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It was the limp that got to him. That and the brave set of her shoulders. Bella Craig was so damn spunky and so utterly unable to protect herself from emotional harm. What other woman of his acquaintance would be so open about her feelings? What other woman would let him know so candidly that she cared?
Watching her walk toward the door seemed to last forever. Everything inside him turned to ash. He was terrible at relationships. If he stayed, he would mess things up. He knew it. The sensible thing to do would be to leave her alone…let some other man snatch her up and make her his.
The thought of that literally set his teeth on edge. Bella was his. There was no rhyme or reason to the feeling, but he recognized its gut-deep validity.
“Wait,” he croaked. “Stop.”
Bella hesitated and turned around. He felt deep shame when he saw the way she regarded him. He’d been rude and cruel. She braced visibly for another volley. “What?” she asked quietly. “What else is there to say?”
He lifted his shoulders and let them fall, his hands jammed in his pockets. “I want you.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel special?”
His neck grew hot. “I’ve wanted other women,” he said slowly. “But until I came here and met you, I’ve never considered the possibility of a relationship. I never wanted to risk it. I’m barely thirty-five, but I’m set in my ways. I’m not easy to get along with. The female brain is a mystery to me.”
“No one ever mentioned a relationship,” she said. Every nuance of expression had been wiped from her face. He couldn’t read her at all. “You and I considered the possibility of a fling, but that’s off the table now.”
“Why?” he asked urgently. “Why is it off the table?”
She lifted her chin. “Because you’re a pompous ass and a lily-livered coward.”
“You sound like an American Southern belle when you say that. Though it’s true,” he said hastily. “I’m no bargain.” He ran his hands through his hair, feeling as if he were being torn apart and reassembled in the image of a man he didn’t know. “Give me another chance,” he said softly.
“Long distance relationships never work. You in London. Me here. It’s pointless.”
Was she deliberately misunderstanding him? He picked up the suitcase and dumped the contents on the bed. “I’ll stay.”
“Don’t expect me to dance a jig over that news.” Her nose wrinkled as if she smelled an unpleasant odor.
“I had a few bad moments. I’m feeling better now.”
“You were angry that I saw you at your worst,” she said. “You pitched a tantrum because of injured male pride.”
He swallowed hard. “Give a guy a break.”
“I’ve had enough drama in my short life, Ian. Most of it from men who professed to care about me. So forgive me if I don’t rush to accept your apology. Although now that I think about it, you never actually said you were sorry for anything, did you?”
“Lord, you’re pretty when you get all worked up.”
“And don’t patronize me,” she yelled. “If you think you can blink at me with those long eyelashes and expect me to sleep with you, you’re insane.”
“We wouldn’t do much sleeping,” he vowed, closing the distance between them. “Not with you in my bed or vice versa.”
When her mouth did that cute little O thing again, he kissed her gently. “I am so very sorry for being a beast to you tonight. I don’t want to go to London, Bella. Not at all.”
He kept his hands on her upper arms. His emotional state was wobbly, and he didn’t want to do something they would both regret.
She bit her bottom lip. “You came here to hide out,” she said. “If that’s no longer feasible, why would you stay?”
“You know why.” He folded her close, pulling her against his chest and sighing deeply. “Let’s start over. Can we? Me not a fugitive. You not a reluctant innkeeper. Can’t we just be a man and a woman who happened to meet on the Isle of Skye and decide to explore a connection?”
She was quiet for a very long time, but her arms remained linked around his waist and her cheek rested over his heart. “Would that make it a Highland fling?”
He groaned. “Puns. Really?” His mood lightened. “Fling. Rendezvous. Any word you want to use.”
“If we start over, that means no sex for the immediate future.”
He nodded glumly. “I know. You don’t do that on a first date.”
