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He stopped, still not looking at her. Fear began to prick the back of her neck for, although she couldn’t see his face, his slumped shoulders signaled his utter defeat.

“We shouldn’t have done that,” he said quietly. “I made you a promise.”

She shifted to the edge of the bed. Hesitating, she reached out a hand, her fingers lighting on the warm, smooth skin of his neck just where his hair stopped.

“It’s all right, Gavin. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

He whipped around, knocking her hand away and breaking their connection. His eyes blazed, fierce and hurt all at once. “No. We both made promises to each other when we agreed to this marriage. We both broke them.”

“Yes,” she said, “and I don’t regret it.”

“It was a mistake. You’ll see that soon enough.”

“It wasn’t. It felt good.”

It felt right, she wanted to shout, but instinct held her back.

“Yes, well, we don’t all have the luxury of doing whatever strikes our fancy,” he said.

Her eyes narrowed. “What is that supposed to mean?”

He shoved his hand through his hair, sending it standing on end. It was a gesture he’d made so many times before when she was being stubborn and refusing to give ground in a debate.

“Nothing. I’m tired,” he said.

“So come back to bed.”

She pulled back the covers, welcoming him into the warmth of the bed. His eyes slide over the exposed slope of her shoulder before settling on the spot next to her. For a moment she thought he’d climb in next to her, letting her wrap her body around him again to lose herself. But then he screwed his eyes shut and let his head fall back.

“We made an agreement, Ina. This was to be a marriage of convenience between two friends. There’s no point in forcing it to be anything more.”

He was dismissing her, hiding behind the wall of their friendship. It was where she should retreat too—to the safe place bounded by unspoken rules—but she wanted more. He’d been the one to lament that she couldn’t have the full life every woman should have. But what if that was what she wanted?

“I wasn’t going to suggest that it be anything more, but are we supposed to pretend that tonight didn’t happen?” she asked.

“We go back to the way things were,” he said.

She snorted. “We’re married now, Gavin.”

“It’s best for us both if we try. Things will be easier that way,” he said, yanking his shirt over his head.

“Easier?”

“You’re welcome to stay here as long as you wish,” he said, reaching for his trousers.

“Why are you dressing?” she asked again, landing them right back where they’d started.

“I’m going out.”

“Now?” His words cut through her with a brutality she wasn’t expecting. Perhaps she was mistaken. Maybe she’d imagined the pleasure he took from her, caught up as she was in her own enjoyment.

“I have some business to attend to,” he said, sitting down to pull his boots on. “I expect you’ll be asleep when I return.”

“What business could you have that you must leave the house near midnight on your wedding night?” she asked.

He shot her a look, but his gaze no longer lingered on the places where the sheet had slipped from her naked body. “Important business.”

“Do you just expect me to sit here and wait for you?” she demanded. She was not a helpless woman. She’d never lived her life that way and she wasn’t about to start now.