Page 439 of The Christmas Wife

His features twist. A haunted look comes into his eyes. He seems helpless and forlorn, and so lonely, and… I cannot let that get to me. I cannot let the devastation in his gaze soften me. I can’t allow him to get close to me again. Not after everything he just revealed.

He looks away, then back at me. "When we return, you can lead on the initiative to set up childcare facilities in the office."

It’s not what I expected him to say, so I stay quiet.

"I’ve wanted to set up childcare services in the office for a while, and you would be the perfect candidate to drive that." He lowers his chin to his chest. "You know you want to help with this project."

"I do." I put more distance between us. "But it doesn’t change what you did. Things which I may never be able to come to terms with."

Color drains from his features. "Don’t say that." His voice is hoarse like he’s been yelling, or maybe it’s all the lies he’s told me.

"You did something unforgivable. You betrayed my trust."

"I didn’t have a choice."

"You could have come out and told me you liked me."

"Liked you?" He pronounces the words like they are something foreign.

"And maybe, we could have gone on dates."

"Dates?" The furrow between his forehead deepens.

"You know. Dinner, a movie…? Like normal people."

"Normal people." There is a strange look in his eyes, something I can’t quite place. A mix of surprise and disbelief.

"Yes, normal people. People who respect boundaries and know they can’t just plant cameras and listening devices on others. People who think of more than running a company, and who don’t earn billions and make more in one day than most of the planet does in a year. People like me."

"You’re wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"You’re not a normal person," he says through gritted teeth.

"Of course, I am."

"You’re the most genuine person I've ever met. The most honest, the most generous, the most empathetic. You care about others more than yourself, and that is not normal. Not even faintly normal. People are selfish and cruel and hurt others to get what they want."

"Like you hurt me?"

He winces. "I… I didn’t want to hurt you. Quite the contrary. I wanted to make sure you got everything you wanted."

"I didn’t ask for all this." I wave a hand in the air. "All I wanted was a home of my own, a family, a man who loves me."

"I—" He swallows. "I…care about you, Belle."

"You have a funny way of showing it."

"It’s the only way I know."

"And I’m sure you’re going to use the incident to justify the way you turned out. You’re going to tell me the incident is the reason you're an uncaring, unfeeling, calculating person…who I hate."

"You don’t hate me."

"I do now." I pull the sheet off the bed and wrap it around my shoulders.

His features take on a dissatisfied look. He seems like he’s about to say something, then draws in a sharp breath. "Everything I did…was from a place of wanting to woo you."

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