Page 92 of Princess of Pride
I shouldn’t feel anything for Lachlan. That was the plan.
Here I’m his arranged wife forced upon him by my father. But Kat was someone he chose. For years. And there’s Wes’s sister, Tessa, who means something to him too.
I can’t compete with these women. I don’t want to. I wantto be left alone. I want what I thought I agreed to in the pool house. And I want this hold Lachlan has on my heart to go away. It’s nothing I’ve ever known, not even with Gabe. I don’t like it. I didn’t give it to him. He took it with his attention, his attraction to me, his orgasmic touch, and his vulnerable moments.
I haven’t even made it to the desk in the office when Lachlan is at my back, stopping me with his hands on my arms, and his mouth at my ear. “Let me help you or I’ll carry you out of this office and to the car for everyone to see.”
I almost fight him on this, but it won’t look any better with me crawling like a snail through the massive building.
For the helluvit, I ask, “Can you clear the warehouse?”
“Rory.” He nods at his brother, who’s watching me with concern.
He leaves the office with me shocked that Lachlan agreed.
“Why do you do this?”
“Do what?”
“Accommodate me?” Before he can answer, I add, “Don’t say because I’m your wife. It means nothing.”
“It was supposed to,” he murmurs, confusing me like always.
“What?” I don’t dare turn my head.
He’s too close behind me, his hands still on my arms, supporting me as much as I hate to admit.
“It was supposed to mean nothing.”
Here we go again. “I don’t believe you.”
He doesn’t say anything, just breathes on my hair.
“If I weren’t here, you could have had your ex right on the desk like she wanted.” My stomach turns, not with vomit but with disgust. Certainly not with heartache. Not for him.
“I wouldn’t have touched her.”
“You touched her for years!” I don’t even like myself right now. I try to inch away.
He keeps me in place and moves so close his body presses against mine. His lips are on my hair at the top of my head. “We need to straighten out a few things.”
“No, we don’t. We need space.”
“What if I can’t give that to you? What if I don’t want to?”
If I didn’t just witness his interaction with Kat, and I weren’t gross with sweat and vomit mouth, this might have been a turning point for us. But this isn’t a romance novel. We’re not main characters on the verge of falling for each other.
“Did you love her?” I ask, not to hurt myself but to weed out some of his character.
“Tessa?”
“No. Kat. The woman who was just here.”
“That was Tessa. Her name is Katessa.”
My brain connects the dots. She didn’t want me to know who she was when we met, in case I’d heard about them being together. On the plane, he talked about her like he cared. I thought they dated. All this time she was the Tessa I’d heard about. Wes’s sister. No wonder he hates me.
“Did you love her?” It’ll hurt to hear this, but it will also clarify something.
