Page 28 of Royal Darling
Her jaw drops. “And you faked sleep to trick me into confessing all my most vulnerable truths?”
“You needed to talk, so I let you.”
She flops down on the mattress and pulls the blanket over her head. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“Nah. I quite liked it. You seemed like a real person.”
She yanks the cover down. “As opposed to what? A robot doll?”
I bite back a grin. “Do those exist?”
“I’m glad you find me so entertaining.”
I lie on my side and prop my head on my hand. “I find you fascinating.”
“You do?” she asks softly.
“Hell yeah. You were the favorite child. I wasn’t. Now I can hear what it was like on the other side.”
“Were you bad?”
“Yeah, Princess, I was bad. A very naughty boy.”
“I find that fascinating. You could teach me to be naughty.”
I stifle a groan. Fuck’s sake, she has no idea how tempting she is. I know better, I do. And I’m not getting tangled up with her overprotective brothers either, especially when one of them is a king.
“Should we just add the naughty stuff to the guitar lessons?” I drawl, playing it cool. I can play with her without crossing the line.
She rolls to her side, her big hazel eyes lighting up. “Yes.”
My fingers tingle with the need to touch, to slide a hand into her soft-looking hair, draw her close—
I flop onto my back and stare at the ceiling. “I’m not so bad anymore. I’ve given up most of my vices.”
“But you used to be bad. I saw pictures of you brawling outside a pub.”
I turn my head toward her. “Right. I used to fight a lot more. I’ve mellowed now at the ripe age of thirty. I don’t have anything to prove to anyone. I made it to the top. And I’m not so angry now like when I was a kid.”
“You grew out of it.” She purses her lips. “It seems I should’ve met you several years earlier.”
“I was a mess then. Much like yourself now, but with more alcohol, drugs, and women.”
She sits up. “Now that you’re awake, we can do another guitar lesson.”
“Answer one question for me first.”
She looks at me warily. “What?”
“Why were you a runaway bride?” Part of me thinks it was a fluke. A last minute case of cold feet and she’ll go back to her old life. Maybe even marry the man chosen for her.
“I told you before, my gut said it wasn’t right. I only agreed to the marriage to carry on tradition. My parents had an arranged marriage that turned to love. I don’t know what flipped the switch in me, maybe it was just building inside me, but I suddenly had to escape, so I ran.”
“So if everything went back to normal at the palace and you knew your place, would you marry the next man chosen for you?”
She slowly shakes her head. “Something in me broke. I’m not the old prim and proper Emma anymore. I just need to find out who the new one is. That’s where you come in.”
“How’s that work?”
