Page 19 of Royally Ruined

“Sleeping on the floor. You take the bed, it’s not big enough for us both.”

Scotch said nothing. I wished I could read her mind. Something soft flopped onto the ground and slid against my knee—the pillow. She’d thrown it harder than she needed to. “Fine,” she mumbled, and I think ... she sounded upset.

The idea of her pouting because I hadn’t bent her over and buried myself deep between her thighs made my insides clench. Hadn’t she told me she knew who I was? If so, she should know better than to go so far with someone from my family.

Maybe we weren’t all bad news ...

But I sure was.

Lying flat on my back in nothing but a towel, I stared at the ceiling I couldn’t see. Tonight had been mistake after mistake. I was going to end that trend right here, right now.

In the long run ...

She would thank me for holding back.

Something warm was touching me. It smelled oddly sweet ... that familiar scent I couldn’t place. Disoriented, I thought for a minute it was Scotch. I wasn’t expecting the disappointment that filled me when I sat up in the morning light and found out it was a blanket instead.

Blinking, I lifted the cloth and looked over at the bed. Scotch was buried under the single sheet.She covered me with this?Amazed, I ran my palm over the blanket again. What a kind gesture. It left me lost.

Quietly I rose to my feet. “Morning,” she said, peeking at me from under the sheet she had wrapped around her body and head.

I nodded at the blanket on the ground. “You didn’t need to do that.”

“Huh, that’s the weirdest way of saying thanks I’ve ever heard.” I headed into the bathroom and dressed in my clothes from the night before. They smelled like tangy sweat, but they’d have to do for now. “We don’t have much time, we need to get going.”

She threw aside the sheet. Her hair was a tangled mess, framing her face and making her look naturally sexy. I had to look away. “You said the plan was getting new clothes?” Yawning, she stretched. “Then I guess we’re off to this wedding to play boyfriend and girlfriend.”

She’d said it so plainly, and even so I burned with excitement. Scotch was outlined by the pale blue of the curtained windows. I didn’t think anyone had ever, or would ever, look so gorgeous in a room that probably had to be sprayed for bedbugs once a month.

Her nose piercing twinkled.

“You’re going to need to remove that,” I said, pointing.

She touched the small clear jewel. “You don’t like it?”

Her grin said she was teasing me. We didn’t have the luxury of being so relaxed. “The men who saw you know what you look like. They know your name. But if you take out your piercing and call yourself something else ... you become just another blonde girl.”

The way her grin slid away made my heart freeze. “Just another blonde, huh?”

She’s not “just” anything. She’s oddly addictive and I want to stay by her side.But I needed her to be forgettable. “It’s for the best. Trust me.”

“I do,” she said softly. It should have been a relief when she plucked out the stud and stuck it in her pocket. So why did it give me such grief?

Shaking off my bleak mood, I finished sticking my feet in my shoes. My gun was jammed into the back of my pants. “What do you want me to call you?” I asked. “You can’t go by Scotch.”

She hopped off the bed, and I noticed she’d slept in her sneakers, prepared in case we had to run at any point during the night. Smart girl. “Call me Heather.”

“All right. Heather it is.” Damn, that felt strange. “Let’s get you into something more appropriate for a wedding.”

“Are you sure this is safe?”

Glancing over at Scotch—Heather—whatever I was supposed to call her, I nodded. “It’ll be fine.”

“You say that, but I feel like there’s nowhere we can go shopping that won’t risk us being seen by someone looking for me.”

Steering my car down the long dirt road, I resisted a chuckle. “This isn’t exactlyshopping.”

Scotch stared blankly at me. “Go on.”

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