Royal Games (The Royals of Monterra) (10 page)

His mouth was warm and perfect and delicious and made me totally unbalanced. Like I was on a boat in the middle of a raging storm and couldn’t get my balance. Everything spun and roiled out of control.

My pulse beat so hard that it seemed to be everywhere, including inside my ears. It was all I could hear, and the pressure of his amazing kiss was all I could feel.

I realized that in the past I had only ever kissed boys. It was a completely different experience kissing a man.

A man who held me so close it was like we were the same person. A man who was doing funny things to my insides, while making little bumps pop up all over my skin.

Kissing him like this, so intently and blissfully, reminded me of riding at a full, hard gallop. There was that same wonderful feeling of flying and freedom with a hint of something more, just out of reach.

His arms were around me so tightly I could barely breathe, his hands moving and stroking as he deepened the kiss. I had my arms around his neck, and I couldn’t concentrate on anything except all the amazing sensations I was experiencing. It was like I had been made to kiss him, to be held by him. Like I had wandered the planet for two decades not knowing exactly why I was here, and in that moment, I was convinced it was to be with him.

My lungs had started to burn from a lack of oxygen, but I didn’t care. If it was my time to go, this was exactly how I would choose to spend my last moments on earth.

He had broken it off suddenly, his gaze drawn toward the trees. His chest heaved, his heartbeat strong and fast against my palm. I was breathing so hard I could have blown a house down. As my senses returned to me, I realized that the horses had been neighing, disturbed by something. And just past them I could make out a camera crew.

I knew my cheeks must have been cherry red, but my skin was so flushed that I wasn’t sure anyone would be able to tell. I put my hand to my mouth as it fell open. I didn’t know if my thundering heartbeat was because of what I had just experienced, or the shock of discovering that they had recorded our first kiss. Rafe’s posture had gone rigid, and he stepped in front of me so that the crew couldn’t film me.

“We should go,” he murmured against my skin, making me sigh again.

We walked back to the horses, hand in hand. I even let him help me get back up in the saddle. Everything was different now. Everything had changed. Surely he couldn’t be going around kissing everyone like that.

It was special.

We were special.

And this was real.

As I remembered our first kiss, I was glad that I hadn’t known then how things would turn out. How he would lie to me and use me. How an intimate and personal moment had been captured and shown to the whole world, but none of it had been special or real. It hurt me now to think about it, but I hoped that someday I would be able to look back and remember that moment, that perfection and chemistry between us, with a smile instead of sadness.

“I’m okay,” I told him, smiling as best I could so he would just take me home. He hesitated, but then he started up the car.

This should be my lesson learned for not staying home and doing homework. And for taking Nicole’s advice. Look where it landed me.

He pulled his SUV to the very end of the driveway, halfway between his guesthouse and my kitchen. As the dome light turned on, it was then that I realized we were both covered in horse blood and other birth-related liquids. I didn’t want to do it, but I didn’t have a choice since it was my fault he had stuff on him. “You should probably come inside so we get can cleaned up.”

As I crunched through the snow, I cursed myself for wearing flats that the cold could slip inside. Now my toes were freezing. At the top of the porch, I tried to shake off as much moisture as I could.

“Do you ever dress appropriately for the weather?” Rafe asked, looking at my shoes.

“It changes so often you never know what you’re going to need.” I didn’t deliberately dress inappropriately, I just wore what I wanted. Okay, maybe he was a little bit right. But wasn’t it my prerogative to dress the way I wanted to?

He came into the kitchen behind me, and I grabbed some dishtowels to clean up the water from the floor. I tossed them into the dryer.

Originally, our washer and dryer had been in the basement, but when I moved here Aunt Sylvia had put them upstairs because I was too terrified to go down there. It was an old basement, windowless, dark, damp, and musty. It was like entering a tomb.

I stood at the sink, washing what I could from my skin, scrubbing with the industrial-type soap I kept in here for this purpose. I knew he was watching me, because my skin tingled from the attention. “Here, go ahead,” I said when I had finished.

