Page 69 of Saved By the Belle

Why the deuce did he have to be so thoughtful? It made it difficult to hate him. “I’ll have tea after I eat,” she said. She’d need to fetch her Pan Long Yin Hao from the pocket of her skirt in the bed chamber.

She lifted her fork and began to eat, barely tasting the food but too hungry to reject it simply because sitting here with Arundel was uncomfortable. For a long time, there was only the clink of silver on china and awkward silence.

“Belle,” Arundel said when it seemed as though the silence had gone on for years. “I feel as though I should apologize.”

She gave him a look from under her lashes.

“I—er—know I should apologize,” he amended. “But I can’t, for the life of me, think what I should apologize for.”

Belle sat back and gave him a direct look. “Can’t you?”

“Should I apologize for being honest with you?”

Belle blinked, slowly.

“Should I apologize for refusing to lead you on? I could take you to bed and then tell you I can’t marry you. Instead, I preserved your virginity and told you the truth.”

Belle clapped once. Then again. Then again. “You are quite the hero.”

Arundel crossed his arms over his chest. “What should I have done? I know. I know.” He held up his hands defensively. “I never should have opened that door. Never should have walked into the bed chamber.”

“Wrong.” She dropped her fork, letting it clatter sharply on the plate. “Do you want to know what you did wrong? What you’ve done wrong? What you are doing wrong?” She stood and glared down at him. Arundel gave her a wary look and slid backward in his chair.

“Where do I even begin? Oh, I know.” She came around the table. “You are an idiot.”

He furrowed his brow. “I beg to differ.”

“Don’t.” She held up a finger. “You married an unfaithful woman. I’m sorry about that. You’re not the first cuckold and you won’t be the last. But you’re an idiot if you think that because one woman betrayed you, every woman will.” She wagged the upraised finger. “We’re not interchangeable, Hew.”

“I see, but—”

“No, you don’t. That’s the problem. Because that’s not the only reason you’re an idiot.” His expression darkened. Belle ignored it and held up another finger. “For some reason, you have the idea that I want to marry you lodged in your skull.” She reached over and poked him in the head. “You think if you”—she made a sweeping gesture with her hands and changed her voice to imitate his accent—“compromise me, I’ll try and trap you into marriage. Idiot!”

“You can stop saying that.”

“No, I can’t! Have you ever considered that perhaps I don’t want to marry you any more than you want to marry me? Are you too much of an idiot to realize that not every woman wants to trap a man into matrimony?”

Arundel opened his mouth then closed it again. Belle wasn’t sure if he’d thought better of what he’d been about to say or feared she’d call him an idiot again.

She lifted another finger.

“Don’t say it,” Arundel warned.

“There’s a third reason you’re—”

“Don’t say it.”

“An idiot,” she said. He was on his feet before she could blink and had her hand closed in his, effectively lowering her fingers.

“I’m not an idiot.” He walked her backward until he had her pressed against the wall.

“No, you’re a Royal Saboteur. You’ve taken all the training classes. But you must have been absent the day they taught you how to know when to trust someone. And if you don’t trust me by now—after all I have done for you and all we have been through—then you really are an—”

His mouth came down on hers before she could say the word. This kiss was nothing like the sweet, teasing kisses they’d shared before. This kiss was that of a conqueror, seeking to subjugate. But Belle was not so easy to vanquish. She kissed him back with equal passion, nipping at his lip until he pulled back and glared at her.

“I didn’t want this,” he panted. “I didn’t want to want you.”

“Then walk away,” she said between gulps of air. “You think I want a man who doesn’t trust me?”

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