Page 173 of The Wrong Husband
"Guessed what?" He places the glass down on the table.
"That you were trying to make him jealous. But you heard him, he doesn’t think I'm worth marrying anyway."
He glares at me. Those golden eyes of his seem to blaze with an anger arising from the core of his being. I swallow. He looks enraged. Reminding me of why I’ve kept my distance from him so long. He’s not the kind of man who can be tamed. With his shaggy hair and massive build, and those amber eyes, I’ve nicknamed him The Lion. And now, I’m reminded why.
"You’re better than to believe that loser."
"Doesn’t change what he said." I hunch my shoulders. "I’m… Uh… Clearly, not good enough to keep him."
"Fuck him."
His voice is so harsh, I flinch.
"He has no idea what he’s let go of. It was his good fortune that he even had a chance to have you in his life. He didn’t appreciate you, which is why he cheated on you. You’re better off without him. Also"—he slides a hand into his pocket, and stares down at me from his superior height—"you forget that I kissed you. And going by your response, I can promise you, you’re anything but frigid."
I blush to the roots of my hair, then look down at where I’m twisting my fingers in my lap. I wish I could sink through the floor. I wish I were anywhere but here. Isn’t it enough that he kissed me, and instead of pushing him away, I enjoyed it? And now, he has to point out my response to him?
"I realize, you were trying to help me, but I’m not sure what that kiss accomplished."
"Other than making him realize how much of a terrible mistake he made by letting you go, you mean?"
I hear the smugness in his voice and glance up, and further up—God, he’s tall. And sitting down, with him towering over me, I’m struck again by the powerful figure he cuts in his immaculate suit.
It also means I’m at the level of his crotch.Don’t look there. Don’t.I manage to keep my gaze on his.
"I suppose, you have a point. But it’s not going to help me when I email all the guests I invited to my wedding. Or tell my parents that I’m not getting married, after all. Not to mention, the money I put toward the caterers at the pub where our reception was going to be held." I wince.
That money could have been used toward paying down some of my student loans, or my next month’s rent.
But really, the worst thing will be the pity that’ll come my way when the news spreads. I sink back in my chair and wrap my arms about my waist.
"This is terrible. What am I going to do now?"
"What do you mean?"
"You have no idea what it means to call off a wedding when you’re one of the normal working class, do you?"
"Tell me." He sinks down to one knee in front of me, then rests an arm across his thigh like he’s settling in to wait.
"What are you doing?" I laugh nervously.
"I want to understand."
"Umm… Don’t you have your next meeting to go to?"
"It can wait."
I flick my gaze to his calendar, open on my computer. "It’s the meeting with the CEO of that company whose takeover you’ve been planning for months."
"It can wait."
I frown. "You’ve been wanting to seal the deal for months."
"I want to seal this deal too."
"Excuse me?" I whip my head around in his direction. "What does that mean?"
"I mean, I want to understand what’s the result of him having broken his deal with you."
