“We’ll leave here tomorrow and probably never see each other again,” she finished instead.
His face was a mask of disapproval. “And this is how you spend your time, Ella?”
She hadn’t expected that tone from him.
“I would have thought you would be trying to distance yourself from your reputation, now that you are here, and since your brother has entrusted you with such responsibility.”
Her heart shattered a little more.
But she’d come this far…
She lifted her chin defiantly. “My reputation and my brother are my business. If you’re not interested in me, then just say so.”
Silence cracked around the room. What was left of her heart thumped hard against her ribs and then, on an unsteady breath, she pulled away from him, turning with a sense of soul-deep mortification.
But his hand caught her wrist, dragging her back to him, so now her breasts crushed against his chest and she felt a thousand shockwaves running through her.
“I didn’t say I am not interested, habibte.”