Page 31 of Cruel Love
James ordered a bottle of champagne before resting his hand on mybare thigh under the table.
I didn’t know why he’d done it, and I’d tensed my leg, prepared forhim to hurt me in some way. So I was more than surprised when he started rubbing his thumb in small, soft circles on my skin.
More surprising was the flutter of butterflies in my stomach from histender touch.
Conversation was dominated by Billie telling James all about herrecent term away at a private school. From the corner of my eye, I watched him, utterly bewildered by the way he interacted with his niece.
It was as plain as the nose on my face that he adored her, andevery time he spoke to her, his tone was full of warmth.It was like an entirely different man than the one I’d lived with for the past week had shown up to dinner. I couldn’t help but feel a little jealous that I would never get this version of him.
When dinner arrived, we made small talk about how pleasant theview was from the terrace overlooking the harbor, and how delicious the food was.James had ordered for me after I spent too long looking at themenu, unsure what half of the options were. He dug his fingertips into my thigh in warning when the waiter hovered, waiting for me to decide before James huffed and ordered me seafood paella.
I wondered how many lashes I’d get for that mistake.
Despite the worry of my ass getting a beating when we got home, Idevoured the dinner. As soon as James had finished his steak, his hand returned to my thigh.
“So, now we are fed and watered, are we going to talk about youtwo?”Kiera said, looking between us.
Beside me, James tensed, and a knot tightened in my stomach. Themoment I’d been dreading had finally arrived. Kiera grinned, her brow raised in expectation, and on either side of her, Billie and Alec also stared, waiting for an explanation.
“There’s not much to tell,”James said, the soft circles he wasdrawing on my thigh stopping, replaced with his palm gripping firmly.
A warning.
“Oh, come on. We didn’t even know you were dating, and nowyou’re married?”Alec said, an amused grin on his lips.“What gives?”
I didn’t like Alec. There was something about him that unsettled meevery time he glanced my way, and with how James tightened his hand on my thigh, I suspected he felt the same way about Alec too.
“Tell us how you met,”Kiera asked, noticing the sudden tensionbetween the two men.
“I’ll let Willow tell the story,”James said, picking up his champagneglass and taking a sip.“She tells it better.”
The knot in my stomach pulled tighter, and despite everythingJames had done to me so far, I hated him more in that moment. He was setting me up to fail.
Something I could not let happen.
Swallowing down the nausea churning in my stomach, I subtlysucked in a deep breath before putting a bright smile on my face, and hoping like hell no one noticed how fake it was.
“Well, it was a stroke of luck really. My car broke down one nightwhen I was driving home from an evening class,”I said, recalling a story I’d written in one of my journals as to how a love story started. I made sure to hold Kiera’s eye, having learned that a sign of lying was unable to keep eye contact.“It was late, and typically, my phone battery had died. I honestly thought I was going to be stranded on the side of the road for the rest of the night, but James was passing by, and he stopped to help me.”
I turned to gaze at him, giving him a soft smile. He met my eyes, hisdark orbs holding an unreadable emotion.
“That sounds so unlike you, James,”Kiera chuckled.“I didn’t thinkyou were that charitable.”
James scowled.“You and I both know that isn’t true.”
I raised a brow, wondering what he meant, but realizing I wouldnever know. It wasn’t like this dinner was going to change anything between us, and James would suddenly tell me all about his life.
“What happened next?”Billie said, her face lighting up in anticipation,and breaking the awkward tension that had fallen between James and his sister.
“Well, my car wouldn’t start, and recovery couldn’t come out until themorning, so your uncle kindly offered to give me a lift home,”I said, grinning at Billie, imagining that what I was telling her had truly happened to me instead of the rotten life I’d been given.“On the way home, my stomach rumbled, and I told James that I hadn’t eaten since breakfast.”
I beamed at him again, hoping that Kiera and Billie could see theaffection I was trying to portray on my face.“Being the gentleman he is, James insisted he fed me before driving me home, and we ended up sitting in an all-night diner for hours, just talking.”
“That’s so romantic,”Billie sighed, returning my smile. It seemed I’dconvinced her.
Her mom, on the other hand, didn’t look as convinced.
“And why the need to get married so fast?”Kiera asked, her eyesnarrowing in suspicion.
