It was in her soul. Today’s designs were some of the best work she’d done in months, and she wasn’t going to let Colin take that away from her.
“I guess I’ll just go stare at the wall until you need me again.” Sabela snatched up her sketchpad and stormed out of the room, down the hall and back to her bedroom.
Head held high, Sabela closed the door behind her. No matter what Colin said, he couldn’t stop her from doing what she wanted during her down time. Sabela spread the sketches out on the antique writing desk and perched on the dainty chair.
Determined to keep going and milk her creativity for all it was worth, she made notes on the sides about what alterations would need to be made.
Caught up in her scribbling, her anger began to burn itself out, leaving her much calmer. Colin didn’t control her. No matter what he wanted, she was going to be her own person.
Nothing was worth being bullied like he was bullying her.
Not much later, she heard a soft, hesitant rapping on her door. “Come in, Marie.”
Marie had been so nice to her that she didn’t want to snap at her when she was actually angry with Colin. The door opened, admitting not Marie, but Colin. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought he hesitated at the threshold.
Sabela crossed her arms over her chest and waited for him to say something. She refused to be the first one to speak.
“I might have been a bit harsh,” he said, not looking the least bit contrite.
Where was the sorry? It wasn’t going to be that easy to gain her forgiveness.
“A bit harsh?” she asked, incredulous. “You act like I’m some frail, elderly woman at death’s door. I was just drawing, not digging ditches, Colin.”
Colin took a few steps into the room. He caught sight of her sketches on the desk. Finally, he began to show signs of repentance.
He gestured at the drawings. “What I didn’t say is that those are great designs. It’s obvious you’re gifted. Any design school would be lucky to have you.”
Sabela hated the thrill of pleasure she experienced at his words. She shouldn’t care what Colin Morgan thought about her talent.
He probably knew nothing about fashion. So what if his clothes were impeccable and stylish? He probably hired someone to pick them out for him.
Still, she couldn’t stop the rush from his praise. “Thank you,” she said, keeping it reserved, since he didn’t deserve to be forgiven after one little compliment.
A sorry was still missing.
How totally like her luck that the first time she found herself alone in a bedroom with a man she thought she might actually like, they were constantly in the middle of a fight.
“We’ve been holed up in this chalet for the last two days,” he said. “The pass is clear. Would you like to go into town for dinner this evening? A night out would do us both good.”
Sabela was surprised. The invitation was completely unexpected, and while it pleased her, she wasn’t willing to be distracted by trips or trinkets.
She was made of tougher stuff than that. “Are you going to apologize? You’ve been a real —”
“I don’t know what you’re about to call me, but you need to think carefully about it,” Colin interrupted, brow furrowed. “I’ve let you get away with some flippancy today, but only because you’ve been ill. Don’t think that it’s okay for you to forget who’s in charge here, and who you owe quite a lot to.”
Sabela deflated. Suddenly, sadness washed over her, drooping her shoulders and squelching her resistance. “You’re right. I’m just a debtor, not an equal. I don’t deserve a say, or an apology. I’m not your friend, even though I kind of felt like one last night … for a while. Everything always comes back to the money. I get it.”
Colin stared at her. A frown flashed across his lips. It looked like a battle briefly raged inside of him. And then his expression softened and he sighed. “Sabela, I’m sorry. I’m having a hard time today, and I’ve taken it out on you.”
“Thank you for the apology.” Sabela couldn’t resist asking her next question, though it probably wasn’t the best timing. “Is it because of something I did last night?”
The startled glint in his eyes was raw and impossible to fake. “Of course not. You didn’t do anything.”
“I came onto you. I remember it. And you said no.”
She thought she might have glimpsed some respect in his eyes.
“I couldn’t let you make a decision when you were drunk, or tipsy was more like it. That’s all,” Colin said.
The realization struck her hard, and Sabela bit down on the inside of her lip as the weight of his words registered. He’d been looking out for her best interest?
“Oh,” she mumbled. “Thanks, I guess.”
He shrugged as if it didn’t matter, but it did, she could tell.
“If it wasn’t that,” Sabela said, “why are you having a hard time today?”
“Because you were ill, and I thought it might be altitude sickness.”
“Hmm. I don’t think that’s it.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “What makes you so sure?”
“I’m not sure, but I am sure you’re not angry because I had a hangover.”
He looked like he was going to argue with her, but he paused for a moment. He watched her eyes as he thought.
Finally, he said, in a deep, low tone, “I’m having a hard time today because I want to throw you on my bed, strip you naked and do some very wicked things to you until you beg for mercy.”
Sabela’s eyes widened, and something shifted in her womb. Her mouth suddenly gone dry, she swallowed hard.
He smiled, his bright white teeth gleaming like a wolf’s. “Not the answer you expected, was it?”
She shook her head slightly, about all she could manage.
“You asked, and I answered
. Now,” he said, smooth and calm as if he hadn’t just propositioned her in the most outrageous way, “if you can forgive my earlier conduct, which was all on me and not a reflection on you at all, would you join me for dinner?”
She wondered what it would be like to be thrown onto a bed. “Er … umm … yes. I’d like that.”
Cocksure in a way that should have been annoying but was actually sexy as hell, Colin said, “I thought you might. Marie will help you with the details. I look forward to this evening. Until then.”
And with those parting words, he left the room. She watched his tight butt flex under his slacks as he went.
Sabela’s brain was stuck in a loop. She couldn’t stop hearing him say, I want to throw you on my bed, strip you naked and do some very wicked things to you until you beg for mercy.
Damn. What wicked things? And beg for mercy? Why?
Damn, damn, damn. She should have asked. Of course, she couldn’t ask, but she wished she could have.
She remembered how it felt to have his lips on her breasts, his teeth tugging gently on her nipples. Her nipples hardened at the memory.
It was all so confusing and maddening. One moment she wanted to run away from Colin, and the next she wanted to beg him to take her. He was such a contradiction.
Maybe, though, if he was being honest about wanting her, maybe it meant he was thawing to her in other ways. Perhaps sometime soon he’d confide in her about whatever it was that had him so obviously conflicted.
Maybe she could help him work through it.
Beneath the cold and beyond the prickly exterior and sharp outbursts, Colin was a man worth knowing.
She knew it.
Chapter Twenty-Four
NOT LONG AFTER COLIN LEFT, Marie arrived in Sabela’s room with a small army of attendants.
“I heard we need to get you ready to go into town,” she said.
“Oh, I don’t need any help with that,” Sabela said. “There’s plenty of dresses in my closet, and the bathroom is stocked to the brim with everything I could want. I’m sure you have a lot of other things to do.”