While I dried my hands, I tried not to watch him, the way his forearms moved under the water and soap, how his corded muscles flexed in a way that made me a little light-headed. In this brighter light, it was easier to see all the stains on his shirt.

“You should probably let me wash that for you,” I said. He didn’t have a washing machine at the guesthouse, and if it didn’t get cleaned soon, it would probably set.

“Okay,” he said. Before I could comprehend what was happening, he took off his coat and then did that sexy thing guys did when they took off their shirts—he grabbed it behind his neck and pulled it forward, handing it to me.

Leaving him very shirtless and me very tempted. My eyes widened as my mouth turned into an O shape.

I think a full minute passed while I devoured him with my eyes before I realized what I was doing. My skin was prickly and hot. He was painfully beautiful, but extremely aggravating. I pressed a hand against my cheek.

“I didn’t mean right now,” I finally said.

“Didn’t you?” he said in a silky tone, and I almost gasped in outrage. “I wouldn’t blame you for it. You know you can’t fight the moonlight.”

My outrage multiplied. That was my mom’s saying, not his. And certainly not ours. “It’s a crescent moon,” I retorted. I barely refrained from sticking out my tongue at him and adding, “So there.”

You are not a child,
I reminded myself. And he . . . he most definitely was not a child, either.

“Good night,” he said with a knowing smile, walking out the back door. He didn’t shut it, and he let the screen door slam behind him.

So infuriating. He deserved to freeze on the way back after that little stunt.

And after all I’d put up with tonight, I deserved to watch him go.

Chapter 10

The next day was Sunday, and after he’d finished his morning run, Rafe insisted on driving us to church. Aunt Sylvia accepted on my behalf. Which I was not okay with, but there was nothing I could do.

He was wearing a very expensive suit that made him look like he’d just walked out of a James Bond movie, and he was clean-shaven again. It made me sentimental and wistful, so I forced myself to pay attention to the sermon instead. My immortal soul probably needed it.

Especially since my mortal body was interested in breaking some commandments with Rafe. It was like every molecule in my body wanted to gravitate over to him. Like he was some black hole and I was incapable of resisting.

After church ended, Whitney found me and grabbed me with her free hand. She held Gracie with the other. “You didn’t call.”

“Call?”

She rolled her eyes so hard I was surprised she didn’t see her own brain. “About your date with Tommy Davis. What happened?”

Tommy had become such a minor player in last night’s craziness that I had actually forgotten about him. I glanced over at Rafe, who clearly stood within earshot. He had offered Aunt Sylvia his arm and was helping her to his car. I took Gracie from Whitney, perching her on my hip. It made me nervous when she forgot and held the kids this far along in her pregnancy, and I wanted to wait until Prince Misleading was gone. “Remember how much I wanted to go out with Tommy in high school?”

“Definitely.”

“That’s what happened last night. I went out with Tommy from high school. Or the college version of him. It was unfortunate. And it made me sympathetic toward Brooke, which is the worst.”

“Did he kiss you?”

“He did, and it was gross. And it didn’t help that I had Rafe’s to compare it to.”

“What!” she gasped. “What do you mean? Did Rafe kiss you, too?”

“Before the date.” Gracie was sucking on her thumb, and she laid her head on my shoulder. It was close to her naptime. My pulse felt a little frantic just thinking about the kiss.

“Obviously. He had to mark his territory. Or he wanted you to be thinking about him the entire night and not Tommy.”

“It doesn’t matter what his reasons were. And he’s not going to do it again.”

She looked so crestfallen. “That sucks.”

“Not unless I ask him to.”

She perked right back up. “Excellent. So now we just have to—”

Pastor Dave interrupted us, asking to speak with me. I put Gracie down, and she toddled off with her mom. He and I discussed the upcoming church bazaar meeting. We were closing in on the date of the bazaar and needed to finalize the details. I asked if I could pass out a sign-up sheet next week to the congregation for some of the food assignments. He agreed to let me do so.

