Was It Too Late?

"Is it a bet?" Instead of sitting and following his command, she asked as she folded her hands in front of her chest and smiled.

"Anything you say, my lady." her smile only grew wider as she sat beside him when his eyebrow raised. For some reason, he was not able to read her at all.

She is always so spontaneous, so confusing yet thrilling. And here he thought that women were easy to read and boring.

"Could a bet be fixed without a reward?" Her next words did not surprise him, but he was still guessing what she could ask for. And when he nodded as if he agreed to her, she turned completely eloquent.

"Then it would only be fair that you would fulfill one of my wishes if I won and I would do the same if I was not able to play the same tune fluently."

"Would it not be better that we clear the reward first instead of keeping it vague? There should be a limit to what the reward could be!" she smiled in response but she turned colder as if she was mocking him.

"Are you afraid of giving a small reward, my lord?" she provoked when he shook his head with a sigh.

"No! I am afraid that you would refuse if i asked for a kiss later." he teased when she showed her claws like a cornered animal but then smirked and controlled her emotions,

"That.. if you win! I am not afraid to kiss you here in public, if I lose!" she looked straight into his eyes as if she was the one challenging him now when he smiled.

"Then can I try my luck further?" She gritted her teeth and Garrison could feel a bunch of daggers on his back from her brother and father too but he still kept staring at her waiting to see if she would finally backaway, smile and accept or just holler curses at him.

"Like.. you want to hold me and take off…"

"Anastasia!" The lourd and crisp voice of her father stopped her but she just winked at them and then smiled at Garrison as if she was agreeing and in fact, she was far more experienced than him in such matters which left him choking on his own saliva.

"Shall we continue then?" she asked and then without waiting for his response, she pushed him away but with her thighs as she tried to take the whole seat for herself when his face burnt.

He had never seen such a provocative woman. For a second, he felt anger rising in his chest thinking she behaved the same way with everyone, but Ana was not even looking at him to see change of his expressions as she touched the piano keys softly.

She closed her eyes as if she did not need to see the keys as she played the tune he was playing.

His eyes flickered when she played better than him even though he had been playing this tune since childhood. She was doing such a perfect job that he did not mind losing too. He closed his eyes too at some point of time as he enjoyed the music which was like the touch of fresh breeze after being confined for long.

But his eyes opened when she played the last note of it.. Just then she finished and the room filled with the applause of her family that brought him back to his senses.

"So, my lord.. Did I pass your test or failed?" though she was asking, the smirk on her face told otherwise when he nodded his head.

"You have performed far better than I can ever imagine. Tell me, what do you want, my lady?" he was generous as he did not hesitate to offer her any jewel she wanted or any prosperity she could name of when she took a step closer,

"I want you to choose someone else as your wife." he paused for a second and then laughed out loud.

"For once, you were predictable, my lady!" She did not care what he thought as long as she could get what she wanted when he nodded his head.

"I will take the name back but the decision of marriage is not in my hands anymore. You did not tell her, my lord?" she looked at him and then at her father with a confused look who was shocked and then upset with her words.

"Honey, your marriage is already approved by his majesty! No one can take it back." he said with a forced smile when the duke laughed.

"You are still not going to tell her?" he asked when her father glared at him and then took a deep breath,

"And he had already fixed the date since he was worried about Rowan. You are going to get married next week on tuesday. Your mother has already started shopping for your wedding dress!"

"......" Ana took a step back! There was something wrong about it. She was sure that she had only married Garrison in the late autumn and it was still the start of summer, how could they marry so early!

"That.. that is a lie! How can I marry so early when.." she shook her head as she took a step back.

Till now Garrison was only thinking that the girl was trying to play hard to get his attention and he would lie if he said that it was ot working but he was not sure anymore looking at the disbelief and hurt in her eyes.. As if… she hated him from the core of her heart.