5
Apologizing to Gwen was both harder and easier than he’d anticipated. Harder, because… Well, hell, he’d been totally out of control, and he’d hurt her, and nothing could fully atone for that.
And easier, because to his intense surprise and relief, she’d accepted his stumbling penitence like a true lady. Not a word of recrimination, no harsh raised voice, not even a regal snub. She’d simply nodded her head in quiet acceptance, then taken her place at the table as if she hadn’t a care in the world.
Why did that make his appalling behavior seem even worse?
Somehow he got through dinner, but he didn’t remember tasting a single bite. Every fiber of his being was vibrantly tuned to the woman beside him. He could practically feel every breath she took—and that treacherous awareness infuriat