By the time we finished talking, the church had emptied out. My eyebrows knit together as I tried to figure out where Aunt Sylvia had gone. Maybe she was out in the car with Rafe? They wouldn’t have left me behind.

I put on my coat and opened the front door. Rafe stood outside, his car running. I didn’t see Aunt Sylvia in the front seat. He opened the door for me like he was my own personal chauffeur. But as he closed the door behind me, I realized my aunt wasn’t in the backseat either.

“Where is Sylvia?” I asked as soon as he joined me.

He started the car and signaled with his blinker, checking his mirrors before leaving the parking lot. “She got a ride home with Amanda.”

I let out a huff of disgust, folding my arms as I leaned back in my seat. Did she really think her matchmaking schemes were going to work? She knew what he’d done. She was the only one who really understood how deep his betrayal had gone.

“Will we have time for a cooking lesson today?”

Ugh. I’d forgotten about that. “I’m going over to Whitney’s after I go home and get changed.” There was no need to mention that I hadn’t actually been invited. She’d understand, and she’d want more details about the thing we were calling a “date” with Tommy.

“How about after that?” He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel while he talked, and I tried really hard not to think about how much I loved it when he ran those same fingers through my hair.

My mind scrambled to find reasons. Truthful ones. I wouldn’t lie. “I have homework.
WoW
stuff. Lists to make up for the church bazaar—”

“I get it. You’re busy. Maybe tomorrow?”

“School, more homework, the diner, another talent show rehearsal I promised I’d be at.”

“Well, at least I’ll see you there.”

Of course he would. He was everywhere. He was just smashing through all these walls I’d put up, pushing his way in.

Apparently not noticing my scowl, he said, “I hope you enjoy your time with Whitney. Do you plan on giving her
all
the details from last night?” So he had overheard us. But no matter what I said, he would read too much into it. If I said I’d told her all about how he had rescued me and helped me with foaling Summer Breeze, he’d be smug. If I insisted, truthfully, that he hadn’t come up, he’d probably think I was lying.

Even though I was not the one in the car whose pants were usually on fire. I was pretty sure he was still keeping stuff from me. I decided to just ask. “How did you find me last night?”

I hadn’t had my phone with me. Tommy didn’t even know what we were going to do, so it’s not like I had told Rafe where we would be. I narrowed my eyes and gritted my teeth together. Had he followed us, taking this stalker thing to a whole new level?

He tugged at the collar of his shirt with one finger. “Marco knew.”

Marco? How in the world did Marco know? Did he have Marco follow me? “How?”

“He’s been keeping an eye on you.” He swallowed a couple of times. He had to have known how angry that would make me, but he’d done it anyway.

I held my breath for several counts, letting it out slowly. “That stops right now,” I said as calmly as I possibly could. I didn’t feel calm, though. I had spent my entire childhood being watched. I had never had any privacy or time to myself. Ever. Once I’d gotten my freedom, I had no plans of giving it up again. I didn’t need his protection. More accurately, his bodyguard’s protection.

Sighing, I pressed a hand to my stomach. If I dug my heels in, so would he. I could be nice. You’d catch more flies with honey than with acid, anyway. “I’m not in danger. I don’t need to be tracked or watched. Okay?”

So much time passed I thought he might not have heard me. “Okay,” he finally said.

“You’ll stop? Marco will stop?” I clarified.

“We’ll stop.” I could hear in his voice that it had cost him to agree. After I had found out about him being a prince, he admitted that he was a little obsessive about security when it came to the people he cared about. He didn’t tell me why, and I had just accepted his statement at face value. Even though I was mad at him, I knew he still cared. Why else would he be here? Giving up his worldly, glamorous life to live in a house smaller than his family’s jet?

Oddly, gratefulness welled up inside me and tugged at my nicer emotions. His hand was between our seats, and I had to fight the impulse to reach over and hold it again. I loved holding his hand. It was always toasty, soothing and exciting at the same time.

I put my hands under my legs to make them behave. I looked at the snowy, never-ending fields as we drove past. I pictured myself mentally building an igloo wall back up around my heart, brick by frozen brick.

