He shouldn’t be considering telling her anything.A match of convenience was all this was supposed to be.
But as he hit, he knew that despite trying to keep his distance, Priscilla had been drawing him in like a spider’s web.And that kiss…
Her lips under his had started a riot of need inside him.
He hit the bag harder.Thump.Thump.Thump.The steady beat of it cleared his mind as he hit even as his knuckles began to throb in pain.
He couldn’t continue to masquerade after their wedding.She’d find him out in a night or two.
What did that leave him?Did he ask Ralph for advice?
The man would gloat horribly.
But as he hit the bag several more times, he realized it was time.Time to face some of the thoughts and feelings he’d been avoiding for a very long time.
That was the moment that the side door opened and Ralph stepped inside.“I thought you weren’t training today.”
He shrugged.“I wasn’t planning on it.But Priscilla consented to be my wife last night and…”
“That makes you want to hit things?”
He dropped his fists glaring at Ralph.“Could we have a real conversation here?”
Ralph shrugged.“Felt real enough to me.”
He lifted his fists again, taking a solid swing at the bag.“A woman has left me, you know.”
“So what?”Ralph said as he came behind to hold the bag for Wyatt.“Which man among us hasn’t had a woman leave us at one point or another?”
“I’m a bloody titled viscount and we were engaged.She left because something is seriously—” He stopped.Did he confess that he was broken inside?
“Are we discussing your scar?It’s kind of dashing in its own way.”
“Did you just call me dashing?Are you ill?”
Ralph grinned at that.“No.No injuries.So it begs the question of why you think she left?”
Wyatt ceased hitting the bag, his body suddenly feeling spent as he rested his hands on his hips, looking down at the floor.“It’s not the outside that’s broken.”
Ralph straightened too.“This is abouthim…isn’t it?”
They didn’t need to say his name to know of whom they spoke.“He never loved me.I’m not sure he even liked me.I know you feel it too, Ralph.I know you’re focusing on my future so as not to think on your own?—”
Ralph pushed off the bag making it swing into Wyatt’s chest.He reached up to keep it from swinging anymore.Ralph stepped closer, raising his finger in Wyatt’s face.“He didn’t like anyone.He was an angry troll who beat me for the same reason he kept me.Because he was a selfish ass.It had nothing to do with you or with me.The man hated himself and so none of us measured up.”
“That all might be true, but it doesn’t change the fact that I don’t know how to open up.I keep myself apart.That’s the real reason Angela ended our engagement.I’ve no idea how to give affection or receive it in return.”
“I don’t know.As brothers go, I think you’re all right.”
“You’re not a woman, much as I accuse you of being like one on a regular basis.”
Ralph rolled his eyes.“And Priscilla’s got a great deal more tenacity underneath that quiet surface than Angela ever did.You ought to give her a real chance.”
“Can I ask you a question?Are you giving your future a real chance?”
Ralph hitthe bag with a good uppercut, making Wyatt grunt with the effort of holding the bag.“We’re not talking about me.We’re discussing you; and a word of advice, start by being honest.”
“Honest, huh?You think that’s how you love someone?By telling the truth?”It couldn’t be that easy, but then again, Priscilla had prodded him to share more.Perhaps it was fundamental to a relationship.“Should I tell her about my nightly activities as a criminal?”
