“That is because you will not.”
He looked away for the first time. When he looked back, there was less calm in him. “You are punishing me for suspicions you have.”
Aingeal laughed once, low and bitter. “Should I thank you for noticing?”
“I notice,” he said. “I notice every time you turn cold when I come near. Every time you look as though I have offended you merely by standing where I stood the day before.”
“Then consider why.”
“I do. I have done little else.”
The answer struck harder than she expected.
For a moment, she saw the strain in him clearly: fatigue, frustration, and something darker beneath both that he still would not let her touch. Good, let him feel some portion of what I feel.
Another part recoiled at once. She did not want him hurt because of her. She wanted his truth. What was he hiding? That, more than any defense, made the anger rise again. “There is something in you I cannot read.”
“Yes.”
“You admit it?”
“I am not a fool.”
“No. Only determined to make one of me.”
He stepped closer. “You are not a fool.”
Aingeal felt every part of herself wake to his nearness even while anger burned in her chest. “How would you know?”
“Because a fool does not see nearly as much as you do.”
“Do not flatter me. Not now.”
“It is not flattery.”
“Then what is it?”
His voice lowered. “An answer.”
She swallowed.
He stood close enough for her to see the pale line of the scar at his brow and the weariness under his eyes. Close enough for the memory of the first kiss to return and set her body aflame.
She should have stepped back.
“You want truth from me,” he said. “But you are not only angry about what I hide.”
“No?”
“No.” His gaze searched hers with unbearable steadiness. “You are angry because of what you feel. Jealousy.”
The word struck so cleanly she forgot to breathe.
“Tell me I am wrong,” he said.
She opened her mouth. Nothing came. Because he was not wrong. But he was not wholly right either. A ragged breath escaped her. “I am jealous,” she said. “God forgive me, I am. But do not mistake that for all of it.”
His expression changed.
