Page 52 of Royal Charmer
David nods at me and takes his leave.
I head out the door, eager to get back to Alice to tell her the good news from the bank. Then I realize I should be reporting back to Gabriel and Anna first. I call Gabriel and get his voicemail.
“It’s Lucas. Looks like it’s a go for the bank loan. Jules came through for us. He just wants to do a site visit with another banker and then we should be good. On my way home.”
The moment I get back to the suite, I go to Alice’s bedroom. She’s set up with her laptop on a small desk facing the window, her noise-cancelling headphones on. I don’t want to startle her. Her fingers aren’t moving, which means she’s thinking. I slip into her peripheral vision and wait for her to notice me.
“Oh, you’re back already!” She takes the headphones off and sets them on the desk, clicking save on her document. She’s OCD about saving. “Is that bad or good?”
I can’t help but touch her. I smooth a lock of her soft blond hair behind her ear, lean down and kiss her. “It’s good. They’re doing a site visit on Villroy on Wednesday to check everything out, and then we should be a go.”
She leaps up and throws her arms around me. “That’s wonderful! I’m so happy for you!”
I breathe her in, the scent of flowers and Alice. “You were a big part of it. They could tell I was serious and more of a committed man than a globe-trotting man.”
She draws back, giving me her sweet smile. My heart thumps harder. “It’s easy to play fiancée with you. If you’d been my real fiancé before, I probably wouldn’t have gotten writer’s block. It wasn’t that I was so busy planning the wedding, I mean, I was, but it was also that I wasn’t being true to myself. I realized I was twisting myself to be who he expected and wanted. Like he loved cycling, so I went cycling, even though I hated it and it hurt my crotch.” I stifle a laugh; sometimes her turn of phrase is just funny. “Or the fact that I went on a crash diet after he proposed because he said I needed to look good in our wedding pictures.”
Fury spikes through me. “That ass! He insulted you, made you deprive yourself, all while he was cheating on you!” I swear if I ever meet her ex, I’m going to punch him right in the mouth.
She flushes pink. “It’s nice that you take my side.”
“Anyone would. He was a total prick and you deserve much better.”
Her gaze searches mine. “Would you still have wanted me if I was twenty-four pounds heavier? This is me after the diet. I was even heavier in high school.”
My gut tightens, angry at every person who ever made her feel bad about herself. “Well, you’re not in high school,” I say lightly, brushing my thumb over her cheek. “And that was an oddly specific number.”
She glances down at herself, smoothing a hand over her soft stomach.
I grab her hand and kiss her palm. “Yes, I would have wanted you no matter what because you’re sexy as fuck, and you’d have more curves.”
She looks skeptical. “More of me to love, huh?”
My mouth goes dry. Should I say something about the love thing? This could be the opening I need. I could say, “No, not more of you, just you. I think I love you, Alice.” But do I think it, or do I know it? How do you know for sure?
“You don’t have to answer that,” she says quietly. “Men are visual creatures. You explained that.”
My hesitation made her fill in the blank with the wrong thing. She does that sometimes, not yet confident in her appeal. Who could blame her with the way her ex treated her?
I keep it light. “Would you still want me if I was twenty-four percent bald?” I pull back my hair from my forehead, covering it with both hands. No worries for me, this thick hair is here to stay.
She laughs, and I smile. “Bald is sexy.” She kisses me, her fingers grazing my beard. “How much time do we have before we have to go back to Villroy?”
“As long as you want,” I reply in a husky voice, already thinking of the naked possibilities.
“Great!” Then she sits down at the desk, puts her headphones on, and starts typing.
I stand there, passed over again for her book, and watch the words form on the page. The scoundrel is at it again. She called me a scoundrel before. Am I the hero of her story?
She glances over her shoulder at me, lifting the headphones off one ear. “Don’t watch, okay?”
“I guess it’s a compliment that you can write around me since your ex gave you writer’s block.”Not an insult that you keep going back to your story because I’m so forgettable,I add silently.
She gives me her sweet smile, and my chest tightens. I need that smile in my life. “It means all is right in my world.”
I can’t help my wide smile. I did that. I made everything right in her world, and somehow she did the same for me. Now I just have to figure out how to make this a real relationship.
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