Page 52 of Fastlander Fealty

“Dangerously pretty? Me?”

“Yep. What’s number two.”

“Number two. Insert poop joke here,” she uttered before she could stop herself, and then her eyes flew wide as he belted out a laugh. “Number two,” she started again, her cheeks heating that she was so comfortable with being silly around him. It had been a while since she’d seen that side of herself. “When you kissed me in the river.”

“That’s my number one,” he murmured. “What’s number three?”

“When you showed up at the hotel door.”

He nodded, eyes on her. “Number one, kiss. Number two, insert poop joke here, when I watched you take on Corey and Hallie, and be honest with them about why you’re here.”

“Oooh. That one is surprising,” she said.

Owen shrugged. “It would’ve been easier to just stay quiet the rest of the float and leave, and not have to be held accountable for anything. I learned you aren’t an easy-way-out kind of woman. I like that about you.”

“You say that as I’m running away from my problems.”

“Running toward a life you deserve,” he corrected her. “Not running from problems. If you were an easy-way-out woman, your lioness wouldn’t go for the biggest fight. She would go for the fight she knew she could win.”

“You don’t think I could win against you?” she teased.

He leaned back, blond brows arched. “I don’t know, you may be able to take me if my boar disappears any time you try to claw me.”

“Why did he do that?”

“Because he didn’t want to fight you.” A frown took his handsome face as he stared at the candle for a few seconds. “He couldn’t fight you is a better way of saying it.”

Huh.

“Well, I apparently don’t have that problem. I have no control of my animal. She would fight a dragon,” Silver said with a roll of her eyes. “I can’t believe I’ve survived this long.”

“You’ve fought lions in your Pride?” he asked.

“Oh hell yeah. I got practice fighting with Jaren when I was a cub, and I graduated to the lionesses in the Holland Pride. They wouldn’t quit picking at me, but eventually they learned to not poke at me. It’s part of why I think Rook chose me to be a Queen. He liked owning the lioness who would fight anything. He liked controlling me. It made him feel powerful.”

“Should’ve fought him,” Owen told her.

“Oh gosh, I would probably lose that one. His lion is massive.”

Owen stared at her thoughtfully. “Number three, the way you keep smiling tonight.”

“Really?” she asked.

“Mmm hmm. You look pretty sitting here in my flannel, tan lines poking out of your top, hair all wavy around your face, eyes that soft brown that says your lioness is relaxed. You feel lighter, like you have no problems in the world, and you have nothing to hide, and you’re just open, and good gah, Silver, your smile is something else. Number three is definitely here, right now.” He pointed to her lips. “That smile is the one.”

Cheeks on fire, she ducked her gaze, and squeezed her eyes closed to avoid the squeak of pleasure that threatened to bubble up her throat.

“Woman, don’t hide it,” Owen said. “Look at me.”

When she did, he had his phone up and snapped a picture. Chewing on a bite, he poked some buttons on his phone and told her, “I sent it to you.”

“I left my phone in the room. That thing is a pain.”

He grinned and faced his phone toward her, showed her the picture he’d just snapped.

The lighting was dim, and the background slightly blurred, but she was clear and in focus. She wore a happy smile and she was looking at him, above the camera. Her eyes didn’t have any shadows, and she didn’t look haunted. Not even a little bit. Her outfit looked kind of cute, if baggy, and her hair was actually behaving somewhat. The candlelight reflected against her left cheek. Silver looked kind of okay. And happy. She liked seeing herself through his eyes.

“And that is now my lock screen,” he told her, and then shoved his phone back into his pocket.

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