Page 74 of Inconvenient Marriage
“Mountain air,” I gasp. “I need some air.”
His jaw tightens. His eyes darken.
And then he reaches out, lashing my wrist with his hand, as he says one word that has me freezing more than his sudden grab does?—
“Wait.”
Damn it. The emotion he poured into that single syllable? How can I resist him?
I shudder out a breath. “Okay.”
Sebastien lets go of me. It’s his turn to wait, checking to see if I’m going to continue to dash out the door, but when I stay where I am, he lets out a relieved breath of his own, chasing it with a hollow laugh.
“Be honest, love. How bad did I fuck up here?”
“What? I.. I don’t know what you mean.”
He arches an eyebrow. “I just told you I loved you and made it clear that there will be no leaving me forever. I gave you jewelry that proves it. And you look like you’re about to do a runner. So, yeah… I fucked up. The question is how bad did I fuck up, and is there any way I can fix it without sending you running out the door? Because you can try. I mean, I’llchaseyou, but you can try.”
I dart out my tongue, dabbing my bottom lip. “It’s not like that.”
“It’s not? Okay. Fine. I’ll bite. Is this about Julie? Because I promise you that I would’veneverhurt her. You’re safe with me, Annaliese.”
“I know.” If there’s one thing Idoknow, it’s that. “And I’m glad you told me about her. I’m sorry, too. Sorry that you lost her. Sorry that I kept Eric hidden from you?—”
“I’m not.”
I blink up at him.
He gives me a crooked grin. “Okay. I wasn’t quick enough. Yeah, I wish you would’ve trusted me enough to tell me about that prick. If I knew, I would’ve handled him long before now.” Sebastien huffs, shaking his head, never losing that grin. “Adrian’s gonna flip his shit when he finds out who the fucker was.”
I must have made a confused face because he goes on to explain: “The fucker. That’s what I called him. I knew that there was some guy who hurt you… the reason why you felt like youhad to marryanyone. I’ve been trying to figure out how that fucker was since the night we got engaged. Even had my bros on the hunt. I just never thought it would be a man like Eric Ward which just proves that I’m a fucking idiot. You deserve the best, Annaliese. A man like Ward could give you the best.”
“He could,” I agree softly, “but he couldn’t give me the one thing I wanted.”
“Yeah? And what was that?”
“I just wanted to get married.”
Something sparks in his dark eyes. “You’re my wife.”
I nod.
“I couldn’t marry Julie. Fuck, I don’t know if I would’ve if I could. She was using me the same way that fucker was using you. But who knows? Maybe we were supposed to get our hearts broken so that, when two broken people like us found each other, we could be whole again.” Sebastien jerks his head. “Shit. That was sappy. It sounded better in my head?—”
“No,” I say, cutting him off. “I… I think I get it. And maybe… maybe you’re right.”
“You think so?”
I shrug. “I mean, yeah. So we met in a really weird way. Got married before we ever really knew each other. I’m not going back to Eric. You can’t go back to Julie. So if you want to see what happens, where this goes… I know you burned the contracts,” I say, rubbing my thumb over the pendant he put on me, “but I have copies. And it says we can negotiate?—”
“No.”
Sebastien’s harsh ‘no’ is so unexpected, I take a step back, moving closer to the door. “What?”
“You heard me, Annaliese. You’re still trying to put walls up between us. Still trying to give yourself a way out.”
“It’s not me—” I begin.
