Now she had a plan, all she had to do was tell Tate.
‘Why would you want to rent when you can stay here for free?’ Tate asked when she told him the news later that afternoon.
‘That was the original plan,’ she said, shrugging. ‘I’m not comfortable having you pay for everything.’
‘I like having you here.’
‘I love being here,’ she said. And she had. When he wasn’t in a mood, everything about their relationship was amazing. He was thoughtful and generous to a fault. But then there were the other times, when he was overprotective and demanding, when he wanted to dictate what she wore. That was just … weird. ‘Everything we did was so fast. And I don’t regret any of it, but maybe we need to take things a little bit slower, to enjoy things a bit more.’
‘That doesn’t make any sense,’ he said, a small frown etching onto his forehead. ‘We’re crazy about each other. Why slow down?’
‘Who is Lucile?’ she asked quietly.
‘What?’ he asked, his eyebrows snapping together.
‘A woman named Lucile came into the shop the other day and introduced herself,’ she said. When he didn’t reply, she added, ‘You didn’t tell me you’d been engaged.’
‘It’s ancient history.’
‘It’s also important.’
‘So, what did she say?’ His intense expression sent a prickle of unease through the pit of her stomach.
‘Not a lot. I was just surprised when she introduced herself as your ex-fiancée.’
‘There’s a good reason she’s my ex—she’s crazy. Clearly she said something else if you’re moving out.’
‘You know I’ve been looking for an apartment, and one came up today out of the blue. It’s not because of Lucile. I feel like we’ve been moving so fast. Nothing has to change between us, we can just move at a bit of a slower pace,’ she added.
‘When you know it’s right, why waste time?’ he countered stubbornly. ‘You said it yourself, we instantly clicked.’
Well that wasn’t entirely true.‘When did we first meet?’ Bel asked him, deciding to bring up the one thing that had been bugging her from the very start.
‘What?’
‘Do you recall the first time we met?’ she asked.
‘The night of the cocktail party at Glentoberon,’ he said, clearly humouring her.
‘That wasn’t our first meeting.’
‘Yes, it was.’
‘No. It wasn’t,’ she said, shaking her head and standing up from the sofa to take a few steps away. ‘I met you for the first time the day you arrived in Wessex.’
‘I think I would have remembered that,’ he said in a condescending tone.
‘I gave you directions to Glentoberon.’
He gave a small dismissive chuckle. ‘No, you didn’t. I asked someone at the petrol station for directions,’ he said then stopped. His frown grew deeper as he stared at her. ‘No way.’
‘Way,’ Bel said. ‘So we didn’t click instantly. It was only after I’d had my makeover for the wedding. Before that, you didn’t even give me a second glance.’
‘I …’ He seemed to be struggling to make sense of the whole thing. ‘That’s why you’re moving out? You’re punishing me for not recognising you?’
‘No,’ Bel said. ‘Tate, I used to be too scared to change my life. I was happy for everything to stay the way it was because it was easier. Then you walked into that store and everything was different. For the first time ever, I wanted to change everything. I wanted to make you see me—reallysee me. You were the reason I finally wanted to do something with my life, try new things and see new places. I wouldn’t have done that if it hadn’t been for you. And here I am,’ she said, throwing out her arm and smiling, ‘in a brand-new city, in a brand-new job. I’ve loved and appreciated everything you’ve done for me, but I want to be able to know I did some if it myself. Just because I have my own flat, it doesn’t have to change things. I mean, you go away so often, it won’t be that different.’
‘It changes everything. You know I don’t have much time when I’m back. I don’t want to waste any of it commuting between wherever you are and here.’
