“The watch was just the one I happened to be wearing that day. It wasn’t an heirloom. If you told me that you had sold it already, I wouldn’t have cared because it was never about the watch. It was always about you. I wanted to get to you, and I used the watch to do that. If you want it back, I can give it to you. I’ll write you the check for it, for anything you want. I don’t care about the money, I want you, Eddy.”
His blue eyes were looking back at me earnestly and he had just repeated his sentiments from last night but all I could think about was how I had gotten Missy to lend me money because I thought I had pawned a precious heirloom. “You lied to me about the watch?”
“I’m sorry for doing that but I couldn’t think of anything else I could do to get close to you. I came to Belshire for you. It’s the same reason you’re here now. I want to be with you, Eddy.”
“You know that’s impossible.”
“But why? Tell me why we can't make it work?”
I had just told him why I was undateable and he wasn’t listening. I was still upset about the watch, but he wasn't letting up as I pushed him away. He was asking me to reconsider. He was asking me to give him a chance. What the hell was this picture? Why was a man as eligible and gorgeous as him asking me to be with him after I said no? Me with a child, no money, and not a lick of common sense? This should have been the other way around.
“I…”
“You don’t feel the same way?” he asked.
“No. I do,” I admitted. It made my heart pound saying it out loud.
“Then why can't we make something work?” he asked. Because I had a child and that child was his. Once he was around Riley long enough, he was bound to find out. Prue would find out too and that would open the Pandora’s box.
“I don’t know if I’m ready to get out there again.”
“You seemed ready last night and every time we’ve been together before that,” he said.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “That’s different.”
“Is it? You said you feel the same way.”
“I don’t think my son is ready to meet anyone.”
“We can take it slow, as slow as you need. You dictate the terms.”
“I don’t think that’s going to work,” I said.
He sighed. “Can we talk about this more on the way to Belshire?” He got up, done talking, and done eating. I looked at the food, not as hungry anymore. I didn’t follow him, sipping at my coffee until it was cold already. When I got up, I went back to the room, he was half-dressed, putting clothes into a bag. Niall and I were having a slumber party, or at least he thought we were.
I had to cut him off.
25
Niall
Eddy was quiet for most of the ride to Belshire, only speaking when I spoke to her. I looked over at her in the passenger seat. Head turned, looking out the window. Her whole body angled away from me. She was sitting in the corner of the seat so she was physically as far away from me as she could get. It didn’t take a body language specialist to tell me she was uncomfortable, and the cause of her discomfort was me.
There was something she wasn't telling me. There had to be more of a reason why she didn't want me. She did want me. I could state that as a fact, without being big-headed about it. Eddy wanted me, but something was holding her back. I had tried to get her to tell me, but she wasn't letting on. All that stuff about not being ready wasn't a problem. I wasn't asking her to marry me next week, I just wanted to be with her. We didn't have to put a label on it or anything, I just wanted to know that we were together.
I looked over at her, her eyes still trained outside the window.
“What are you thinking about?”
“What?” she looked over at me. We were still about an hour out of Belshire. Before leaving London, we had made a stop at the shops to grab a few things. I had offered to pay but she had rebuffed me, as I knew that she would. I still tried though, and I was going to try again the next time we were shopping together. Now that the truth was out, she should have been more comfortable around me, but she wasn’t and that had to change.
“I said, what are you thinking about.”
“Nothing. Just some repairs that I have to do around the house.”
“Repairs?”
“Yeah. A couple of plumbing issues that need fixing. Of course, I can't pay anyone to take care of it, so I need to figure out how to do it myself.”