The chef’s assistant scurried off tittering.
The three of us were awaiting breakfast on the backyard terrace. The rest of them were inside eating from a prepared menu from the dining room. Naturally we weren’t expected to join them, but whoever left the possessive hickeys and scratches all over Nathan was likely craning her neck scanning for his arrival.
“You know why she told everyone that garbage, don’t you?” I twirled an apple on its stem. “Because she wins either way. If we say nothing, she’s the knocked-up mother of a toddler who had a run-in with the clap. But if we admit she’s a liar, then the guys will steer clear of the rumor-spreading nutcase.”
“She’s a beautiful, evil genius,” Preston said.
“Can you not admire the girl who told everyone you had chlamydia?” Nathan asked. “There’s got to be a limit to what you’ll take from her, or she’ll rip you to shreds.”
“Belle made it clear she doesn’t want marriage. She’s doing what she has to do to keep a stubborn fool off one knee.” He leaned back, adopting Nathan’s slouch. “And I’ll do what I have to do and let everyone know she’s a liar. It works for me too—having fewer guys circling her.”
“They aren’t the sharks in this scenario.”
“I don’t give a fuck what you two say until you stop dropping hints and tell me what happened between you and Belle. Anyone? Nathan?” He swung to me. “Carter?”
The apple broke from the stem, banging on the table.
“Thought so,” Preston finished. “I should be gearing up to eat my eggs off her right now. She refuses to believe you two didn’t tell me about her.”
“Stubbornness is one of the evil genius’s many wonderful traits,” Nathan said. “For the last time, stick with Delilah.”
“Nope.”
“It’s one of yours too,” he said under his breath.
Preston laughed.
I narrowed on that smile. “You’re in a good mood for a guy who doesn’t stand a chance. Did Adler give you some kind of hint that she’s thawing?”
“I was in her bed yesterday and she didn’t fuck me up. Taking that as a good sign.” Preston snatched up the apple and took a bite. Juice dotted his smirking lips. “Why? You got something to say now?”
“We’ve got your back, Preston. Always have. You’d think that would mean something.”
The grin faded. “The trust goes both ways. I’ve waited a long time to find this girl. If I’m meant to let Cinderella go, give me a reason.”
“I don’t have to.” I pushed back from the table. “She’ll do that on her own.”
BELLE
I tucked my phone in the top drawer. I wouldn’t need it until I called the dame later that night. With it out of sight, I could focus on my present disaster and Dad’s threat to rip away my inheritance if I didn’t participate in every event.
First: Speed dating.
My schedule actually read Two-minute Introductions, but I could read between the lines. I’d need a plate of something greasy and the strongest tea on the menu if I was going to make it through.
Walking out of my room, I smelled him before I saw him.
Cinnamon, grapefruit, and spicy black pepper would make for a weird treat in reality, but on Carter Knight, it was intoxicating.
“Are you three going to make ambushing me a habit?”
Carter leaned on the opposite wall, hands folded and face blank. “Standing outside of your room is an ambush?”
“What do you want, Carter?”
“I just wanted to know if it meant something that you’re making curly-headed munchkins with Nathan, but I’m given the incurable disease?”
“Don’t read into it.” I adopted his stance on my door. “Anyone who knows our history wouldn’t buy that we slept together. Had to come up with something special for you and the muse just took over.”
He bared his teeth. “This is just some game to you, isn’t it? Piper went to Mrs. Desai this morning demanding that medical history be revealed before considering a proposal. You may not want to be here, but some of us have a lot riding on this summer.”
“I’m well aware of that. Which is why my targets were you three. No collateral damage.”
“We didn’t tell Preston about you, Belle. I didn’t know you and Nathan had a history too.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
Carter sprang froward, slamming his hands on either side of my head. “Believe that after I entered the academy, I scrubbed the name Belle Adler from my life and forgot you ever existed? Yeah, I expect you to believe that. Why would I want to talk about you, Belle?” Burning blues raked me up and down. “You’re a manipulative liar... and you haven’t changed at all.”
His gaze could only hold me for so long. Inevitably, I drifted to his scar.
“There’s a lot about that day you don’t understand,” I whispered.
“Whose fault is that?”
I flinched. “You wouldn’t hear me then and you might not hear me now, but no matter what you think, I’m sorry for what happened to you.”
My hand moved on its own.
“Don’t,” he hissed.
“You were my best friend, Carter.” My finger grazed the pale mark, enticing a hitch in his breath. “That I hurt you is one of the biggest regrets of my life. Especially because I did what I did because I loved you.”
“That’s rich,” he snapped, shoving my hand away. “Pretending like you did me some favor. I’ll have this scar for the rest of my life, Belle, reminding me how far your love goes.”
My heart splintered, cracking so wretchedly I was sure he heard. When would my soul stop breaking for Carter Knight?
When the pain of his heart doing the same stops shining in his eyes.
I couldn’t fling accusations at Carter like I’d done with Nathan. The one who broke us was me, and everything Carter did afterward was no more than I deserved.
“I made a mistake.”
“So you admit it?” Fervency leaked emotion through his mask. “You admit that you lied.”
Erasing the scant distance between us, I slid my arms around his waist, burying my nose in his neck. “I miss you.” My lips skated over his skin. “You still smell so good.”
He gripped my hips, and for one blissful second, he drew me closer.
Then he was gone.
Carter ripped out of my hold. He flung into the opposite wall like he’d plow through to get away from me.
“What the fuck are you playing at, Belle?! You miss me?!” Carter’s eyes were anything but icy. They were darkened by a roaring, wild rage. “You just can’t stop yourself, can you? Everything with you is a mindfuck! You will say and do anything to get what you want.”
“I mean it, Carter.” I straightened, pushing my strap back up my shoulder. “I miss you, and I want us to be friends again. If you honestly didn’t put Preston up to sleeping with me, then there’s nothing stopping us from starting over. It’s up to you.”
“We can start over—”
Something in his voice halted me in my tracks.