That was when he thought her part of the conversation might not be best left until the morning.
“Belle, perhaps you should tell me –”
It was Belle’s turn to interrupt Jack.
“You have to promise,” she demanded.
Jack’s hand left her hair and both his arms wrapped around her.
“I promise,” he muttered and started to ask. “Now –”
But she shook her head. “In the morning.”
“Belle –” Jack began but she cut him off.
“In the morning.” she repeated.
Jack’s voice dipped lower in warning. “Belle –”
She completely ignored his warning.
Before he could say more, she pulled slightly away and said, “Let’s go to bed.”
Jack didn’t move.
Belle put her hands to his chest, pushed up, broke through his arms and scooted from between his legs. She came to her feet beside him next to Baron and, one hand scratching behind Baron’s ears, she bent and grabbed Jack’s hand with the other.
“Come to bed,” she whispered.
For a brief moment, Jack Bennett sat in the window of his room looking at his woman in his shirt standing next to his dog.
After that moment was over, he didn’t need to be asked a third time to go to bed.
Chapter Four
Sibling Rivalry
Belle
Belle woke tucked in the curve of Jack’s warm, hard body, his heavy arm resting on her waist.
The sunlight was shining in her face.
The events of the night before hit her in a happy rush. Thinking about them, she snuggled into Jack and felt his arm tighten in his sleep.
This made her smile.
She shouldn’t be smiling. She should be embarrassed at how she’d behaved, what she’d done.
Belle “Meek and Mild” Abbot would be embarrassed.
No, Belle “Meek and Mild” Abbot wouldn’t be embarrassed, she’d be mortified.
But this Belle, whoever she was, wasn’t.
She wasn’t because Jack Bennett didn’t take her back to the party.
In the dark, in his study, he saw her pet his dog and look out his window.