The Marriage Game by Sara Desai

Author:Sara Desai [Desai, Sara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2020-06-09T00:00:00+00:00

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• • •

“THANKS for meeting me. I hope you weren’t asleep.”

Royce shook Sam’s hand in the parking lot outside The Spice Mill. Despite the fact he’d only just stepped off a flight from Singapore, he was clean-shaven and dressed in a crisp navy-and-white-checked shirt, pressed navy dress pants, bright white running shoes, and a loud, red and navy, tartan-style tie.

“It’s five thirty A.M. Of course I was asleep.” Sam ran a hand through his damp hair. He’d managed to get showered, dressed, and out of the condo without waking Layla up after he got Royce’s text to meet him at the office. A small blessing, considering he didn’t know how to deal with their night together. He’d never let a woman stay overnight. Nor had he ever slept with a woman he expected to see again. He couldn’t take the risk that they would want more from him than he could give. But with Layla, he wondered if he could take that chance.

“This won’t take long.” Royce patted his satchel. “I only have a six-hour layover before my flight to London. I thought I’d check out the new office while we catch up on business.”

Sam led him to the entrance. He could hear someone shouting in the kitchen, doors slamming, pots banging on a stove. He felt a small stab of guilt for keeping Layla up late. She usually helped her mother in the mornings, although from the sound of chatter echoing up the stairs, it was clear her mother wasn’t alone. He’d left Layla a note about the early-morning meeting. As long as he got Royce out of the office before she arrived, everything would be fine.

“Sounds like the restaurant is open. Tell them to bring up a couple of espressos and whip up a brioche, light on the butter.”

“It’s an Indian restaurant,” Sam bit out. “They don’t do espresso or brioche. And they aren’t open yet.”

Royce gave a dismissive wave. “They’re service people. They like to serve. And I thought you said the owner told you they were struggling financially, which was why they were subletting the office in the first place. They’ll be glad of the extra business.”

“We have a coffeemaker upstairs, and I think there are some leftover donuts. We’ll be fine.”

“Don’t you have a receptionist to handle these things?” Royce followed Sam up the stairwell to the office.

“She doesn’t start work this early.” For the briefest of seconds, he considered calling Daisy and asking her to come in to serve breakfast to him and Royce for the sheer amusement of listening to her swear into the phone. And if she did come to the office, he would get a front-row seat for the fireworks when she went head-to-head with Royce. He couldn’t imagine two people who would irritate each other more.

“Fire her. We don’t need the deadweight.”

“She’s strangely competent at her job so I’ll keep her for the time being.” He headed to the kitchen to make coffee while Royce checked out the office.

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