Page 50 of A Royal Menace

This is going to be harder than I thought.

After making sure the other two teachers present aren’t watching us, I give Royal a scolding look meant to incinerate him on the spot. But he only chuckles, sets his cup on the counter, and turns to grab my mug off the shelf before filling it with coffee. I find my footing now that he’s not staring at me. Imbuing my stride with nonchalance, I close the distance between us, stopping beside him with my back to the others.

“You look so hot this morning,” he murmurs under his breath as he hands me the mug.

Cheeks flaming, I shake my head and fight the smile that tries to curve my lips. “You’re a troublemaker.”

He smirks. “True, but you’ve always known that about me.”

“Yes, I have,” I whisper back, gasping quietly when he bumps his shoulder into mine.

“Good morning, team.”

I take a hasty step away from Royal and spin toward the voice. “Good morning, Naomi. Happy Monday.”

Our boss waves to the other teachers as she approaches us, obviously heading for the coffee. Royal smiles at her and steps out of the way, closer to me. I slide away, trying to keep the distance between us, and he wrinkles his brow at me, mouthing, “Actnormal.”

Yeah. I’m the one fucking this up. Not him.

“Did you have a good weekend?” Naomi asks me just as I’m taking a sip of coffee.

And, of course, I panic and suck the hot liquid down my windpipe. Coughing, I set the mug down and cover my mouth as I try to clear my airway. A large, firm hand pounds on my back, and I panic, jerking away from Royal and straightening.

“Sorry,” I say, my voice cracking. “Wrong pipe.”

“You okay?” Naomi asks, looking at me with concern etched across her features.

“I’m fine. Fine,” I assure her, then cough again to clear the rest of the liquid.

“I had the mostamazingweekend,” Royal says, pulling Naomi’s attention away from me in the worst possible way.

Because, of course, his words make me inhale sharply, taking just enough saliva with the breath to make me break out in a fresh round of coughs. I raise a hand to stop him when he steps toward me with a palm out, a silent offer to pound my back again. Straining out an apology to Naomi, I pick up my mug and flee the room before I embarrass myself any further.

I make it to my classroom without further incident and plop down into my desk chair with a sigh. First ten minutes at work after spending the weekend in bed with Royal? Epic fail. I don’t know how we’re going to keep this up without getting found out. Between my own nerves and Royal’s mischievousness, I might actually have a heart attack before it’s all said and done.

And honestly, how long can we keep this up? Sure, keeping it a secret is fine, for now, but what if this thing between us turns into an actual relationship? Royal won’t want to hide like this forever. And neither would I.

We can cross that bridge when we get to it. Right now, it’s fresh and new. Hiding until we figure out if it’s going to last or not is the right plan. And if it does… We’ll figure it out when the time comes.

Rolling my chair forward, I wake up my computer to check my email before the kids get here. As I’m deleting the junk I don’t need from supply vendors and fundraising companies, a new email from Royal pops up at the top of the list. My brows furrow as I open it, then as I read, my mouth turns down into a deep frown.

From: Royal Manning

To: You

Subject: Game Face

Dear Callie,

If you want to keep this a secret, you’re going to have to do better than that.

Love,

Royal

My brain snags on the word “love,” and I freeze. Then I shake myself out of it. It’s just a closing. It doesn’t mean anything, even if neither of us has used that particular word in closing before.

And we’ve got bigger problems.

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