Nathan swung the door open, a scowl on his face that softened as soon as he saw me. “Madison. What—”
I pushed him back inside. “What was that in Norfolk?” I asked. “Was any of it you, or was it a huge act? Are you really so hard-up for sex that you have to manipulate women into bed?” I realized I’d been charging at him and we’d ended up in his kitchen.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Nathan said, scooting out of my way and heading back toward the front door.
“I’m not leaving. I’m here for an explanation,” I called after him.
“Take a seat then,” he growled from the hallway, but I stayed standing. He wasn’t going to tell me what to do. He reappeared, pushing his hands through his hair. “The door was open and I’d rather not be burgled as well as assaulted this afternoon.”
“It was hardly assault. I deserve an explanation.”
He looked at me as if I was going to elaborate.
“I’m waiting,” I said, folding my arms in front of me.
“For what?”
“Don’t act like you don’t know why I’m upset.”
He took a step toward me and I stepped back. “Last thing I knew, we were kissing. Then you were making up crazy excuses why I couldn’t drive you home. Which still makes no sense to me. And now you’ve lost it for no discernable reason.”
Of course he’d try to gaslight me and make me out to be crazy. He didn’t realize that I’d seen Audrey leave his house.
“No discernable reason? Are you kidding me? You want to explain how your work emergency—the one that pulled you away from your family early—was actually some kind of liaison with your—I don’t know what you’d call her. Mistress?”
His jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed as if he were about to explode. What was he annoyed about? I was the one who’d been lied to. I was the one who had been misled by his soft touches and meaningful glances. I was the one who was angry. He should have the decency to look sorry.
“So you think I’m lying?” he asked.
“I know you are.”
He shook his head, turned away from me, and headed for the fridge. “Of course.”
So he was admitting it without remorse? “So that’s it? You lied to me and you just . . . don’t care.”
“There’s nothing to say if that’s what you think.” He pulled out a can of drink and slid it onto the work surface. “You should leave.” His voice was pinched and clipped, as if I’d offended him to his core. The heat of his indignation seemed to come off him in waves. If I stayed a moment longer, he’d lose it. But I wasn’t ready to go anywhere.
“So that’s it? Norfolk was a lie. The wedding was a lie. Everything that’s between us has just been manufactured by me in my head?”
“Yep. I’m a born liar. I never keep my word. I’m not to be trusted. You need to leave, Madison.” He swept past me and took a seat on one of the sofas by the window.
“Don’t put words in my mouth,” I said, determined to stay angry, despite Nathan quasi-admitting what he’d done. “I didn’t say you were a born liar.”
“If you think I’m a liar, if you think that this weekend was all some huge manipulation, then you should go. Because that would mean I don’t know you and you, sure as shit, don’t know me.”
This man was acting like the injured party when he was the one who’d lied to me. “Nathan, I saw Audrey come out of your house less than half an hour ago. She wasn’t your work emergency. What am I supposed to think other than that you’ve lied to me?”
“You’re supposed to know me better than that. You. Of all people. I told you I didn’t buy Mark’s test, which means you’re the only person in the world who shouldn’t think me capable of cheating. Yet you think I’m lying to you? Having an affair with Audrey?” He sighed.
His words deflated the balloon of anger in my stomach and I slumped on the sofa opposite him. “Nathan,” I said, my tone pleading. I wanted him to talk to me. To explain.
“I needed to come back to London,” he said. “It was an emergency. I never said it was a work emergency. You must have assumed that.”
I thought back. I was certain he’d said it was work, but maybe it was his mum or one of his brothers that said something about it being a work emergency.
“Seeing Audrey is an emergency?” I asked him.
He looked me straight in the eye. “Yes. Being there for my friend in her time of need is an emergency as far as I’m concerned.”
Regret whispered up my spine. “Why didn’t you tell me it was about Audrey?”