Page 62 of Regal Queen

I'd considered calling him several times, too many times to count. I'd even ashamedly pulled his contact up, my finger hovering over the call button.

I'd even tapped it once before quickly hanging up, unable to gather the courage to speak to him, especially after hanging up on him the last time we spoke.

I laughed at the thought of his face when he'd realized I'd done it and wondered if that had ever happened to him before.

No one hung up on the Kings, Knight had helpfully supplied after I'd done it, a shocked look on his face.

Sighing, I put the phone on the ground at my feet, and stared out across the landscape again, wishing things were different. Wishing that I had the courage to face him.

The phone suddenly rang and I jumped, so surprised to hear the ringing nose break the silence.

Pepe perked up next to me, her ears flopping as she looked around, trying to figure out where the noise was coming from.

I chuckled at the confused look on her face and rubbed her head before looking down to see who was calling.

My stomach lurched at Bourbon's name, though I wasn’t surprised to see it.

There were few people who had this new number.

Two, actually. Knight, and Bourbon.

I stared at it for a long moment, trying to gather my nerves, trying not to throw up before sliding my thumb over the screen, answering it.

“Hello?"

"Rose." Bourbon's deep voice rolled over me.

“Hi." There was a slight awkward pause, and I felt the need to say something to him. "You called me back."

“Of course I did."

"It took you a couple days."

He chuckled darkly. "Were you waiting for me to call?”

I lifted a shoulder, gathering my courage. "Maybe."

I heard an exhale of a breath. "I thought you might not want to talk to me ever again."

"That's not true," my voice was a croak, pain shooting through me at the thought that he thought I didn't want to talk to him. "I wanted you."

I didn’t say any more, didn’t explain exactly how I wanted him, didn’t admit how much I wanted.

"That's the best thing I've ever heard in my life."

“It is?"

“God, yes."

My chest tingled, my heart thumping with his words.

I’m calling to tell you something, Rose." He was the serious Bourbon again and I focused in on his words, my stomach suddenly tight with nerves.

Was he going to try and boss me around again? Was he here to take me back home? Was he going to try and stop me?

"I'm here in Cuba."

I didn't respond to that. Knight had told me that there was a possibility of them finding out where we were because Coulter knew about his house here.

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