Page 79 of The Sinner's Bargain

It was hard to tell if she meant that when she was avidly studying her pumps. Her lip was still getting chewed into as if she were trying to keep it from saying what was actually on her mind.

I offered her my elbow and she took it. Her attention remained on our feet the entire way to the bottom. It was only then it hit me.

Shit!

I should have seen it. How could I have been so stupid?

“I scared you.” I stopped, pulling her to a stand still with me in the middle of the foyer. “Earlier. I fucking scared you, didn’t I?”

She blinked at me. Her eyes actually fixed on me with confusion. “What? No. I ... I liked it.” Her lashes slipped between us, blocking me from her. “A lot.”

My dick hardened at her timid declaration before I told it to shut the fuck up. He was the reason we were in this mess. If I had just controlled myself and gone slow ... she wouldn’t look as if her heart was broken.

“Did I hurt you then?” I guessed, unwilling to let it go.

She pulled in a shaky breath. “It wasn’t you. I ... it’s me.”

It was my turn to stare at her dumbfounded. “What? What are you talking about?”

She never got the chance to tell me when Oliver bounded down the stairs and caught sight of me.

“What are we standing in this drafty corridor for? Come along. Dinner is lamb and I’ve been smelling it all day.”

Without warning, my uncle slid his arm through Blue’s and propelled her away from me. Our eyes met briefly before she was swept in the direction of the dining room with Oliver telling her about his time in France and the lamb he’d eaten along the river Thames.

He’d already helped her into her seat by the time I joined them. Vance must have gone home for the night, but Cyrus stood in his usual place. Oliver had moved into the seat opposite Blue, his hands moving animatedly with his story of the dog who stole his lamb chop and took off. Blue was smiling. All signs of her earlier distress carefully hidden from everyone but me.

The pain of whatever happened after I left lingered in the smile that didn’t quite make it to her eyes. In the way she nibbled on her lip when Oliver paused in his retelling. She was trying but I wasn’t fooled.

“Have you ever been to France?” Oliver asked.

Distracted, Blue shook her head. “I haven’t really been anywhere.”

Her first slip.

Where Vance would have immediately caught the mistake and thrown it back at her, I said nothing, nor did Oliver — if he caught it.

“It’s gorgeous in the spring,” Oliver went on. “Abigail and I would spend every summer there with our parents. That was before she met Aerys and started a family, of course. Abby loved Paris.” Oliver’s mouth twisted up at one side in a wistful grimace. “She loved the art and music.”

“I’m so sorry,” Blue whispered.

Oliver nodded. “It’s never fair.”

Blue seemed to be on the verge of saying something but thought better of it. Her attention fell on her plate, and I waited for her to play with the meal the way she always seemed to but was surprised when she cut a small chunk and brought it to her mouth. It went in and she chewed.

Good girl, I thought to myself, pleased.

As if sensing my gaze, hers lifted and meet mine. But it was fleeting. I pulled in a breath and willed myself to be patient.

Oliver and Blue kept the conversation going throughout dinner. They talked about art and music, and literature. She seemed very well versed in the classics and had the skills of someone who knew just what to say.

Denika had been like that. She had been trained to entertain. She could keep the room buzzing and laughing without trying. The life of every gathering.

Blue didn’t strike me as a social butterfly, but I could see her in a beautiful gown, hair and face done, chatting with some rich tight ass.

“Do you have plans for the rest of the night?” she asked Oliver.

“Maybe a chapter of Island of Dr. Moreau before bed. I’m too old to stay up all night like I used to.”

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