Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 141385 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141385 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
She swallows. “Yes. Well. Not all gifts are blessings.”
“Are you sure?” I raise my eyebrows and lean forwards, resting my elbows on my knees and clasping my hands between them. “It’s been a long time, but I remember how your mother used to call your nickname with so much love.”
“What do you want, Your Royal Highness?” Her tone is sharper than before, as if my words have knocked on a door she doesn’t want to open, and her dark green eyes are full of a storm.
One that, given an opportunity, feels as though it could level a whole city.
“What do I want?” I blow out a long breath. “What do you mean?”
“You have far better things to do than sit here and question me so voraciously. That means you want something. Why don’t you just tell me what that is so we can both go about our business?”
God, she’s got so much life in her.
“I want,” I say slowly, meeting her gaze. “To know what you want.”
Surprise momentarily flashes in her eyes. “What I want?”
“Yes. I want to know what you want. I assume that everything you’ve done up until this point is to serve a goal. Access to your trust fund, freedom, success with your business… I don’t know. I—we—can help you with all those things, but I’m not a mind reader. Tell me, and I’ll make sure you get whatever you want.”
Her lips curve to one side in a sardonic smile. “Whatever I want, hm?”
“Yes. I promise you. Whatever you want.”
“So, all I have to do is tell you, and you’ll make sure it happens?”
“That’s what a promise is.” I nod my head. “My mother aside, I’ll personally do whatever I can to make sure you live the life you want from this point onwards.”
She slowly untwists her hair from her finger. She runs her tongue along the inside of her top lip in a way that would be seductive from anyone else, but from her is little more than her thinking.
Weighing up my words.
Seeing if she can trust me.
If I’ll follow through and do what I’ve said.
Almost as if what she’s about to ask for is so ‘out there’ that she can’t wait to see if I’ll keep my word.
Then, slowly, she smiles. It doesn’t reach her eyes, though. No, it’s nothing more than a chilly gesture, and I could swear the room drops five degrees at the ice that forms in her gaze.
“Okay. Then…” She pauses. “I want you.”
I still. “I beg your pardon?”
“What I want, Your Royal Highness,” she says, not even flinching. “Is you. More specifically, I want you to marry me.”
CHAPTER NINE – HATTIE
I have no idea why he looks so shocked.
Surely, he had to know it was an option. There’s no way Her Majesty didn’t mention it to him once I’d left the room.
Perhaps he just wasn’t expecting me to say it so brazenly.
Hell, I wasn’t expecting me to say it so brazenly, but here we are.
I’ve said it.
And a marriage proposal is something one cannot simply take back.
“Marry me,” I repeat without missing a beat.
Slowly, he tilts his head to the side, his blue eyes studying me intently. His momentary shock from my initial admission has gone, and his expression now gives nothing away as he rests his arm along the back of the sofa. “Marry you,” he says, rolling the words around his mouth. “That’s what you want?”
“Yes. It’s an arrangement that benefits us both.”
“And why exactly is that?”
My lips pull up to one side. “Because you don’t want to marry Jasmine Sinclair, and I don’t want her to become the crown princess. It kills two birds with one stone, don’t you think?”
“What makes you think I don’t want to marry Jasmine?”
“Oh, dear.” I hold my pointer finger against my lips and raise my eyebrows. “I’ve been led to believe you’re an intelligent man with excellent judgement. It seems that was a mistake. How disappointing.”
His mouth twitches into the barest hint of a smirk, and there’s a little something that brightens his eyes. “How could I stand to disappoint you? You are correct—I have no love for Jasmine, and would prefer not to marry her, if the opportunity presents itself.”
I hold out my hands. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Royal Highness. I’m Opportunity, and I’m presenting myself to you right now.”
He rests his head on his hand, amusement twinkling in his deep blue eyes. “You said you’ve been back in Askurg—in St Peters—for two years. Why have you waited until now? Why not show yourself sooner?”
“Are you insinuating that I somehow orchestrated our first meeting?”
“You said yourself that Jasmine talks about me non-stop. It’s plausible that you might know my whereabouts. I wouldn’t be surprised if she knew my entire schedule.”
She does. It’s quite scary, actually.
“I can assure you it was nothing but coincidence. I’d just finished a job and, to be honest, I was delaying my return home. It’s not exactly a place I enjoy being,” I say dryly. “And before you bring up the fact I gave you my card; you asked for it, and you contacted me.”