The facts, she reminded herself. Stick to the facts.
‘Please, do come in,’ she said, standing aside, releasing her grip on the edge of the front door and hoping her knees had enough strength to keep her upright.
Will brushed past her and Bella’s breath caught in her throat. God, if she’d thought he robbed her shop of oxygen, here it felt as if the walls were imploding in the vacuum.
‘Would you like some coffee?’ she managed, pointing him in the direction of her kitchen. The kitchen had windows. The kitchen had air.
‘That would be lovely.’
Will sat down and Bella busied herself pouring him a cup, grinding her teeth and trying to ignore the sensation that his eyes were boring into her back. ‘Croissant?’ she muttered, setting the cup on the table and glancing at him.
Will shot her another smile. ‘Why not?’
If he hadn’t wiped all rational thought from her head, she was pretty sure she’d have been able to think of a whole number of reasons why not. Instead, she found herself fishing the butter from the fridge and decanting some jam into a bowl.
With breakfast set out on the table Bella sat down and ignored the fact that she couldn’t remember the last time she’d shared breakfast with a man.
‘So how’s Rosie this morning?’ she said and went still. Oh, damn. More interested than she’d tried to kid herself, then. What had happened to focusing on why Will was here?
He arched an eyebrow. ‘Fine.’
Bella blinked and felt as if someone had thumped her in the stomach. So he had gone round to see her after he’d left her in the restaurant. It really shouldn’t hurt so much. ‘I’m so glad,’ she said, her voice cracking a little. Then she rallied and resisted the urge to snatch the cup of coffee from in front of him. ‘So’s Sam,’ she said with a bright smile. ‘Fine, that is.’
His jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed. ‘I see.’
Several long slow seconds ticked by. ‘So that’s good, then. That they’re both fine, I mean.’
‘Isn’t it?’ Will threw the contents of his cup down his throat, seemingly impervious to the heat.
The buzzer pinged and Bella shot to her feet as if her chair had unexpectedly caught fire. Grabbing a tea towel, she whipped the croissants out of the oven and slid them onto a plate.
‘So,’ said Will, watching her every move, ‘are you seeing him again?’
Unlikely, seeing as he was going on a date with Rosie, but maybe Will didn’t know that. She sat back down and vaguely waved a hand. ‘Oh … Ah … Well, I might. I don’t know.’
‘Right.’ He nodded, looked as if he was about to say something else but then changed his mind, and instead broke open the croissant.
‘What about you and Rosie?’ she asked, every one of her facial muscles aching with the effort of maintaining her smile.
‘What about us?’
‘Are you seeing her again? Did you see her again? Maybe after you put me in the taxi?’
Will glanced up and stared at her, stunned incredulity written all over his face. ‘What? Of course I didn’t.’
‘Yet you know she’s fine … ‘ Dammit, why couldn’t she let this go?
‘Because that’s what she said when I called her this morning to apologise for leaving her in the restaurant like that.’
Bella’s eyes jerked to his and relief spun through her. ‘Oh, thank heavens for that. I thought … Well, you probably don’t want to know what I thought.’
For a moment there was utter silence, then Will thumped his hand on the table and she and the crockery jumped. ‘God, Bella, what kind of man do you think I am?’
Not the sort of man she’d been thinking he was, clearly. She felt herself go red and a fresh wave of mortification washed over her.
‘OK, I’m sorry. I just assumed … ‘ She trailed off and shrugged. ‘Never mind.’ God, what was wrong with her?
‘I went straight home. I assumed you did too.’ His jaw tightened and his face darkened ominously. ‘Now, though, I find myself revising my assumption.’