Page 69 of Enticing the Elf
“Hey!” He takes two big steps back, but I follow, spraying again and again. “Stop that! Dáithí!” There’s an edge of laughter in his voice, and I spray him again. He’s getting pretty damp.
“What’s this?”
I glance over at where the king and Brandt have just gotten off the elevator. It’s not the ideal moment for both my bosses to walk in, but I’ve never hidden my habit of using unconventional tactics. I even sprayed Brandt once.
“My boyfriend is being a stubborn, unreasonable ass, so I’m correcting his behavior.” I follow Eoin as he continues backing away from me.
“It’s not going to work,” he insists, and I spritz again. Lucky I refilled not that long ago.
“Make sure you mop up before anyone slips,” the king says mildly, and I cackle at Eoin’s betrayed expression.
“Sir!”
“Boyfriend?” Brandt demands. “I thought Dáithí didn’t use that word.”
“He does now.” Eoin’s grin is huge. “We’re official.”
Aw. I love seeing how happy that makes him.Spritz, spritz. His yelp is deeply rewarding.
“Congratulations!” Brandt whips out his phone and… yep, he starts recording. “Is this your first argument as an official couple?”
“Yes,” Eoin says, lunging toward me in an attempt to grab the bottle. I dance out of his reach.
“It’s not an argument,” I contradict. “That would require us both to be using reason and logic, which he isnot.” I dart closer and spray him before scrambling back again.
“Well, now I’m curious,” His Majesty declares, just as the elevator doors open and a group of our coworkers exit—then stop and stare. The king waves them on, and they reluctantly go, dragging their feet and looking over their shoulders. Gossip is currency around here, and news is going to spread fast.
I don’t care.
“We’re official now,” I repeat what Eoin already told them, chasing him around my desk, “but this stubborn fool claims he’s still going to continue with the stupid challenges.” I refuse to call it the Summit of Love again. Not in public. It’s bad enough that Eoin heard me say it out loud.
“Why?” Brandt asks. “Speak up, please.” He’s still pointing his phone camera at us.
“Because he’s a fool.” I spritz to punctuate the sentence, even though Eoin’s not close enough to get the benefit of it. It makes me feel better. Maybe I should get the other bottle—the itching one.
“A fool in love, maybe,” he counters, and our bosses both say, “Aww.”
“I’m glad you’re recording,” the king adds. “Jared will want to see this.”
“You’re not helping, sir,” Eoin calls.
“I’m not trying to. After all, you weren’t helpful when Jared and I were first dating.”
It’s true, but the urge to defend Eoin rises strongly in me. “He was looking out for—Hey!” My boyfriend took advantage of my distraction to get close enough to steal the bottle—while I was defending him!
“You can have this back when I go,” he tells me, and I narrow my eyes.
“Excuse me?”
“Run, Eoin,” Brandt suggests, still filming. I ignore him, focusing on myboyfriend.
“I’m not going to let you squirt water at me when I haven’t done anything wrong,” my aforementioned boyfriend asserts. “But I will help you mop up the water.”
I fold my arms across my chest. “Why are you doing this?”
Confused, he glances at the floor. “Because it’s wet and we don’t want anyone to slip.”
“No! Not that. This!” I gesture wildly.
