The Heir's Secret Bride

Chapter 16

"What do you mean, try what?" Maeve asked, genuinely confused by his question. Her heart pounded under Byron's intense, piercing stare. Flustered, she quickly looked away and blurted, "If you don't take care of your back now, you're gonna regret it when you're older. Trust me." At her words, Byron's expression softened slightly, the heat in his gaze dimming a bit. "If you're scared, stay out of my business," he muttered. Byron's mind wandered back to her ex's taunts about Maeve being too uptight..

But now, watching her squirm, it was obvious she just didn't have a clue about intimacy. No wonder she had been naive enough to come close to him after he'd practically forced a kiss on her. He straightened up and leaned back against the sofa, clicking his tongue sofily. "Maeve, are you even old enough for this?"

Maeve rolled her eyes, snapped the medical kit shut with a sharp click, and shot back, "Do you think I'd be married to you if I wasn't? Im twenty-three!"

Twenty-three... Byron frowned. That's still pretty young."

Young: You're only four years older than me. Why the attitude? Maeve stood up, her tone annoyed. "And for the record, my age is right there on the marriage license. Did you even bother looking at it?" A flicker of guilt crossed Byron's face. The marriage license was probably collecting dust somewhere.

Maeve noticed his reaction and raised an eyebrow. "Do you even still have the damn license?" She seriously doubted he'd kept track of iL

"You're overthinking things," Byron replied smoothly. "It's late. You sure you want to keep arguing about our ages?"

Maeve was momentarily speechless. Wasn't he the one who started this?' she thought.

The next morning, after a good night's sleep, Maeve felt refreshed, the weakness in her limbs mostly gone..

for a shower, and when she came out, she was about to toss her clothes into the washing machine when something caught her eye-Byron's suit jacket draped over the sofa. She picked it up. The hem was frayed, the cuffs had threads

men's clothing. She had never seen

it because he can't

voice came from behind her. "What's this, Maeve? Having a deep conversation with my jacket first

blushed and quickly explained, "I just noticed how worn out this jacket looks. It might be better if you stop wearing it. Maybe you should just toss

rack. And this jacket Maeve thought looked "worn out" was actually a brand-new, vintage-inspired piece from a

Chapter 16

persótt ever to wear it.

ow it away

go making decisions for me, Byron

he word it so much,

even think about tossing it in

"Fine."

breakfast, Maeve and

check-up, but Piers wouldn't approve any more time. off. Plus, there was a department gathering tonight, so she had to wait until she resigned to get

a ton of busywork on her, more than twice her usual load, and even stuck