Page 2 of Tall, Royal Hater
“That was necessary.”
“Then this”—I circled my finger at his torso—“isn’t necessary. You planned everything so she could go on this date, so let her actuallybeon the date.”
His jaw set firm again, and I nearly growled up at the ceiling in annoyance. He was so fucking stubborn. But so the fuck was I.
I was going to make sure Esmeralda had a good time, and I was going to get my time alone with him too, whether it bloody well killed me.
“How about this, then,” I said and shuffled forward on my seat. “Let’s head out for half an hour.” He jerked upright toargue, but I pushed ahead. “Esmeralda can actually enjoy herself for a bit, and we can grab dessert from somewhere else close by.Andyou don’t have to worry about her safety because I know you’ve positioned other guards around the restaurant who will tell you the moment something goes wrong.”
It was so subtle, but his gaze stilled, going impassive. I’d been watching him closely enough these past months to know the little change meant he was surprised, and knowing that made me feel damn proud of myself.
I sat taller and smirked. “I saw Peter and Rolo come through the kitchen doors. Not as sly as they thought they were, by the way.” His eyes quickly darted to his left, where I assumed they were sitting somewhere behind me. “Esmeralda’s gonna be pissed if she knows they’re here too.”
He didn’t like me pointing out the other guards, but I loved the dark expression he gave me. It wasn’t scary in the least.
“Relax,” I said with a roll of my eyes. “That wasn’t a threat to tell her. More like…motivation to convince you to get out of here.” His jaw shifted as I leaned towards him. “Come on, Shehryar. Half an hour. Time it if you want.”
He glared at me for so long, I thought we were going to finish our dinner sitting like that.
But then he glanced away, lifted his hand, and called our waiter over.
Relief and accomplishment washed over me as I relaxed back into my chair, smiling without shame.
That is how to kill two birds with one stone.
It was cold outside as per a typical late December night, but even more so as the wind glided across the rocking water of the River Lincon and grazed over my skin. Having not wanted to take away from my outfit, I had skipped the coat and opted for a shawl to match my black velvet dress, which in hindsight had been a fucking mistake.
I was shivering like there was no tomorrow as Shehryar and I stood along the riverside, five minutes from the restaurant. The view of all the high-rises, lit up like clusters of fairy lights across the black sky, on the opposite side of the bank was stunning. And the sweet smells of roasted chestnuts, warm waffles, and hot chocolate mixed with the salty smell of deep-fried chips coming from the winter market stalls were setting the perfect seasonal mood.
The only thing pissing me off was Shehryar.
He’d paid for my chocolate and strawberry crepe from the truck we’d found, and yet he hadn’t said or done anything other than check his phone every three seconds.
In my head, I knew it was because he didn’t want to miss any indication that he needed to go back. But his little stunt of paying for my crepe had bumped up my hope, only to send my heart sinking again into a dark hole of disappointment and jealousy.
It was a pointless endeavour to get his attention. He couldn’t focus on anything other than Esmeralda. On top of that, I felt stupid, immature, and guilty because of the desperate way I was feeling, and those three emotions combined were making me even more annoyed and edgy.
In other words, I hadn’t hit two birds with my stone by getting him to leave the restaurant, but rather bashed myself in the foot.
Eventually though, the atmosphere relaxed between us as we watched a few boats pass by. Shehryar even stopped taking his phone out as often.
“This is your last chance,” I warned him, digging my wooden fork into the last folded piece of crepe, oozing out a big glob of chocolate sauce at the bottom of the paper cone.
He lifted his face up to the night’s sky on a rough sigh. “Mariyah.”
“What?” I angled towards him. “Considering you paid for it, you should at least try some.”
“I didn’t pay for it so I could try it.”
“I didn’t say you did. But you did still pay, so…”
He glared across his shoulder at me. “Why does it matter? You didn’t make a fuss when I paid for our dinner.”
I ignored the way my heart jumped at the fact he said“our dinner”and lifted my chin stubbornly. “That’s different. We both ate, and it was for Esmeralda’s sake. And anyway, she’d already told me you were going to pay.” I gestured at the cone with my fork. “But this was for me, and you paid, but I’m eating by myself. And in my family, when one person eats, everyone eats. You didn’t want a crepe, though, which is fine, but if you had one bite, I’d feel less like a greedy jerk—”
A gasp tore up my throat as I was grabbed by the wrist and yanked towards him. I just about steadied myself on my stiletto heels quickly enough to witness Shehryar lift my hand to his mouth and chomp down on the fork, stealing away the crepe piece. I gawked as he dragged my hand back down towards the cone and chewed aggressively.
“There? Are you satisfied now?” he grumbled with his fingers still latched around my wrist.
