Page 95 of Rebellion

Sofia couldn’t stop the eye roll. So arrogant.

Colm tapped her nose. “Stop that, brat. Now, the first step for me to ensure everything will be all right is getting you to eat.”

“I eat,” she protested before he put another forkful of omelet to her lips.

Now she had to take it, didn’t she?

He gave her a look of approval as she ate the piece of omelet. “Good girl.”

Yikes.

Why did those words make her insides sizzle? And, at the same time, they made her feel more at ease.

Soothed.

It was bizarre. But Sofia wanted to hear him praise her again, so she ate several more mouthfuls until she couldn’t eat anymore.

He sighed as he looked at the plate. “Well, I guess it will have to do.”

Sofia hunched her shoulders. Great. Rather than make him proud of her, she’d annoyed him.

Disappointed him.

“Whoa. Hey, look at me,Mo leannan,” he said in his soft drawl. “What’s the matter? Why do you look like I ran over your cat?”

She gasped. “I’d look much worse if you ran over my cat.”

“Sofia, what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Uh-uh, that’s not the way things are going to go between us anymore. You are going to talk to me.”

“I need the bathroom.”

“You’re not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on in that head of yours,” he stated.

She glared up at him. But his face didn’t change. He didn’t even flinch.

Damn him.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to disappoint you!” she blurted out quickly.

A look of confusion filled his face before he looked at the plate. “Ahh, baby, we’ve got some work to do on our communication, yeah? And the way you jump to conclusions. You need to tell me if you’re upset, not try to hide it.”

He was talking like they were in a relationship.

“Colm, I can’t?—”

“We’re not discussing the future right now. I don’t need to hear all the reasons why you think this won’t work.”

Lord.

He was hard work sometimes.

“But you in no way disappointed me. You could never disappoint me.”

“I would never say never,” she told him. “I’m sure if you give me enough time, I can disappoint you.”

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