Her cheeks warmed. “I didn’t say it was.”
“You didn’t need to,” Charlene replied knowingly.
Sera waggled her brows. “Speaking of your heart and body’s current residence… have you told Sebastian any of this?”
Maddie hesitated.
Sera groaned. “Maddie.”
“I haven’t left the room yet, and even if I did, what would I say to him? How do I face him?” Her voice caught. Especially after that humiliation when they arrived back at the castle.
“Well, I hate to say it, he might already know.”
Maddie’s eyes whipped to Ashley. “What?”
“Thomas knows as well, and he might have already warned him.”
Oh, no. Even though they’d already confessed their love andintentions, what if he decided it was too much? Too messy? Too public? What if he walked away?
I’ll stay.
He’d said that. But still—what if he left?
No. She had to trust him.
She had to trustthem.
Still, her stomach twisted into a dozen cold little knots.
“What if he doesn’t?” Maddie whispered. “What if he thinks it’s all too much? Too messy? He didn’t even say anything when we arrived. He was there, right beside me, and he just stood there.”
Which was unfair. She hadn’t wanted him to speak. Not then. But the silence echoed now in all the worst ways.
“Because he didn’t want to make a scene,” Ashley said gently. “He was with you, Maddie. That means something.”
“He might have been holding back.”
Charlene nodded. “Which is exactly what a man like Sebastian does when he’s furious and trying to hold himself together. Do you want him to punch Paisley in front of everyone, get entangled in a duel, and maybe die?”
Maddie blinked. Saints! “No. Char, come on. That is rather brutal.”
And an image she could have done without.
They all laughed softly.
“Dear,” Charlene said, sitting on the bed beside her, “Sebastian is not a rake or a romantic hero in a novel, but he didn’t leave when things got uncomfortable. That’s his version of shouting.”
He didn’t leave…
Ashley offered her a faint smile. “He didn’t speak, no. But he didn’t flinch either. He looked at you. Like you were the only thing keeping him from throttling people.”
Maddie’s eyes stung. The kind of ache that sat behind the lids and refused to fall.
“Speak to him as soon as you can,” Charlene said. “Don’t let doubt take root.”
“But what if he—”
“No,” Ashley interrupted softly, but firmly. “What if he doesn’t walk away? What if he fights? What if this is the moment everything changes, and you almost let it slip past you because you were afraid? What if he already has a solution?”
