AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I didn’t break in here. The door was open, and I read that one by accident,” Max replied, fighting back a smile.
“We’ll agree to disagree.”
“Of course.”
“What did you read? Why did you read it? Are you fucking with me right now?”
He bit back a laugh. “The Rules for Dating an Earl.”
“Oh, great. My debut.” I rolled my eyes. Of course it was that one. Why wouldn’t it be? “But why? Eighteen hours ago, you didn’t read fiction, and now Mr. Forever Bachelor is reading romantic bloody comedy?”
“Grandma suggested that I should read your book if I wanted to understand how you felt about your characters,” he said slowly. “That’s the one she gave me.”
“Why on Earth would you want to understand how I feel about my characters?”
He sighed, briefly dropping his gaze. “I didn’t mean to upset you yesterday.”
I swallowed.
“You made some excellent points when we returned here, and it made me think a lot. You were so passionate about it all that I wanted to understand why you felt that way.”
“Yes, but why? What difference does that make to your life?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted, meeting my gaze. “But it was extremely clear that your books make a great deal of difference to other people’s lives, and I suppose I wanted to find that out for myself.”
I released my hold on the door and wrapped my arms around myself. A little fizzle of nerves tightened my stomach, like I frigging cared what this arsehole thought. Like I gave a damn.
Because I didn’t.
Not at all.
Not even a little bit.
Not the smallest, littlest, teensiest, tiniest smidge of a bit.
“And?” I asked after a few seconds of silence.
I did.
I cared.
Ugh.
Max slowly nodded. “I understand what you were saying last night about the journey being the one that mattered and not just the ending. I’m not entirely sure I’ll ever fully grasp it on the level you do, but I… get it.”
“Oh.” I wet my lips with my tongue and shifted my weight from one foot to the other. “Well… I appreciate you trying to understand from my point of view. And, um, I might have overreacted a little bit.”
He pressed his lips together into a grim smile.
“And I’m sorry,” I offered, grimacing. “Especially for ruining dinner.”
He shrugged. “You didn’t really ruin it. We ate before we really argued.”
“I know, but I do feel bad. I’m not sure a do-over is wise, though.”
“You might be right. Especially in public. I’m not sure we can get along long enough for that. Did you get enough book content, though?”
I tried not to laugh. “I did. Although I didn’t use our exact conversation, it’s always nice to have something that brings in a good grovelling scene. Readers like to see a man on his knees.”
