Page 87 of Slippers and Thorns
Mercifully, she stopped. The small smile on her lips still annoyed him, though.
There had to be a reasonable explanation. Her other guards were joining them, after all.
In a very hurried manner that looked more like a pursuit of fugitives than an orderly exit to reach a meeting point.
His blood began to boil again, but he fought to hold it back. His jealousy had already caused too much trouble with Ella. The old woman had assured him that the difference in his and Charles’s responses to Ella’s touch meant Ella didn’t care for Charles. He had to hold onto that and trust her.
When they returned from their ride and discovered that neither Ella nor any of her guards had returned, it grew more difficult. He reminded himself that since the three pursuers had yet to return as well, it likely meant they had met up, and the entire group would return together later.
Unless the other three had failed to find Ella and Charles and were still searching the forest and surrounding area for them. Which, of course, Helena was only too pleased to point out. He should have snarled at her again for it, but he struggled to come up with the requisite anger at her.
Because he still remembered Ella’s words on their trip to Ralnor back in the spring. How she implied that she wished she had the freedom to leave.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t evade the dark suspicion that this time, Ella wasn’t planning to come back.
CHAPTER 36
Ella
U
h…what?”
Charlie blinked at her, his expression blank. Was it a good sign or not that his reaction was so low-key?
“You heard me,” she evaded, lacking the gumption to repeat the question.
He opened his mouth and closed it again. After several minutes of riding in silence, he finally choked out, “Princess, you really shouldn’t joke about things like that. What would you do if someone else heard you?”
Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe she should let him let her pass it off as a joke.
The picture of Michael and Helena passionately embracing danced before her eyes.
“Who said I was joking?” she replied as calmly as she could.
Charlie looked away from her. His hands twitched on the reins. “Princess, I—”
“Don’t you care about me?” she asked. Her voice was shakier than she would have preferred.
“I—of course. I wouldn’t be on your personal guard if I didn’t care about your wellbeing.” His eyes darted around, still not coming anywhere near her, and he shifted in his saddle.
Not exactly the answer she was looking for. Was he wishing he could run away from her? He seemed highly uncomfortable.
Had she miscalculated? Maybe he didn’t see her as anything beyond a friend, if that.
They continued, side by side, while Ella considered their past interactions. She’d never thought about it before today; she’d always assumed Michael’s distaste for Charlie was based solely in his own jealousy. Perhaps that was all it was. But as she thought about it…if there was a possibility that Michael could see something that she hadn’t at the time…
Really, at this point, what did she have to lose?
She took a deep breath and gathered her courage. “Charlie?” He had relaxed somewhat in the absence of further conversation, but he tensed again at her voice. That boded well. Maybe she should stop while she was ahead.
No. This was as much for Michael as for herself.
“Charlie, do you—do you—love me?”
His eyes went wide, and she feared for a moment that he would fall off his horse, he swung around to face her so fast. Nudging his horse away from her a little – the narrow path wouldn’t let him go far – he gulped before answering. “As a married woman, it is highly inappropriate for you to ask that question of anyone other than your husband.”
Ella glared at the path ahead. “My husbandis hardly in the position to make an issue of propriety at the moment.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his brow furrow at this comment. “What if I’m asking anyway?”
