Page 71 of Reluctantly Rogue

“I don’t know if I want to kissJames.”

I frown. “If you don’t want to, then definitely don’t. I don’t expect you to do anything you don’t want to do. But I do want you to think about if you want to kiss him while you’re with him tonight. Don’t just look at him as someone who has something Cara needs.”

She swallows. “We’re still just having drinks, but I’ll tell him Stacy doesn’t need to come.”

I sigh. Linnea is still going to try to compromise with me, though. “Fine. But you’re having dinner with him before we leave D.C..”

She pulls out her phone. “If I don’t want to, then I definitely won’t. Because you won’t expect me to do anything I don’t want to do.”

She just throws my words back at me casually as she looks down at her phone and starts typing a message.

Right.

She’s right.

And inexperienced with dating or not, she’s no pushover.

I should really remember that.

And I thought dealing with a rogue prince all these years was difficult.

Chapter14

Jonah

* * *

At the restaurant, I take a seat at the table next to James and Linnea’s. This is a very upscale French restaurant, so the tables are not right on top of one another and there’s plenty of space for them to have a private conversation. I don’t intend to eavesdrop. I just need to be there in case she needs anything. Specifically, in case she tugs on her left earlobe. That’s the sign we came up with if she needs to leave.

She also knows that she better use that ear tug carefully.

No, I don’t want her doing anything she’s not comfortable with, but she needs to give this a chance.

I sincerely doubt she’s going to need to leave. James Hill is a very nice man. Professional. About eight years older than Linnea. And I’m sure he’s dated. He knows how to handle himself with a woman.

Still, there is no situation I would not rescue her from, even if she’s only nervous.

I order a drink and an appetizer.

I’ve never developed a taste for French food. I’ll grab something later or have something delivered to the hotel.

I’m sitting out of James's line of sight, but where Linnea can see me. We have other hand signals besides the ear tug. Mostly signs for me to give her. Like me loosening my tie to signal she’s acting uptight and needs to relax. Or me smiling to remind her to smile. Me shaking my head to tell her that no, she should not talk about Astrid and Alex any longer. Real complicated codes like that.

There are a million things she can talk about other than her famous siblings. There are things aboutLinneathat are interesting.

They are about halfway through their entrée and she starts to reach for her left ear. I catch her eye and shake my head.

She’s bored, but she doesn’t need rescuing. They’ve been talking about the latest thriller novel that’s been sitting at the top of the New York Times list. They’ve both read it and other novels by the author. See? They have some things in common. They both also know some online personality who teaches kids about science on social media—Bill someone—and they’ve exchanged anecdotes about meeting him.

I have to fight a smile, though. She is trying, and I must admit, Hill isn’t a fascinating conversationalist.

This is why I wanted to cross him off the list.

Still, he’s great practice for her. He’s intelligent, and they do have things in common. They haven’t talked a lot about green energy, though they did get onto a long tangent that I had to finally give her the sign to wrap up.

She has learned a little bit about some of his colleagues, and that he has been in talks with Canada about some of his research and development.

She shot me a look when he said that, and she seemed less panicked about the conversation and more concerned about what that would mean for Cara.

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