And just like that Bella snapped herself out of it. Yes, to learn that something she’d always admired and believed in wasn’t true was something of a shock, but it paled into comparison when it came to what Will had gone through. A ribbon of shame wound round her insides.
‘You’ve been disillusioned too,’ she said softly.
Will shrugged. ‘I’ve had a long time to come to terms with it.’
But had he? She thought about what his childhood must have been like. How much he must have suffered with no siblings to talk to and nowhere else to go. Just a great mausoleum of a house and two parents together, yet not, inside it. Having kept it all bottled up inside, would he ever come to terms with it?
‘No wonder you’re so anti-commitment,’ she murmured, thinking that in his situation she probably would be too. ‘Isn’t it lucky all I’m interested in is a casual fling?’ she added with a lightness that she didn’t really feel.
‘Casual flings are all I ever have, Bella,’ he said, his expression more serious than she’d ever seen it. ‘And all I will ever have.’
Bella felt a tiny shiver sprint down her spine. If that wasn’t a warning she didn’t know what was. And maybe that was no bad thing. Maybe she’d needed a warning, because Will would be such an easy man to fall in love with.
Oh, she was immune, of course—she still had her long-term goals at the forefront of her mind—but it wouldn’t hurt to take a little extra care and remind herself to ignore the heart-tugging stuff and concentrate on the sex.
Speaking of which …
With ruthless determination Bella stamped down hard on the disturbing emotions churning around inside her and focused on the way he could make her body feel instead. ‘So this minor thing you have a tiny problem with … ‘
Will relaxed a little and glanced at her. ‘What about it?’
‘Don’t you think twenty-six years is kind of a long time to be so completely held in its thrall?’
He propped himself up on an elbow and looked down at her. ‘I hadn’t really thought about it like that.’
‘I’m kind of surprised you’d let it.’
‘Yes, well, I’ve always believed that if something’s worth doing it’s worth doing well.’
Bella grinned. ‘Have you ever tried to get over it?’
‘Frequently.’
‘How?’
‘The usual things.’
Her eyes widened. ‘Therapy or hypnosis or something?’ Somehow she really couldn’t see it.
Will grimaced. ‘Inner strength.’
Ah, that. She tilted her head, and injected a teasing glint into her eye. ‘Perhaps it’s time you tried something else.’
‘What do you suggest?’
‘Perhaps me and the automatic locking mechanism of my handcuffs will be able to think of something.’ She sat up, dangling one from her finger and shooting him a saucy smile.
A muscle began to pound in his jaw. ‘Perhaps,’ he said, and then reached out, plucked the handcuffs from her fingers, pressed her down and cuffed her to the bed.
Bella gasped as excitement whipped through her and set her nerve endings on fire. ‘Oh, that’s really not fair.’
Will’s eyes blazed into hers and her heart raced. ‘Having enticed me here under totally false pretences, I don’t think you’re entitled to talk about fairness.’
‘But I always knew I could release you,’ she said breathily and squirmed a little. ‘How good are you with a hairpin?’
‘Lousy.’
‘So I could be here for some time?’ And didn’t that sound more appealing than it ought to?