Page 178 of From Best Friend to Bride
More than that, we’d bathed together, showered together, then I’d fallen asleep in his arms.
And heard those magical words I never thought I’d hear out of his lips.
“I love you, Delilah.”
I rolled onto my stomach and kicked my feet against the bed, squealing into the pillow.
Okay, this was ridiculous. He obviously only said it because he thought I was asleep, and here I was, kicking my feet like an excited little kid.
Because what did itmean?
I knew Fred loved me. Fred had loved me for our entire lives. Was that that kind of love, the best friend kind, or was it something else?
Was it the in-love kinda love?
I knew one thing for sure: He’d certainly touched me with that kind of love last night. I wasn’t stupid. I knew the difference between sex and love, and he’d touched me almost reverently, like I was something fragile and worth treasuring.
Every single move he’d made had been with my pleasure, my comfort, my happiness, in the forefront of his mind, and I’d never felt so special in my life.
And I wanted to feel it again.
I wanted to makehimfeel that, too.
I hadn’t asked him to annul the marriage because I didn’t want to be with him. Wanting to be with him was the whole problem in the first place.
If he felt the same way I did…
I turned my face out of the pillow and took a deep breath through my nostrils. I sighed it out of my mouth and sat up, scanning the room for any sign of him. Finding none, I resigned myself to getting out of bed and going on a hunt for him.
There was no way I was going back to sleep now.
I grabbed my dressing gown from the hook and put it on, tying the belt firmly around my waist. I paused to slip my feet into my mouse slippers before heading out of the bedroom and meandering my way through the manor. I greeted all the staff I came across happily, and Harry even looked taken aback by my brightness.
Thankfully, he was a smart man and merely asked if I’d like a cup of tea.
I rejected his kind offer and shuffled down the hallway to where Fred’s office was. The door was slightly ajar, and I frowned—he always kept it closed.
I peeked my head through the gap and glanced around the room. He was at his desk, bent over, with his head resting on his forearms. His upper back and shoulders gently rose and fell with his steady breaths, and I bit back a laugh.
Had he been sleeping here all night?
His back was going to kill him when he woke up.
Well, that was his own fault.
I quietly stepped inside and clicked the door shut. He barely stirred at the noise, and I tiptoed over when something in the empty fireplace caught my eye.
I paused for a moment, then changed course. It was an envelope, and I bent down to pull it out of the hearth. The contents were torn, and it took a great deal of effort to reach inside and pull them out without making too much noise.
Annulment papers.
Torn up annulment papers, to be exact.
My heart thumped. Had Fred done this? Why had he torn them up and thrown them into the fireplace? Sure, they were largely useless now, but…
I swallowed, looking towards the desk. There was another envelope and papers resting in front of his sleeping form, and my heart beat wildly again.
They looked familiar.
