Page 193 of Tall, Royal Hater
“Sod off?” I echoed with a raised brow.
She rolled her eyes. “I have three impressionable kids and a baby who will soon be impressionable, so I can’t exactly swear the way you do. But you know what I mean.”
I huffed out a chuckle, and Lily wrapped her arms around me, squeezing me from the side. “Look…I can say all this, but at the end of the day, it’s your choice what you do.” She leaned into me, our similar height bringing us eye to eye. “I do, however, think you already know what you want to do in your heart. Voicing that sooner rather than later isn’t going to take away the value of it, nor is there anything wrong with a bit of fear. It just means you care, and in this situation, that’s a good thing.”
“Hmm,” I hummed, thinking over her words.
“I love you, Mar.” She smacked a kiss to my cheek.
I glanced across my shoulder, pulling a mock awkward face. “Don’t get all mushy on me.”
“Oh, please.” We both grinned as she released me. “Come on, let’s finish loading this thing.”
I finished slotting in the last of the small bowls and spoons that Lily passed me, then I turned the dishwasher on, and we left the kitchen and headed to the living room.
Lily walked straight to the sofa her husband, Drew, was sitting on, while Mum and Dad shared the other, and my sister’s eldest three kids played a board game on the floor.
Their new, three-month-old, Zoya, was not however with Mum or Dad or Drew.
She was cradled in Shehryar’s arms, looking tinier than ever, as he sat in the armchair. She gripped on to the tip of his index finger and shook it around as he watched her with an adoring smile on his lips. So content and happy and relaxed.
Fucking gorgeous.
My ovaries exploded and cried like an overzealous fan of a rockstar. My pulse ran away into the horizon without a single glance back. And my heart constricted so painfully at the sight.
“Mariyah.”
I snapped out of my trance and glanced at Lily. A hot blush smacked across my face at the shit-eating grin she wore. She knew exactly what seeing Shehryar with my baby niece was doing to me.
“Aren’t you going to sit?” she asked in a tone that didn’t quite hide her amusement.
Gritting my teeth to avoid sneering, I sauntered over and sat down on the other side of her. “Not. A. Word,” I whispered for her ears only.
“I wasn’t going to say anything,” she muttered back laughingly, and then turned around and said, “She really seems to like you, Shehryar.”
It took my panicked heart a second to realise she was talking about the baby and not me.
Shehryar lifted his smile to Lily. “She’s beautiful.” His voice was so soft and raw.
Ah fuck…
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Fuck!
I dissolved. Melted. Puddled. Turned to putty. Knees weak. Heart a mess. Expired. Over. Deceased.
Lily knocked her elbow into my side in a rapid succession of sharp jabs.
Yeah, yeah, I know!
I knocked her back just as Shehryar aimed his gaze at me. Nothing about it overtly changed, but for some reason, it felt like his smile penetrated my soul and left behind an imprint of his name.
Okay, fine, fine fine, fine. So fine…
And I was so gone for him.
Chapter 47
Mariyah
