Page 95 of Beyond the Cottage

He looked at her askance. “Are you alright?”

“Fine. I need to talk to you.”

“Can’t it wait until later?”

“No.” If she waited, she’d lose her nerve. Hopefully, he’d put a shirt on so she could think clearly.

Or not.

“I’m beat, Gretta.”

“It’s important. Can I come in?”

He slumped against the door frame, arms crossed. His hips canted at a rakish angle, and a tiny gap formed between his abdomen and waistband. Gretta wasn’t sure she’d ever swallow properly again.

“I’m surprised you’re willing to be alone with me,” he said. “Aren’t you afraid I’llviolateof you?”

She winced, wishing he’d invent a time machine so she could go back to that morning and smack herself. Had she even properly apologized for asking if he’d ‘done things’ to her? “I shouldn’t have said that, I knew it wasn’t true before it came out.” She picked at her fingernail. “I’m sorry.”

His expression remained skeptical, but his shoulders relaxed.

“Please,” she said. “Can I come in?”

He studied her a moment longer. Then he shrugged. Turning his back, he entered the room, and she followed him inside.

Ansel sat on the edge of a cluttered table and dug the heel of his palm into his eye socket. He had no energy for conversation, but Gretta was stubborn as a terrier when she’d made up her mind to do something.

She shut the door and huddled against it. Appearing fascinated with items on a shelf, she picked up a gold candlestick.

“Gretta, what is it?”

The candlestick went back on the shelf. She repositioned it and ran her fingertips over a silver clock. Ansel crossed his arms.

Abandoning the items with a sigh, she said, “Basically, I wanted to tell you…” She inhaled deep. “I want you to know that I…”

“What?”

“I forgive you.”

Ansel didn’t so much as blink. If he hadn’t been sitting on the table, he might have fallen to the floor in shock. “Youforgiveme?”

She nodded.

He stared at her dumbly because he had no idea how to respond. Of all the possible things she could have said, he hadn’t remotely considered this. After their morning, it was a gift he hadn’t expected to receive, one he wasn’t sure he deserved. Despite the emotional ride she’d set him on, he wouldn’t turn it away.

“Thank you,” he said, voice rough. “Truly.”

“Anyway. I just wanted you to know. I hope this makes things easier between us?”

“It will,” he said, amazed how much lighter he felt. “It does.”

Gretta smiled with a firm nod. Except for their breathing, silence filled the room. Her eyes trailed off his face, down his throat, to his left pectoral. A flush brightened her cheeks.

When her full bottom lip tucked between her teeth, Ansel’s cursed cock stirred. Belatedly, he realized he wasn’t wearing a shirt.

Neck hot, he snatched his shirt off the floor and pulled it on. “Sorry.”

“Inside out.”

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