And I saw an image of Rafe dismantling it just as quickly.

But I didn’t need to worry about him destroying my defenses when I kept unlocking the gate and inviting him inside.

I somehow managed to make it all the way to my diner shift the next day without thinking about Rafe incessantly, but when I got to work I saw that the sunflowers were still blooming. Mocking me. Of course he would buy an expensive kind that would last forever so I couldn’t forget.

It didn’t help matters that Nicole stared at them and sighed every five minutes.

Then Whitney arrived, her face all aglow, and she actually hugged me. “What’s that for?” I asked.

“For bringing that wonderful man into our lives!”

It was like somebody had transferred a new personality into her. I’d never seen her beam like that before. “Are you talking about Rafe?”

She sat down carefully on one of the barstools. “Yes! He’s started a software company here in town, and he’s hired all the people who lost their jobs to come work for him.”

It did not compute. “What?”

“He even rented out the old pharmacy across the street for his offices.” She pointed, and I saw the red brick building that hadn’t been open in years. Christopher’s parents owned the building, and they’d been losing money on it for a long time.

I put my fingers to my temples. “Wait, wait, wait. This doesn’t even make sense. Nobody there knows anything about software. They made printer parts.” Most of them hadn’t even been to college.

“He’s planning to hire some trainers and programmers to come out and teach them everything they need to know. Maybe even enroll them in classes at UI. He’s going to pay them while they learn, and the benefits are incredible. It’s not going to cost us anything out of pocket to have this baby. Everyone starts at the end of this week.”

At that, Nicole’s ears perked up. “Programmers? Aren’t those usually men? Possibly single men?”

She and Whitney started to discuss the possibility of an entire new dating pool moving into town while I stood there in shock.

I wanted to ask her how. How had he done this? How had it all happened so fast? It didn’t seem possible.

But I knew how. An insane amount of money and a staff in Monterra who probably had the whole thing wrapped up and ready to go with a shiny bow before breakfast this morning.

I realized that was what he wanted to talk to the town council about last week. Christopher had announced that the factory had closed at the end of that meeting.

And SuperRafe had come to the rescue.

That was what I got for trying to ignore him. He went and made the whole town fall in love with him.

Jobs with benefits. Renting out unused space. Potentially importing eligible men.

It was diabolical.

“Son of a . . .” I muttered under my breath. I didn’t finish the sentence because I actually really liked Queen Aria.

Mr. Olafsson was outside of the old pharmacy—I mean, Rafe’s new offices. He had owned a printing shop in town many years ago. Rafe came out to shake hands with him. They chatted for a few minutes, and Mr. Olafsson showed him a big banner that read, “Royal Productions.” Rafe went in and came back out with a ladder, hanging the banner on the awning over the main door.

This made no logical sense. And if nothing else, Rafe was logical. How did he expect to start up a software company in Frog Hollow? And have it succeed?

Here I thought he was spending all his time playing video games and figuring out ways to win me over. No, he was masterminding a plan to end all plans.

It was like the more I wanted him to go away, the harder he tugged back on the bridle like some obstinate mule. He was putting down some roots here. I’d be in serious trouble if he bought a house.

But the main problem now was the devastation his leaving would cause this town.

Because he was going to leave. We were not getting back together. That was nonnegotiable.

“Sorry I’m late,” I told Nicole, out of breath.

“No worries. Can you go check on the younger kids? I’m going to run lines with the older ones.”

“Sure thing . . .” My voice trailed off when I saw Rafe again hard at work constructing a set. He was talking to a couple of the teen boys who were helping out, teaching them how to reinforce corners. Off to one side, a group of high school girls were watching his every movement, their heads swiveling in unison whenever he moved. Like a herd of crazy, starving cats watching a bird fall out of the sky.

“He’s all broody like a vampire.” Nicole sighed, her eyes widening when she realized she’d said it out loud and I’d heard her.

I couldn’t be mad. I didn’t own him.
And you know he’d never go after Nicole, so you don’t have to be jealous,
an impish voice whispered. “You know that’s not a good thing, right?”