Page 17 of Crown Jewels
I’d never forget the look in his eyes when he said, “Because I’ll break you.”
He looked like a completely different person. Someone my instinct was telling me to run away from. A dark, devious being who wanted to devour me. And I couldn’t help but wonder if this was the real Vahn Kessler?
Before I had too much time to think about it, I dropped my gaze. That’s when the universe decided to slap me again. Just as my eyes fell down, Vahn shifted, causing a large bulge in his jeans to be in my line of sight. Guess where my eyes froze.
That’s right. There I was, sitting in a chair with a notebook in my lap, one hand on his suddenly very warm skin while I stared at his junk. And I couldn’t look away.
I stayed like that while my mind screamed at me to turn away. Flashbacks of the bathroom played through my head, while I felt the intimidating stare from that thing through the denim of his pants.
“My tattoo isn’t down there Parakeet.” Vahn chuckled.
It took everything I had to stop mortification from warming my cheeks, and even then, some of my embarrassment managed to seep through in the way I chewed on my lip.
“Don’t do that.”
There was something different in his voice. A timber that made me shiver, but not because I was cold. If anything I felt hot. I didn’t like it. Out of all the awkward and uncomfortable moments I’d had with Vahn, this was the worst. Oh, and he was probably amused as all hell. Bastard.
Angry, I was finally able to tear my eyes off him. “Go away. I have to draw a stupid flower.”
Focusing on my impossible task was better than dealing with him.
Unfortunately, Vahn didn’t leave. He stayed where he was, hovering over me and looked down at my notebook. “Why are you drawing a sunflower? You hate those.”
“What?” I looked up at him. “I don’t hate sunflowers.”
His brow arched. “Then why did you replace the kitchen curtains?”
“Well, because they were… I mean…” Why did I replace them? They weren’t frayed or anything. There was nothing wrong with them, other than… the sunflowers.
“Son of a bitch.” I tore the page out and tossed it on the pile of other failures. “I guess I don’t like sunflowers either.”
“What do you mean either?” Vahn asked making me want to glue my mouth shut. “Don’t you know what kind of flowers you like?”
“Oh, and I suppose you do.” I snapped at him.
Who was he to talk? The guy refused to talk about anything. He probably didn’t know what kind of flowers he liked either.
“I do actually.”
I rolled my eyes. “Sure”
The almighty Vahn Kessler knew everything.
“You like tulips.” He said.
I snorted, “and how are you so sure?”
“Well, there are at least five different pictures of them hanging around here, you get them painted on your nails every spring, the pillows you bought for the couch have tulips, and you have three different colors of fake ones in your room. And you spend extra time at the grocery store during easter when they’re in season.”
Huh? I kind of hated him a little more now.
“How do you not know this?”
“What.” I snarled up at him. “It’s not like you know everything.”
He held out his hand and popped out fingers while he ticked things off. “Your favorite color is pink, you like your eggs sunny side up, no pulp in your orange juice, you hate Wednesdays for some unknown reason, you hate wearing necklaces but you love anklets, and pineapple on pizza is a crime in your eyes.”
I genuinely didn’t know what to say. I just sat there with my mouth hung open.
