The Contracted Ever After (Cordelia and Ronan) novel Chapter 643

Ronan paused while hanging up his jacket, his eyes flicking to the buzzing drone outside the window. With Callum just having left the building, it didn’t take much to realize that Callum must have spotted something on the drone and told his mom. That’s why Cordelia was casually prying.

But he couldn't help feeling a bit smug that she asked him about it.

"Oh, it was a lady friend," he said, trying to sound casual.

Cordelia froze for a second. "A lady friend? What do you mean?"

"She had a few drinks and offered to drive me home. I didn't say no. That's all there is to it." Ronan took a seat next to Cordelia on the couch.

He remembered the last time he was drunk and how it had led to Cordelia making a mistake she deeply regretted.

"Is that so? You didn't even try to decline?" Cordelia's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"If she's offering a ride, why would I say no?" Ronan, only slightly tipsy at this point, slouched against Cordelia, pretending to be more inebriated than he actually was.

"And I suppose if she wanted to take you to bed, you wouldn't decline that either?" Cordelia turned to face him, her voice sharp with annoyance.

That was exactly what was irking her.

Ronan looked at Cordelia, his silence thick in the air before he suddenly pinned her down on the bed.

Cordelia was irritated, protesting, "Don't use me to prove you didn't sleep with her. I'm so over this."

His breath still carried the scent of alcohol.

"Ah, you caught me," Ronan teased, his hands playfully tugging at Cordelia's clothes while feigning drunkenness.

Although Cordelia pushed back, her resistance was half-hearted. She didn't really want to, but part of her did.

The truth was, this wasn't a real fight between them, just playful bickering—the kind that happens when two people are so familiar with each other's presence.

Once Ronan had finished eating downstairs, Cordelia was still sprawled on the bed, feeling sore and not inclined to get up. She just wanted to sleep.

Ronan, book in hand, nudged Cordelia with his elbow.

"What now?" she groaned, still reluctant to engage.

"Come with me to Birchwood tomorrow," Ronan said.

Birchwood was where Cordelia used to work, a place she had fond memories of, but she was in the dark about why they needed to go there. And Ronan had yet to explain the situation with the "beauty." Cordelia knew that for a man of his status, admirers were inevitable.

Now that she was back, his sense of urgency seemed to have vanished.