He Loves Me Right, Finally novel Chapter 170

Snow collected herself with visible effort, smoothing her expression back into something composed.

She started walking toward Wynette, slow and deliberate.

She never got the opening she wanted. Adriel turned around and stepped in beside Wynette in one fluid motion, and right in front of Snow, his arm curved around Wynette's waist with the casual authority of someone claiming what was already his.

The move was too quick for Wynette to sidestep, and she found herself pressed against his side before she'd fully processed what was happening.

She looked at Snow's expression curdling by the second, and decided, quietly, to let Adriel do what he was doing.

The two of them looked entirely, unmistakably together.

"Allow me," Adriel said, his voice smooth and cold as winter stone. "This is Wynette Jewell. My girlfriend and future wife."

If he'd had their marriage license on him, he would have produced it then and there and saved everyone the trouble.

Snow's jaw tightened, and the look she fixed on Wynette was pure, scorching resentment.

Wynette felt the arm around her waist tighten by a fraction, and understood the message perfectly.

She curved her lips into a smile, settled herself more comfortably against Adriel's chest, and looked at Snow with the breezy warmth of someone who had nothing whatsoever to worry about. "Hi there," she said pleasantly. "I'm Adriel's girlfriend."

If he wanted to call it that, then girlfriend it was.

Then she tipped her head up toward him, letting her voice go soft and just a little petulant.

"I couldn't find you inside, so I came looking, and here you are. You told me I'm the only one for you, so what's all this about?" She clicked her tongue lightly. "I'm upset. You sort this out yourself, and if you can't, don't even think about coming back to the room tonight. You can sleep in the hallway."

It landed exactly as intended. Wynette had just told Snow, in the most offhand way imaginable, that they shared a room and that the relationship was thoroughly, comfortably established.

From somewhere behind her, Alice gave Wynette a slow, silent thumbs-up.

Absolutely masterful.

Adriel blinked, caught off guard for exactly one second, then recovered.

"That is completely unfair," he said, matching her energy without missing a beat. "She came to me. How is that my fault?"

"Oh, it's definitely your fault," Wynette agreed cheerfully.

"Fine, yes, completely my fault," Adriel said immediately, without a shred of resistance. "My fault entirely. I'll stay at least ten feet from every other woman from now on. You know I only love you."

He slipped it in like it was the most natural thing in the world.

The color that rushed into Wynette's cheeks was entirely involuntary, and she had absolutely no idea how to respond to that, so she settled for giving him a brief, pointed look.

Then she turned back to Snow, whose complexion had gone the shade of old ash.

"I'm sorry," Wynette said pleasantly, without sounding sorry in the least. "He's taken. You heard him, he loves me very much. A great deal, actually."

She let that breathe for exactly one beat. "And I'll be honest, I'm the possessive type. I don't share well, and I don't appreciate other women setting their sights on my man, even casually. I'd really appreciate it if you didn't come looking for him again."

She finished it off with a small, mild smile that managed to be simultaneously polite and completely immovable.

Snow's composure shattered all at once.

"That's rather controlling of you, isn't it?" she said, her voice sharpening into something cold. "Telling other women they can't even admire him? A man like Addy is always going to attract attention. If you're going to be this jealous, you're going to exhaust yourself."

Wynette's expression didn't flicker. "Well, that's just how it is," she said easily. "He likes that I'm the jealous type. It works for us, especially when he's also the jealous kind."

She tilted her head just slightly. "And one small thing, since we're talking. It's Mr. Gallagher, or Adriel. The way you've been saying his name, people might get the wrong idea about how close you two actually are."

She turned back to Adriel with the particular air of someone asking a very simple question. "Adriel, did you ever tell her she could call you that?"

Adriel cleared his throat. "No. Absolutely not. Never said any such thing."

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