?

Because that was the stuff of fairy tales and she wasn’t a little kid any ic wand over her head and ht in the end

‘I wouldn’t drink that too quickly,’ he said

Aiesha gave her straw a couple of twirls before she took another sip ‘Don’t worry, Ja on the tables’

His sed for a frown ‘Look, can you drop the arht?’

Aiesha crossed one leg over the other and leaned back on the velvet sofa they were sharing ‘What armour?’

His dark blue eyes held hers ‘Let irl in the alley this afternoon The one who loves dogs The one who let me hold her as she told me stuff she’s told no one before’

She pursed her lips and reached for her drink, taking a generous sip that sent her blood-alcohol level soaring Or maybe it wasn’t the alcohol Maybe it was the chance to let her guard down and stay down long enough to connect with soh to see behind the facade

It was so te

Could she do it?

Just for tonight?

What did she have to lose? It wasn’t as if she had anything to lose or gain Ja to suddenly fall in love with her just because she showed him the side of herself no one ever saw He cared about her, but then, so did his mother It didn’t mean he loved her or wanted to spend his future with her He was too conservative, too sensible to fall for someone so far outside his social circle

Aiesha kept her gaze trained on the pink-and-orange u this?’

‘I don’t want you to hide froa to exploit you I’m not that sort of man Surely you know that by now?’