Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 119548 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 398(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119548 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 398(@300wpm)
“Sorry.” He hid a smile behind his glass.
“Oh, yeah, you look it,” I ground out, wiping my mouth. I put my fork on the side of my plate and kept my gaze fixed firmly on him. “You mean it? You’re going to make me spell it out for you?”
“Like I said—”
“Fine. I’m sorry I got so drunk I fell asleep in the staff room, and you had to carry me out of the pub while I practiced my royal wave. I’m sorry you had to listen to my drunken ramblings about how handsome my husband is, and I’m sorry you had to carry me into the house. I’m sorry I thought there was a mouse under the bed. I’m sorry I asked you to stay with me like a child. I’m sorry I flirted with you. I’m sorry I made you help me get changed. I’m sorry I offered to help you with your erection.”
Irritation rose within me at every word I said. Not just at him, but at myself, too. I was annoyed I’d put myself in that situation. I was pissed off that he was making me recount every single thing I’d done last night.
I was embarrassed.
Embarrassed by my actions and the reminder of his rejection.
“Are you happy now?” I pushed my stool back from the island and got up, my appetite all but dead. “I’m not hungry anymore. You enjoy this.”
“Deli!”
“Just leave me alone.” I stormed out of the kitchen and headed for the stairs, then ran up them as quickly as I could.
Fred’s voice echoed, mingling with the sound of his footsteps beating against the floor as he chased after me. I swept past one of the housekeepers as I turned into our private wing, barely able to choke out an apology for almost running into her as tears filled my eyes
“My lady!” she gasped, reaching for me. “Are you all right?”
I just about nodded and ran into my room, slamming the door shut behind me. I leant against it, squeezed my eyes shut, and quickly turned the key in the lock so he couldn’t follow me in.
“Delilah!” Fred’s voice came through the door, and the soft lilt of the housekeeper’s tone followed it. “You can all finish,” Fred said, his voice a bit softer. “Please make sure nobody comes to this area of the house until tomorrow.”
Why?
So, he could stand there begging me to let him in without an audience?
“Delilah.” He tried the handle before he knocked on the door. “Let me in. Let’s talk about this.”
“I don’t want to talk to you right now.” My voice was thick. Heavy. Like I was barely holding it together.
And I was.
I was hanging on by a thread.
If we talked, I was going to explode with my real feelings before I knew it. There was a very real chance I’d destroy everything between us.
“Come on,” Fred sighed out, followed by a gentle thump about where his head would be. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know last night bothered you that much. I was just joking like we always do.”
Yeah.
Like we always did.
Was that what was hurting me so much right now?
That I was here, painfully in love with him, excruciatingly aware we could never go back to what we once were, while he was just joking like we always did.
I pressed my lips together and tilted my head back, staring up at the ornate moulding around the top of the wall.
Yes, a little voice inside me whispered. Yes, this is what hurts so much.
Ha.
I closed my eyes, trying to wipe away the picture of his face that was burned into my eyelids. “Fred?”
“What is it?”
“Let’s end this.”
32
* * *
DELILAH
Let’s end this. Let’s end this. Let’s end this.
My own words echoed seemingly infinitely around me, and I reached up to wipe away a stray tear that was making its way down my cheek.
There was no sound from the other side of the door. Just silence.
“This marriage was only ever supposed to be a short-term thing,” I continued, swallowing back the lump in my throat. “Nana’s gone now. It’s time to go back to normal. I’ll move out, and we’ll tell everyone it was a mistake. That we rushed into it, but we were only ever meant to be friends, and—”
The door that linked our bedrooms burst open, and I opened my eyes to see Fred filling the empty doorway, staring at me with wide, panicked eyes.
His cheeks were flushed, and anxiety radiated off every inch of his body in thick waves. Even his knuckles were white as he grabbed the doorknob, and he looked…
Well, he looked like I’d just ruined his life.
“What are you—”
“What did you just say?” His voice was unlike anything I’d ever heard from him before. It was low, cold, almost threatening, and a chill ran up my arms at the intense look in his eyes.