Page 29 of A Winter Wish

“I didn’t say, I let you infer.”

“Oh yes, so clever with your fucking semantics.” She closed her eyes for a beat, hating the way he brought out an argumentative streak in her.

When she opened them, he was considering her. “I could buy you out.”

“With what money?”

“How do you know I’m not rich?”

“Are you?” He said nothing and she pulled a hand through her curls. “God, I should have just walked away in December.”

“You’re making way too big a deal about this. It’s all completely irrelevant anyway until the year is up and I turn a profit.”

“Until you turn a profit?”

“Yes. Because you walked away.”

Lexie folded her arms, leaning back against the door in an attempt at nonchalance. “OK, let’s just get a few things straight. One—”

“Oh great, you’re a list girl.”

She got the next words out through gritted teeth. “One, just because I didn’t stay in England doesn’t mean I don’t care; two, you were the one who suggested the idea; three—”

“How long is this list going to go on for? Just so I can prepare.”

“Would you stop!” She stood up straight, pushing off the door in frustration. But he didn’t move, so that only served to bring them closer together. “Fine. I’ll just leave. You can’t make me do anything, so there’s no point—” She was already turning away, reaching into her coat pocket for her key card, but he took her arm and turned her back to face him.

“No, you started this. Might as well get it all out in the open.”

She glared down at the hand holding her arm, and he let it go immediately. But he didn’t let the subject drop.

“So go on. What’s three?” He was staring down at her, waiting, barely six inches between them.

She tilted her chin up. She should turn, go inside her room. Instead her muscles had gone tight, holding her in place. She swallowed and saw the way his gaze dropped to the bob in her throat, before coming back to her face.

“What’s three, Lexie?” His voice had changed—it was low, rough velvet coursing over her skin.

The tingle down her spine was a warning. She tried to take a clear breath, but only breathed the smell of him in more deeply. He was still waiting for an answer—but she couldn’t actually remember what three was going to be. She settled for scowling at him, feeling like it was his fault that she’d forgotten.

He backed away a step. “We can talk about it when you remember.” He moved back again, a little farther, and without really thinking about it, she reached out, placing a hand on his forearm to stop him. He glanced down at it, then at her face.

“Three, I don’t appreciate you assuming you know what I’m thinking or why.”

He stared at her for a long moment. Then, “OK.”

“OK?”

He nodded. “OK. That’s a fair point. I don’t know what you’re thinking, you don’t know what I’m thinking. I guess we can both try to work on that.”

“Well, then.” She realized she was still holding on to his forearm and let go.

Their gazes held for a moment. Then Theo said, “Truce?”

She huffed out a half laugh at the word, the formality of it—the ridiculousness of it.

“Or something less binding?” he continued. “A ceasefire?”

Lexie couldn’t help it—she laughed properly this time. And saw his features soften in response, too. “That’s a pretty strong word. Implies we’ve been getting out weapons or something.”