“It is my business! You’re mine. You’re married to me—”
“And do you also remember thatyou’restill married tome?Are you mine? Huh? Have you remembered your vows these past few months, or did you immediately plunge into bachelorhood the moment you settled into that fabulous penthouse suite of yours in the city?”
“How did you know I moved into a penthouse suite?”
“I have my sources,” she snapped. “How did you know I had a date tonight?”
“I have my sources,” he echoed. “And you haven’t answered my question. Are you sleeping with—”
“Andyoudidn’t answermine!”She got to her feet, and immediately, he stood as well, good manners being so deeply ingrained that it was instinctual. He wanted to reassure her that he hadn’t been with any other woman. Didn’t want anyone else but her.
She patted her lips with the linen napkin and tossed it onto her uneaten plate of food. It lay there, stained with lipstick the color of black cherries.
Lipstick she’d put on for someone else.
“Listen, Nathanael, I don’t know what you thought to achieve tonight, but it was futile. I’m going to the bathroom. When I get back, can we please leave?”
Leave? He felt panic rise within him. What if this was his last chance to see her? Be alone with her like this? What if this opportunity never came again? “I ordered your favorite dessert.” He sounded like a sixteen-year-old taking the prettiest girl in class to Arby’s and thinking it was the classiest date in the world. When would he learn to think before he spoke?
Her expression told him she thought it was as stupid a comment as he did. “Tell them to box it,” she said as she walked away. “I’ll take it home.”