The Essien Trilogy 1: Keeping Secrets by Kiru Taye

Author:Kiru Taye [Taye, Kiru]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Romance, African American, Multicultural & Interracial, Contemporary, Fiction
ISBN: 1499331428
Google: MgrEAwAAQBAJ
Amazon: B00K5D7IAC
Publisher: KT Press
Published: 2014-05-12T04:00:00+00:00

They sat upstairs in Reams Restaurant at a private corner right next to the glass, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the hanging gardens below that were lit by spotlights. The ambiance proved relaxing, the decor elegant, with a soft jazzy music number playing through the speakers.

Apart from the waiter, there was no one else up here, though the downstairs restaurant heaved with diners. Ebony assumed Felix had arranged it so they could have some privacy. She would be horrified if anyone else overhead their discussion. He had his own worries, too. Considering his recent history with the press, preventing their conversation from being overheard and getting into the papers would be high on his list.

The waiter brought their meal and poured the champagne into their glasses, putting the bottle back in the ice bucket before leaving. They ate their meal in silence, only talking about the delicious food. She waited for Felix to bring up the topic of their fake marriage. He didn’t. He studied her underneath his long, dark lashes, instead.

Steeling her body, she decided to broach the subject. She needed to talk about it before she lost her nerve. She’d spent the drive to the restaurant psyching up her mind.

“I will marry you but I have some conditions,” she started, and paused for his reaction.

“What are they?”

His expression didn’t change. She learned that Felix took things in easy strides. She had yet to see him riled.

“One, we remain married for two years. I can arrange to have my leave of absence extended, but two years is the maximum allowed.”

He nodded in response but maintained close eye contact.

“Two, we have separate rooms during that time.”

If they were going to part afterward, then there would be no point in an emotional and physical relationship, if such a thing was possible. She needed to safeguard her heart from being broken again.

At her words, something flickered in his rugged face, amusement dancing in his eyes.

“Married people make love. Why should we be any different?”

Black eyes scanned her body, trailing heat through her veins in its wake. Holding her breath, she averted her gaze so he couldn’t see how he affected her.

“It will be a sham marriage. Anyway, no one will know what happens behind closed doors.”

At that, he laughed, for the first time that evening; the same deep and rich laughter that always rumbled through her. Tonight, though, it didn’t uplift her spirit as usual. Frustration coursed in her veins at his apparent ease with the subject of making love.

“Ima-mmi, remember, newlyweds are supposed to be in love. What do you think the domestic staff or worse still, the media, will make of it when they find out I haven’t touched you? Because find out they surely will.... A woman who is being loved glows with that love. Haven’t you ever heard that saying?”

Annoyed, she had to agree with him. Their body language would give them away. Moreover, what would the domestic staff think when they noticed she slept in separate rooms from her

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