Page 10 of Wild Ever After
She sighed and instead of the defiance she’d shown him since he cornered her at the pub’s entrance, he saw her hurt and her sadness. And it was because of him. All of it because of him. “It’s not been easy for you, Harry. I know that. We’re both at fault.”
“Are we?” The laugh was without humor. “No Bella. I’m a big boy. I can and do accept the responsibility. It —”
Keira brought their drinks and Harry bit his tongue to stem the flow of words. Their private life had been made public enough. His trust had been shattered by people he’d put his faith in. And though Bella knew these people here in the pub, he didn’t. He no longer gave first chances. Hell, he no longer gave any chances.
But for Bella, he’d play along.
Sort of…
“Do they know?”
“I just said —”
“Details,” he quickly added. “Us. The truth?”
“Us? Yes. Details? No. I’ve never discussed it. Not our intimate life. Not whether the reports were the truth or fabricated.”
“Good girl.” The words rolled off his tongue without a second thought. It was their dynamic. It was their life. It was what made them work.
“Please don’t call me that.”
“Good. Or girl?”
“Harry…”
He took a drink from the frosted glass he yet to touch until then. Bella hadn’t touched hers, either.
The blush on her cheeks, the shyness that took hold in her eyes, the biting of her lower lip… All signs pointed toward her discomfort as well as her desire.
Did she even realize what she was doing?
For as public as their life had been all the years he’d held political positions, their private life had been guarded and had remained just that… Private. Or so he had thought.
“Just because…” Their current whereabouts frustrated him. “We’re not over, Bella. Not overthat.”
“That? That was…” she shook her head. “This isn’t the place.”
“You’re right.” At least they could agree on that. “Let’s go.”
“I didn’t mean —”
“But I did.”
“Harry…”
He leaned across the table, wondered if she saw the change in his demeanor, the ticking in his cheek where his back teeth ground together and his jaw clenched. “I haven’t heard my name from your lips some many times in one night like I have in the last thirty minutes. I like it. I like it so much, Bella. But I’m starting to hate it, too.”
“There are many things I’ve hated.”
He’d always loved her feisty. “When we get somewhere private, you can enlighten me about all the many things.” He dropped a couple of bills on the table, more than enough for two beers and set one foot outside the booth.
She opened her mouth and closed it immediately when he raised one brow.
“Saying yes to you is what got us into this mess,” she said before draining her glass of beer in one long swig that would’ve made any sailor proud.
“Trust in the wrong people got us into this mess.” At least in part. The other part? Yeah, that was all on him.
Surprise flickered through her eyes. “Thank you for admitting that.”
