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Aurora was amazed by how calm she seemed. “I don’t have a great history with this lake, you know.”
He grinned. “I promise not to tip you in unless you really deserve it. Take your boots off, just in case. You’d sink right to the bottom wearing those.”
She lifted her shoulders, and stared at him with an icy resolve. “You seem annoyed at me.”
“Annoyed at you? Because I don’t want you to drown?” His eyes flashed with an unknown emotion, but he relented a little as he saw her lift her feet out of her boots and set them aside. He looked away. “Annoyed doesn’t even come close to describing what I am with you.”
She sucked in a deep breath. “But why?”
“Why am I annoyed at you? I’ll give you one guess.”
Aurora narrowed her eyes. “I really have no idea.”
“How do you think it makes me feel to see you with him?”
She lowered her face, examining the pattern of the timber deck. The water made a constant splishing splashing noise as he continued to row, cutting the boat’s path with ease.
“You told me to go out with him,” she pointed out quietly.
“Damned right.”
“So why are you being like this?”
“Six months? You’ve been with him since that night?”
“No.” She bit down on her lip. The small shred of pride she had remaining kept her from disclosing the true nature of her relationship with Alec.
“No?”
She glared at him mutinously. “It was about a week after that night.”
He swore, his dark eyes filled with resentment. He rowed the boat once more, and it bumped against something. He stood up. “Come with me.” He held a hand down, and though she knew she should be asking more questions, she put hers in it.
She watched as he looped the rope around a tree trunk on the shoreline, and then allowed herself to be guided by him to the cottage. Her bare feet made a shuffling noise against the dew-coated grass. “This is the Gardener’s Cottage?” She said, as he pushed open the door and waited for her to follow him.
“A fancy name for Guest House,” he responded with a dismissive wave of his hand. “It’s empty.”
Now, she did pause. “Why do you want to go in there?”
He stepped back onto the front porch and looped his arms around her waist. “Because I want to find out how serious you are about Mr Stockbroker.”
“He’s not a stockbroker,” she denied automatically. “He works in finance. It’s different.”
He compressed his lips. “Go inside.”
“No.” She stared up at him. “You have no right to be like this.”
“Yes, I damn well do. And do you want to know why?”
“Yes! Why do you think you have any business in my life? Why do you think after six months you get to come back and act like this?”
“Because I fucking love you, and you love me.”
“What did you just say?” Her eyes scanned his face, searching for truth in his features. His expression was sombre, his eyes unreadable.
“I have spent the last six months telling myself we could make this work. That a bit of time apart would lead you to be reasonable. And then I get here and you’re in a serious relationship with that guy?”
“Wait a minute. Hold up.” She lifted her fingers and pressed them against her temples. “You claim to love me, but say that I have to be reasonable? What’s that even supposed to mean?”
