Page 31 of The Alpha's Bullied Pregnant Mate

If Callahan was right, she would be livid and upset. But she would try to mask it and act unbothered. He hated that a lot of what he was doing relied on advise he had gotten from his friend, but he was completely lost at sea if left on his own.

The locks sounded behind the door, and a moment later, Isla was peering through the crack, looking at Fannar. The sight of her sent him tumbling in an abyss and he took a step forward to regain his balance. His sense of vertigo disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared, living him shaken.

Isla opened the door wider. “Hello. Good morning.”

“Good morning.” He searched her eyes for something, anything, but she had her mask on and she was unreadable. Seems like you got one thing right after all, Callahan. He remembered himself at the last minute and stretched out a hand. “These are for you.”

“Great,” Isla said, eyeing the multicoloured bouquet. “More flowers. Please come in. Let’s look for a vase for these.”

Fannar nodded and followed behind her. Callahan had tried to prepare him for her stoicism but it still caught him off guard and frustrated him. She was even worse than when they were strangers and he had a mind to forget everything he planned to say to her.

He had come up with the fake girlfriend plan on a whim, and had not planned for it to last beyond a few weeks originally. But that had changed and he now wanted an actual relationship with her. He planned on dragging out their arrangement as long as he could, just as an excuse to get close to her.

Given the past they had, he didn’t share Callahan’s enthusiasm and optimism. He expected it to be hard, if not impossible. Whatever the outcome was, he was content to be with her whenever he could, regardless of the situation.

“Please, get comfortable,” Isla said. “Would you like something to drink?”

“A cup of coffee would be great.”

Isla nodded and walked to the kitchen. A low wall divided the kitchen from the living room, and the surface of the wall was designed like a table top, with stools in front of it. Fannar sat in one of them and laced his fingers together, watching Isla.

She found a vase, poured some water into it and set the flowers in. She placed the vase on the wall beside Fannar, and turned around without looking at him.

He watched her quietly as she rummaged through the cabinets, and he wondered what was going through her mind. He hated that there were always long periods of uncomfortable silence whenever he was with her. It was almost as if they were in the same room, but worlds apart at the same time.

“I’m sorry it took so long for me to reach out to you,” Fannar said quietly. “I was a little busy and needed to sort some things out.”

“You don’t owe me any explanation, Fannar,” she said without looking up.

Fannar thought he heard something in her tone but he wasn’t certain. “You got the money, right? I had it mailed to you a few days ago—”

She spun suddenly. “Yes, Fannar. I got your money. Thank you.” Something flashed in her eyes, something terrifying and cold, but before he could blink, it was gone, replaced by her placid demeanor.

He didn’t understand her, and it seemed like the more he tried to, the less he did. Talking about the money obviously annoyed her. Why had she asked for so much if she didn’t want it? Why did she need it? There was just so much he didn’t know.

Isla returned to the counter with two steaming mugs of coffee. “I didn’t know how you liked yours, so I just made it as I would have made mine.”

“Thank you.” He took a sip and his eyes widened. “Wow. This is good. What’s in it?”

“Secret recipe. What do you want, Fannar? Why are you here?”

He took another sip from the coffee and savored the spicy flavors and the warmth that radiated through his chest. “I came here to ask you out on a date, Isla.”

“No.”

“What do you mean ‘no’?”

“It means I don’t feel like going anywhere today, especially not under such short notice. I’d also like to add that I don’t want to go anywhere with you.”

Fannar frowned. “That doesn’t make sense. We have an arrangement where I pay you and you’re my girlfriend. I’ve kept to my end of that bargain so far. How are we supposed to convince people we are together if we never go anywhere?”

“Yes, Fannar. Keep reminding me about your damn money. You offered to pay me, remember? I didn’t come begging. You did. More so, I’m not trying to convince people. The deal was your mom, remember? We convince your mom that you’re in a happy relationship and keep her off your back. Not a bunch of assholes I don’t care about.”

“Isla, this has nothing to do with the money, and you know it.”

“And yet you keep bringing it up.” Her eyes were hard as flint and angry. Fannar couldn’t understand what he had said to make her so mad, but she was a burning forge, a forest fire that consumed everything in its path.

Something was bothering her and he just couldn’t place his finger on what. She was upset with him, though. That much was certain, no matter how well she tried to hide it. But why?

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