Page 22 of Royal Rebel

“Surely your brother knew better?”

She grins. “Nobody listens to him, least of all me.”

I’ve heard him say that a time or two and hearing her confirm it makes me laugh.

“Maybe I have something you can wear.” I wink, keeping a bit of the playfulness in our interaction.

“I swear to God, Tristan. If you pull some other woman’s clothes out of your drawers, I’m going to be very upset.”

The chuckle breaks from my chest and out of my mouth. I still don’t expect her to be funny, but she keeps surprising me. “There’s that feisty spirit I like.” I dig through, looking for some older clothes, from when I was smaller. “But I do assure you.” I pull out a pair of sweatpants that have seen better days, but at least have a drawstring on them, and a T-shirt, handing them to her. “These are mine. From when I was younger. They should at least not fall off your body. They’re from before I started going to the gym.” I slightly flex for her, causing her to giggle again.

“These are yours?” she asks, reaching for the clothes. “I’ve never worn a man’s clothes before.” She tilts her head to the side. “Although I have to admit I always dreamed of being that woman who wore her lover’s button-down shirt after they heated up the sheets.”

“Tell me more, Lia.” I’m all ears. It just so happens I’m wearing a button-down to the dinner we’re going to. I can make all of her dreams come true, and she has no idea.

“No.” She giggles. “I can’t reveal all my secrets. It’s just a little fantasy I had. You know that I’m in that sort of relationship where I can wear a man’s clothes. I’m sure lots of women have worn yours.”

She goes quiet, quickly dropping the towel and getting dressed. I do the same, but as she goes to turn away from me, I grab her around the wrist, stopping her from retreating. Sliding my hand down, I let our fingers entwine. “You’re the first, Lia.”

“Really?”

If I’m not mistaken, there are tears in her eyes as she asks me the question. This moment. It feels huge between the two of us, and I’m scared whatever I say won’t be right. I think about lying to her, making up some crazy situation, but in the end, I go with the truth. “Really. You’re the first to do a lot of things with me, Lia. I don’t take that lightly. I never wanted to give another woman parts of me that I knew would only be for my wife.”

We’re staring at each other when there’s a knock on the door. “That’ll be our food. Be right back.”

A few hours later, we’re lying in bed, the TV is on, but neither of us is watching it. I’ve got her wrapped in myarms and she’s got her legs wrapped around mine. We’re both tired, both have our guards down. She’s been halfway drifting off for the past fifteen minutes and I’m not far behind.

“Thank you for tonight,” I whisper into her ear as she snuggles closer to me. My arms tighten around her, not wanting to let her go. She makes a sound, digging her head a little deeper into my shoulder.

Her voice is heavy with sleep. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t talk about my mother to people, I don’t discuss the other women I’ve had in my life, and typically a stressful day is finished with a glass of scotch and an empty room. That room becomes filled with thoughts that make me doubt every decision I’ve ever made. You changed that tonight.”

She sighs, burying her head in my chest. “I didn’t do anything.”

“No,” I speak quietly, as I drift off, tightening my arms around her. “That’s where you’re wrong. You did everything.”

CHAPTER 13

TRISTAN

“I’ve been thinking about what you said.” She grins up at me. “That your mother had always wanted you to be normal. She didn’t want you to grow up spoiled. With her you had the experiences that most considered mundane, but you loved.”

I think back to the conversation we had. She paid more attention than I gave her credit for. “Yeah, I did love those things.” It goes without saying the mundane was gone after she died. Dad did his best to keep up appearances, but it wasn’t easy.

“So I want to give you something you’ve probably never had. I would wager it’s also something your mom would love for you to experience.” She holds out her hand. “Will you trust me?”

Trust has been hard for me to give. Not because I’m unwilling, but because so many people have proven they don’t deserve it. Lia though, she deserves anything I can giveher. Even though we aren’t married yet, I already feel like she’s my partner in crime. “I trust you.” I reach my hand out to grasp hers.

She pulls me into the kitchen. “Do you trust me enough to put this on you?”

I watch as she holds up a blindfold. “I guess so.” I roll my eyes in a good-natured way. “Besides if you try to hurt me, Parker’s got to make sure I’m safe.”

He grunts from wherever it is he watches, and she giggles. For some reason I don’t think it would be too hard for Parker to throw me under the bus if she asked him to. She stands on her tiptoes, securing the blindfold around my eyes.

“Walk slow,” she cautions as she pulls on my hand.

I always thought if someone blindfolded me and made me go somewhere on this property, I would know where they were taking me. I’ve downright prided myself in knowing every square inch of the land I own.

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