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..

the bathroom 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

clothing. She had never seen a design

it because he can't afford a new

when Byron's voice came from behind her. "What's this, Maeve? Having

quickly explained, "I just noticed how worn out this jacket looks. It might be better

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

Chapter 16

persótt ever to

ow it away

Don't go making decisions for me, Byron shot

to the jacket because he word it so much, so she offered, "How about I wash it

Don't even think about tossing it in

"Fine."

Maeve and Byron left for

but Piers wouldn't approve any more time. off. Plus,

especially hard on her today. He dumped a ton of busywork on her, more than twice her usual load, and even stuck her with stuff that should've gone to the