Marrying my secret admirer after my husband's fake death novel Chapter 89

Chapter 89

He glanced down at his wrist. Just moments ago, her warmth had lingered there; now his arm lay cold and alone at his side.

“Well, if that’s the case, I’ll take the guest room,” he said.

Edith bit her lip, at a loss. She worried he’d think she was too eager, too needy–and yet she also feared she was intruding where she didn’t belong.

She was caught in the middle, paralyzed by indecision.

Justin was nearly at the bedroom door when she rushed after him, practically tripping over her own feet. “Don’t go!” she blurted out.

In her haste, she misjudged her stride. The large, borrowed bath towel she’d wrapped around herself slipped and fell to the floor with a muffled thump. ́

Justin turned, and the sight that greeted him left him speechless.

Every drop of blood in his body seemed to surge straight to his head.

Edith clamped a hand over her mouth, terrified that she might scream and wake up the rest of the Hawksley family.

Panic did strange things to people. Right now, Edith simply stood there, frozen in front of Justin, hand over her lips, a startled cry escaping her throat.

Her shriek pierced the quiet night, echoing for several seconds before fading away,

Justin’s gaze was locked on her, unwavering.

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, his voice rough and low. “So, this time, you really want me to stay?”

There was no turning back now. Edith couldn’t deny it, not after all this.

At least, she thought, she hadn’t forced her way into someone else’s

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place. Not really.

She nodded, cheeks flushed. “Yes. Stay.”

A flicker of complicated emotion danced in Justin’s eyes before he finally spoke. “You know, you don’t have to go through all this trouble if you want me to stay. It’s actually pretty simple.”

He leaned down, scooping her into his arms with ease. “The bedroom’s a bit chilly. You just had a shower–if you stay like this, you’ll catch a cold.”

The words “stay like this” made Edith want to bury her head in his chest and disappear.

Now it looked like she’d stripped down on purpose to keep him from leaving.

She should’ve just admitted it from the start—that she wanted him to stay. After settling Edith on the bed, Justin naturally began to undress. “I’ll take a shower,” he said.

Edith quickly averted her gaze. “Okay.”

She didn’t look at him. Even though she’d seen him before, it still made

her blush.

While Justin showered, Edith lay quietly in bed, listening to the steady rush of water from the bathroom.

The soft, irregular sounds lulled her, and sleep crept up on her faster than expected.

She rolled over, hugged the comforter to her chest, and drifted off.

Justin emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in a dark towel, running another through his damp hair. With a single glance, he could tell she was already asleep.

If she’d been awake, she would’ve been nervously watching the bathroom door, uncertain and anxious as always.

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He remembered her as a child at one of those formal dinners, sitting on Kearney’s lap, her eyes wide and cautious, glancing around the table like a skittish little fawn.

That look of wariness and uncertainty.

Maybe, he thought, that’s when he first wanted to protect her. To chase away all that anxiety and fear from her world.

In the warm glow of the bedside lamp, Justin watched her sleeping and murmured, “Edith, someday all that nervousness–all that carefulness–it’ll all be gone.”

On the bed, Edith, not quite deeply asleep, mumbled something and turned over, kicking off the quilt tangled around her legs…

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