Perhaps she was delusional, but it almost looked like he was blushing as he said it.
Was he waiting to hear her thoughts about the room? Joining him in his room was the last thing she could think of doing at a moment like this.
“The room is lovely, thank ye. But me previous room was perfectly suitable,” she said softly.
She wasn’t trying to hurt his feelings, but she didn’t understand the need for the move. She just wished that he would make up his mind.
“I just thought…” Kaden trailed off. “Never mind.” Whatever softness or vulnerability he had shown promptly vanished. “This will be best for the image that we must present.”
All Emily could do was nod her head. “Alright, then.”
Kaden turned to leave through the door that connected their rooms. “We can have a good life together.”
Who was he attempting to convince, her or himself?
If he kept up the hot and cold attitude, she wasn’t so certain that it would be the case.
“I suppose that we will have to wait and see.”
24
All night, his sisters and mother were in a tizzy with last-minute preparations for the wedding.
Between hurrying about decorating the grounds and chiding him for rushing their planning, Kaden was exhausted by the time he had fallen into bed that evening.
Now the dark hours passed by, and he was lying in bed, unable to sleep. He had hardly even seen Emily since they had returned from the village. Freya had insisted on monopolizing her time for final dress fittings. Knowing that she was only a door away wasn’t making sleep any easier.
Worrying about his lands was one thing. The welfare and safety of his people were yet another thing that he had to worry about all the time. Then, there was the matter of his mother, the future and eventual marriages of his sisters, and what kind of men they might end up with.
He had their reputations and his own revenge to think about. He didn’t have time to worry about another person, and yet he found himself lying in bed wondering if Emily was comfortable, if she was regretting her choices, what she was thinking about the evening before they were to be officially wed.
Did she have cold feet?
More importantly, why didn’t he?
A wife was never supposed to be anything more than a means to have an heir. Then, it would be a handful of years before they were old enough to learn how to rule themselves.
Once he knew that the clan was in good hands and he didn’t have to rule any longer, then he could focus on finding the man who had held him captive for so many years and tearing the bastard limb from limb.
Emily was a constant distraction from that very goal.
Now, he also had to worry about her, because if something happened to him, it might affect her. He had to be able to protect her, to be around long enough to properly care for her. It was…
Well, he wasn’t sure where his head was at. He had thought that their time at the inn had brought them closer. He had thought that the grand gesture was enough. But clearly, he was very wrong.
There was something that he was missing.
But tomorrow, she was going to be standing there in a dress, waiting for him to present a ring and bind their souls together.
Eventually, his eyes started to drift shut at the image of her in a wedding dress. Was she filled with anticipation as he was? Was she dreading tomorrow? Going into her room would be a mistake, for she had made it perfectly clear that she didn’t have any desire to see him. She was likely working on her book anyway.
Kaden huffed and rolled onto his side. He pulled the blanket up over his shoulders, as if that would somehow force him to lie still in a bed that he didn’t think would ever be comfortable. It was too soft, but he knew that he should force himself to stay there. He couldn’t sleep on the floor for the rest of his life. Not without having to answer questions that he didn’t want to bother with.
A loud crash from next door stirred him out of his thoughts. He might have disregarded it if not for the panicked shout coming from Emily in the next moment.
He nearly fell on his face attempting to scramble out of bed so quickly. Blankets and sheets wrapped around him uncomfortably, which he left in a heap behind him as he hurried toward the door that connected their rooms.
It was nearly impossible to see in the dark, as her bed was in the corner. He moved quickly, wishing that he had grabbedsomething he might defend the pair of them with better. Not that he wasn’t lethal with only his hands as a weapon.
