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He could hear Rosalind’s voice in his head, picture her wide, hopeful eyes. A part of him wanted to do just that. Give whatever they’d started here some time and see if perhaps he was ready for something more.
The image in his head altered, changed to Rosalind with tears glistening on her cheeks. At some point, his selfishness would rear its head again. He’d revert back to his old ways when things got hard. That was just who he was. He couldn’t contemplate dragging out what they’d started here when he knew he couldn’t give her what she wanted.
He knew what he had to do. Knew what the right decision was.
Knowing that didn’t lessen the pain that clenched around his heart and twisted as he turned to walk back toward the chateau. But he would harden his heart to it, it’s what he always did. He was a master at it.
He had to say goodbye to Rosalind Sutton, once and for all.
Rosalind awoke to the soft creak of a door. She opened her eyes just in time to see Griffith closing the door.
“Good morning.”
She smiled at him as she brushed her curls out of her face. The sheet fell to her waist as she sat up and bared her breasts to his gaze. A touch of shyness still persisted. But the pleasant drowsiness that lingered in her limbs made her confident as she threw back the covers and walked to him.
“You’re up early.”
She went up on her toes and brushed a kiss across his lips. He didn’t reciprocate.
He grabbed her by her arms and held her away from him.
She blinked as she saw the reservation in his eyes.
“Are you okay?”
“I have something for you.”
She smiled and let one hand drift down his chest. “If it’s what I’m thinking—”
He caught her wrist, stopped her exploration. “It’s not.”
Stung by his dismissal, she took a step back. Worry pooled in her stomach.
“Griffith, what’s wrong?”
He picked up an envelope from a nearby table. He’d clearly brought it into the room with him. Cold slithered up her spine as her fingers closed over the packet.
“I signed it this morning.”
“I thought...”
She stared down at the envelope, at his name written at the top and the date she’d received her assignment. Over a month and a half ago. How had she gone from despising the man in front of her to...
To what? Sleeping with him?
“I thought you weren’t ready.”
“I’ll never be ready. You helped me see that.”
Alarm bells still clanged. He wasn’t the same Griffith Lykaois she’d met when she’d first ended up stranded at the chateau. But the camaraderie they had developed over the past week, not to mention the intimacy they’d shared over the past couple of days, had disappeared.
“There’s a crew working on the bridge.”
He said it so casually it took a moment to penetrate. When it did, the relief and happiness she’d expected didn’t surface. No, it was disappointment.
“Oh.”
“Beatrice tried to come up this morning and saw the tree blocking the bridge. She sent a crew from the village to remove the tree.”
