Will nodded. ‘Running the dukedom from so far away is proving tricky.’
Her heart sank and she wished she could kick herself. See? This was why she had to be practical instead of emotional. Emotional simply hurt too much. ‘I can imagine.’
He stared at her and for some reason her heart began to thunder despite her attempts to tell it not to. ‘Although it’s not just that.’
‘No?’ Her mouth went dry.
‘No.’
So what else was it? she desperately wanted to know. But he didn’t elaborate and no way was she going to ask.
‘Great wedding, don’t you think?’ He gave her a faint smile and she felt like kicking him, because he must know he was rubbing a ton of salt into a raw open wound.
‘The best,’ she said, furious with the way he could still make her feel. ‘A top London hotel, fabulous food and drink and a twenty piece swing band. What could be better?’
‘They look happy,’ he added, looking over to where Alex and Phoebe were gazing adoringly into each other’s eyes.
‘They are.’ And then anger and frustration surged through her. Because what was all this about? Did he have any idea of the distress he was causing her by just being here? ‘So why did you come, Will? I didn’t think you did weddings.’
Will rubbed a hand along his jaw and shrugged, as if it was a mystery to him as well. ‘Neither did I. Now I do, we need to talk.’
What for? So he could tell her again how he couldn’t risk a relationship with her? No way. ‘No, we don’t.’
‘We do. Because you have no idea of how so sorry I am about the way our affair ended.’
She shrugged as if she’d forgotten all about it and ignored the knives making mincemeat of her heart. ‘Don’t be. Really, it’s nothing. I’ve moved on.’ She waved at the man she’d been sitting next to in the church and shot him a bright smile.
Will frowned as he looked in the direction she was waving in and went still. ‘Have you?’
‘Oh, yes, absolutely,’ she said, nodding and smiling like a lunatic.
She swung her gaze back to him and saw that he’d gone a little pale. ‘And have you found what you’re looking for?’
‘I’m getting there,’ she said breezily, reminding herself it didn’t matter what colour he went.
He shoved his hands in his pockets, the muscle in his jaw hammering as his eyes blazed into hers. ‘So I don’t suppose there’s any point in asking you to marry me.’
‘Absolutely none whatso—’ Bella stopped. Blinked. The blood roared in her ears and for a moment she thought she might be about to pass out. God, how many glasses of champagne had she had? ‘What?’ she croaked.
Will took her arm and Bella let herself be pulled behind an enormous flower arrangement, too stunned to resist. ‘I said, I don’t suppose there’s any point in asking you to marry me.’
She jerked her gaze to his and scoured his expression, but found nothing to indicate that he was anything other than completely serious. ‘That’s what I thought you said.’
The pulse at the base of his neck was hammering. ‘Good. So what do you think?’
What did she think? What did she think? Bella blinked and thought that she didn’t have a clue what she thought about anything any more. Because shouldn’t she be ecstatic? Shouldn’t she be leaping around with joy and delight and happiness? She was being offered everything she’d ever wanted by the man she loved to distraction.
So why wasn’t she jumping into his arms and smothering him in kisses? Why couldn’t she forget the way they’d parted? The flat bleak way he’d looked at her as he told her he’d never let himself love her? Or the fact that he must have known what he was doing to her but had carried on regardless?
Did he really expect her to forget the way he’d hurt her and simply tumble gratefully into his arms as if he was the answer to all her prayers? If he thought that he could think again.
Will watched the emotions play across Bella’s face, his heart racing and a bead of sweat trickling down his spine. This wasn’t going the way he’d imagined. He hadn’t had the time to think it through in great depth, but he’d rather assumed that he’d propose and she’d fling herself into his arms, smile up at him as she pressed herself up close and say yes in that gorgeous breathy way she had. And then they’d go and set about making each other deliriously happy for the rest of their lives.
So what was she doing standing there stock still with a frown creasing her forehead and a wary look in her eye?
‘But you don’t want to marry anyone,’ she said carefully and something in his stomach curdled. ‘You don’t do commitment. You have issues.’
Will went cold at the flat tone of her voice. ‘I know. But I’m working on them.’