Page 43 of Regal Queen

Thankfully, at that exact moment, our pizza arrived, along with more drinks. We were distracted by the taste of melted cheese and the tang of traditional italian spices on our tongues.

Rose moaned in happiness as she bit into her first piece. "This is the best pizza I've ever had in my life."

I nodded, in agreement. "Why do you think I told Rocky to meet us here?"

"Good job, King.” She mused as she leaned her head on my shoulder again, diving in to her food.

We sat like that for a while, with her head on my shoulder and me pressing soft kisses into her hair.

"So,” I said after a moment, "tell me one your favorite memories."

She suddenly stilled, placing her pizza on her plate and titling her head up to eye me. "Like, what, from when I was a kid?"

I shrugged, knowing that she didin't quite trust me, that she thought I was fishing for information. "Whatever, just a happy memory. Or tell me something else about your past, something you remember fondly.”

I wanted to get to know her more. Plus, I wanted her to keep feeling good.

She picked up her pizza again, biting down on her lower lip to think. Then she took a bite and explained between thoughts.

"My first year of college was amazing. I was learning about something I was passionate about."

"Which was?" I interrupted her.

"Graphic design. Drawing."

I nodded, understanading now. "Keep going."

“Anyhow, it was the first time I had any sort of freedom. My dad--or, the man who raised me--"

"James," I supplied for her.

She nodded, “Growing up, James never let me have any of my own friends, or do anything that normal girls were doing when I was a teenager. So I was surprised when he let me go to college, even though it was only the local trade school."

"What did you expect to happen when you were done with high school?”

She raised a shoulder. "I don't know. A marriage contract, I guess, though I wasn't sure I would be given to anyone important. James is only in the middle and I'm nothing special--"

I reached out, gripping her chin and she stuttered to a stop at the fierce look on my face.

“Never say that again, do you understand me?" I growled out, ignoring the attention I was attracting from the men across the room.

Her throat bobbed and she nodded, her voice a whisper of a breath. “Okay."

"You are the most stunning woman I've ever met, and I would pay every single cent in the bank to have you by my side." I raised an eyebrow. "Does that make things clear about how special you are, Rapunzel?"

She nodded, a dazed look on her face and, satisfied, I let her go, brushing my lips over hers briefly before going back to eating my pizza. "Go on."

She inhaled a deep breath, continuing. "Anyhow, as I was saying, I had two roommates my first year and we became good friends. It was diferent for me than it was for them. They'd had friends before me but I'd never had anyone to talk to, not like that. So I was completely intrigued by their lives. We would stay up late at night and I would ask question after question about them. Their lives weren’t anything remarkable, you know? But just having close friends for the first time in my life was amazing.”

"And what would you say if they asked about your life?”

She took a moment to answer, finishing up her crust. "I don't know. I guess I was mostly vague or even told little white lies, enough that they could still get a sense of me but without revealing much of the truth.”

I nodded, “That’s understandable.”

“What about you?” She asked me, and I just gave her a look that said, ‘really?’

She blew air from her mouth, tossing the last bite of her crust onto her plate. “So you were always the king of Vegas? You never cared what anyone knew about your life? Along with that throne of yours and the pretty crown a top your head?”

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