Page 51 of Slippers and Thorns
Michael shook his head. “That would draw attention. People would be more likely to wonder who we are, which is what we want to avoid.”
“I see.” Arabella pursed her lips in thought.
“We’ll use your mother’s family name and nicknames to sign in at the inns,” he continued. “Michael and Arabella might draw notice as being the same as a royal couple, so we’ll be Mike and Ella.”
She shot him a suspicious look at that, but she didn’t protest.
He took a deep breath and delayed a few minutes before continuing. The last part was the one that, based on her behavior the last twenty-four hours, was the most likely to get him slapped. Well, not slapped; Arabella wasn’t the violent type. The hands on his chest the night before had been pretty rough by her standards. But it might undo the little bit of progress he’d made by suggesting this little adventure in the first place.
“Also, since we’re only well-to-do nobodies,” he cringed internally in preparation for her reaction, “we’ll only be renting a single room.” They were married, after all; it shouldn’t be a big deal, and it was one of his incentives in creating the plan. But since he came up with the planaftershe shut him out of her room the night before…
“What?” Arabella hissed, glaring at him.
Yep, that was pretty much what he expected. As irritating as that was.
“It’s necessary if we want the ruse to work,” Michael insisted.
“And why is that?” she ground out. She was no longer looking at him; instead, she was burning holes in the path ahead of them.
Michael adjusted his grip on the reins before pulling his cloak a little tighter. His father had lousy timing with this trip. “Royal couples get separate rooms, and most noble couples do, as well. However, it would be unusual for anyone else to do so.”
“So we’re unusual. So?”
He sighed. “We’re trying to fit in. If we, as commoners, request separate rooms, it will raise suspicions. Either someone will deduce that we arenotcommoners, in which case they may realize who we are, or they may believe we are not actually married, in which case they will question why we are traveling together without additional companions.”
“It’s not like they could actually do anything if they thought we weren’t married,” Arabella sullenly remarked.
“Not directly, but if one of uswasrecognized, even if someone onlythoughtone of us looked familiar, we could have some nasty rumors on our hands,” he pointed out. “The crown prince or princess traveling unattended at all, let alone with a mysterious stranger and masquerading as a married couple?”
Arabella frowned up at the overcast sky, at the colorful trees on the opposite side of the road, and then finally down at her hands. “If there is that much risk to this, why did you suggest it?” She didn’t look at him as she spoke, and she didn’t really sound angry. Only…tired, maybe?
Michael took his time before answering. “Because I wanted to keep you with me.” He thought of the frustration that had plagued their last trip to Ralnor. Admittedly, the return trip had been fine, but their relationship had also been on better footing at that point. If only he understood how to return to that place. “And the carriage has caused…unnecessary tension in the past.”
She remained silent, but she still wore her unhappiness like her cloak.
Was it truly that terrible to contemplate spending the night with him? Her husband?
Michael turned his face to the plains on his side of the road. “If the shared room is a deal-breaker for you, Oliver should still be able to call the main caravan back.” He tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice and speak in an even tone as if it didn’t matter one way or the other to him. “You can change your mind.”
“Wait,” Arabella said, the word dragged out of her. She fiddled with the reins as she looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “You won’t touch me?” The question was hesitant.
It was a frustrating condition. He knew from their encounters over the course of the last day that his nearness had an effect on her, even if it was equally obvious that she was determined to fight it. He’d been counting on that to help him wiggle his way back into her good graces; besides, he enjoyed the contact himself. That interrupted kiss made him more irritated with Lady Charlotte than all of her chatter and fluttering eyelashes put together.
Still, it seemed like a step in the right direction if she was willing to sleep in the same bed as him.
“Not unless you want me to,” he unwillingly said. He thought about making the statement suggestive, but he had a feeling that wouldn’t win him any points just now.
From the look in her eyes, he suspected she wanted to hotly retort something like “I won’t”, but because she was Arabella, she simply pressed her lips together and held her peace.
“That will work, then,” she agreed. Then she fixed her eyes firmly on her mount’s ears and rode in silence.
CHAPTER 22
Ella
A
greeing that he wouldn’t take advantage of the shared room to romance her didn’t mean that they wouldn’t have any physical contact, of course. Ella still switched back to sidesaddle before approaching the inn, so Michael had to help her dismount and mount. While there was a groom available to hold the horses at the inn, there was no such assistance when she was mounting on the side of the road. The situation was normal for Ella, who frequently made the change on her rides with Charlie, but it was new for Michael. She tried not to laugh at the way he worried through the process.
