Of everything Athelstan had expected her to say, such a blunt admission was not there on the list.
"But-" he stammered, his fingers gripping the edge of the bath as though he couldn't trust himself to not touch her. "But. Ragnar-" was probably not the best excuse because he already knew that Ragnar would approve. Or perhaps he would only approve if he were involved. And he couldn't be. And as that was the first excuse he came up with it was the least convincing. "You know I've never- I mean, you know I can't."