Page 31 of The Rancher's Rejected Bride
Bee stiffened. "If you're saying what I think you're saying—-"
"I absolutely am," Chloe cooed just as the doors swung open and the rest of the board members started filing in.
The meeting started soon after, leaving no chance for Bee to ask what Chloe meant. Even so, the other woman's innuendos continued to bother her, and as soon as she and Drake were in the privacy of Nicholas' car, she took her phone out and Googled her name.
A gasp escaped her a moment later.
Tons of gossip reports had been written about her in the past two weeks, and all of them were suggesting that her "closeness" to the bodyguard meant the two of them were having an affair right under Nicholas' nose.
Chapter Seventeen
"MRS. SUTHERLAND WOULDlike you to know she's waiting for you at the study, sir." Thomas' face was somber as he relayed the message, and Nicholas' face hardened.
So this was it,he thought grimly. Just two damn days until she was properly free to leave his home, and she couldn't even wait that long. Was she really that in love with Drake? The mere thought of another man touching her was enough to put him in a violent mood, and he remained on edge even as he entered the study and found a nervous-looking Tabitha seated on the couch.
She looked beautiful in her rose-printed dress, the fabric fit enough to blatantly advertise the pregnant curve of her belly. As always, the sight of it made him hard, hence the loose trousers Nicholas had recently taken to wearing.
"Hey." The smile that formed on her lips was as tentative as the tone of her voice.
Nicholas knew she was hoping he would smile back, and he almost laughed at how damnably optimistic she was. Did she really think he could smile, knowing that she had come here to let him know she was leaving him for another man?
Not on your life, baby.
He might not be able to force her to stay with him, but he was damn well going to make it as hard and awkward for her to go.
Bee's heart banged nervously against her chest as Nicholas sat next to her on the couch. It was the closest he had been since shehad temporarily moved back to the ranch, and oh dear God, it was making the butterflies in her stomach do the craziest things.
He was just so, so beautiful. Still the most beautiful man in her eyes, really, and oh, how she ached to once again have her fingers running through the silky golden locks—-
Stop that, Bee!
Their marriage had never been real, and so she had never any right to touch him.
"Well then, wife..." Nicholas saw her visibly start at how he had addressed her, and he asked mockingly, "Is something wrong?"
Bee could only shake her head silently.
"It seemed so long ago," Nicholas murmured, "when you would've replied differently every time I called you that. You'd be blushing and smiling at me, and you'd address me with that one word you're so inordinately fond of.Husband,wasn't it?"
A stricken look crossed her face. "Why are you doing this?" Her voice shook, pain chipping away at her heart with every memory his words were forcing her to remember. "I know I've made a fool of myself—-"
"Is that why you decided to turn the tables," he asked flatly, "and make a fool of me this time?"
Bee paled, her hurt all but forgotten at the realization that Nicholas, unlike her, knew what everyone had been saying about her and Drake. "I'm s-sorry," she stammered. "I didn't know people were talking about us that way."
Nicholas' jaw clenched. She was sorry that people had talked...but she wasn't sorry about falling in love with another man?
"I would never want to shame you."
No. She wouldn't. She wasn't that type of girl, and maybe...maybe it was also time to accept that he wasn't the type of guy who deserved her.
Nicholas suddenly felt weary. "Why did you want to talk to me, Tabitha?"
She swallowed hard. "I just thought...it was time to go."
"There are only two more days left."
Her throat tight with sobs that were suddenly struggling to come out, she could only speak in a stilted voice. "I know."
