Page 134 of The Thing About My Prince
“I mean like a business proposal. Well, and a personal one, but…” The pent-up tension inside me sends me back to my feet. “God, I’m turning this into a confusing mess already. And it’s really not. Let me explain it properly.”
I take a breath and lean back against the TV cabinet across the aisle from her. It’s only fair I step back to give her space to think, but the distance between us is something I’m already not enjoying. “First of all, I’m sorry. Really fucking sorry for everything. I should never have caved and let you fly to Scotland with me. I knew it could only end up badly for you. But I so desperately wanted to spend more time with you that when you showed up and insisted on coming, I was too selfish to find the strength to say no.”
“And now here I am on your plane again.” She’s thepicture of calm and composure. “But it looks like our roles are reversed this time.”
“I still have several apologies to make. I’m sorry for what Giles did.”
“That’s not your fault. I imagine a whole bunch of the heinous stories the press got about you probably came from him too.”
“And I’m sorry for my parents being incredibly rude and dismissive of you.”
“I imagine they’re like that with most people. I didn’t take it personally.”
“Most of all”—I crouch in front of her, rest my hands on her knees, and hope that she’s okay with it—“I’m sorry I didn’t come to say goodbye when you left. I thought it was for the best to set you free. And I was certain that if I saw you again, I wouldn’t want to let you go. So for your sake…” My shrug is as hopeless as I feel.
“It’s okay.” Her gaze drops to where my hands are touching her. “You had to stay at the church for the official photos. It’s fine. It’s kind of your job. And you had to do it. If I relate to any part of your life, I relate to professional commitments.”
She’s being way more understanding than I expected. Not that she’s not an understanding person—she is. But after the way I ended things, I was expecting her to find even my breathing to be unforgivable. And that wouldn’t have been unreasonable.
“All I had time to do was book you a flight before I got sucked into all the gladhanding with the guests. And then by the time we got back to Glenwither for the reception, you’d gone.” I shake my head at my own patheticness. “I even scoured our room for anything you might have accidentally forgotten so I’d have an excuse to get in touch with you straight away. But it turns out you’re a very efficient packer.”
“It was more furious and upset than efficient, to be honest.”
“You had every right to be. Oh, and nice move on drowning the bug, by the way. That made me laugh when I found it.”
Ah, a small smile. And her eyes are softer now.
“I like it when you make me laugh,” I confess. “And I like making you laugh too. We had the best time in Scotland, didn’t we? I mean the parts where it was just us. Obviously, every time anyone else was around, it was shit.”
“I liked your sister. And the people at the bog treasure hunt were mostly nice.”
That seems to me like a crystal-clear dodging of the question. But I need clarity. I might die if I don’t get clarity. “So you didn’t like the parts that were just us? They weren’t special to you?”
She takes one of my hands between hers. “Of course it was special. I don’t go around doing things like that with any random guy. And definitely not with someone who represents pretty much everything in life that I loathe.”
“Ithinkthat’s a compliment. I’m going to take it as one, anyway.”
“Yes,” she says quietly. “It’s a compliment.”
“Great. Because if that’s the case, there’s no reason we can’t pick up where we left off.”
“That seems like a bit of a leap.” She lets go of my hand and recoils a little.
Fuck, that was clumsy wording. “What I’m trying to say is that if it’s only circumstances that are stopping you from being with me, we can change the circumstances.”
“Are you planning to move to Yemen?” she asks.
“No. And I’m pretty sure that would be entirely impractical. Cole and Dane wouldn’t even let me off the bloody plane.”
At least that makes her mouth curve upward slightly. “That’s a problem then. Because my job is here.”
“I know. But I don’t think you’re happy.”
“How could you possibly know if I’m happy? You’ve seen me for five minutes. Inside a luxury private jet. You have no idea how in my element I am when I’m out there.” She jerks her thumb toward the window.
“I’ve watched every video of you that’s been posted since you got here. And there’s no spark behind your eyes in any of them.”
“To be fair, in some of them there was gunfire in the background, and that tends to make you feel not particularly sparky.”
