Page 98 of The Heir's Bargain

"Can't what? Fuck?" He cocked a brow. "Court each other?"

I waved my hand as if I could grab onto everything he said. "All of it."

"Dani, I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but we already have done and are doing those exact things."

I shook my head, my neck quickly becoming sore from the repeated movement. "That wasn't the deal, though."

The wheels of the carriage continued to creak as we rode down the winding path back to the capital, back to normal.

What Fynn was proposing was the opposite of normal.

"Why does this scare you?"

"I—I don't want things to change between us. We've been in a good place. Relationships. . ." I twisted my hands together, my voice growing softer, less sure. "Relationships aren't for me."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I do, Fynn!"

I wished I was anywhere but locked inside a moving carriage, for there was nowhere to go. Nowhere to move.

"I'm too busy," I said, "I need to be focused on my career and getting promoted."

Fynn grabbed my hand, unfolding my tightly wound fingers before weaving his fingers between the empty spaces. When his palm pressed against mine, a honeyed warmth spread through my arm and to my gut.

"That doesn't have to change," he said, voice firm, solid. "We started this deal because of your goals. Why does that mean we have to end it?"

"Because!"

"Because why, Dani? You haven't given me a single good reason for why it can't work—why we can't work. Whatever happened last night—whatever is going on between us, I want to figure out what it is. We’ve been faking this courtship this entire time, but what if we stopped faking? What if we stopped worrying if people discovered this wasn't real? Simply because it was."

Fynn was saying all the right things, yet the words felt wrong, illogical, reckless.

I wasn't the relationship type.

That's what he had said years ago.

Fynn tightened his grip around my hand and scooted closer, his knees knocking into mine and enclosing my legs in between his. "Let me ask you this, Dani. Do you regret last night?"

My mouth fell open.

Yes. I should say yes.

But I couldn't. The word wouldn't come out.

Instead, I cracked open the window and asked within the safety of my mind, Do you?

He leaned forward, and his fingers brushed across the bottom of my chin. "Do I regret hearing you scream my name? No, Dani, I don't."

My cheeks flushed, and heat pooled between my thighs.

He sat back against the cushion, a smug smirk slipping across his face along with that godforsaken dimple. Because we both knew I couldn't deny that I had done just that.

However, I couldn't let what happened last night blind me. I promised myself it wouldn't change things.

"Whether we regret it or not doesn't matter. You cannot deny that what transpired last night isn't the reason for this...this change in the plan, can you?" I asked, folding my arms over my chest.

"Of course, it has changed things, Dani," Fynn said, matter-of-fact.

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