Page 37 of Resisting Royal

“He such a good boy, that one.” She nodded again, and I nodded with her. He was one of the best men I knew, and I was not just saying that because I knew he always had my back. I was saying that because he had a heart of gold, and anyone who took the time to look past his arrogant attitude would surely see it.

Maria turned to Bianca, a smile on her face as she set the food down in front of her. Bianca smiled back, always polite . . . to everyone but me. I cleared my throat. “Maria, this is my wife, Bianca.”

Maria looked at me in shock, her eyes already filling with tears before she looked back at Bianca. She picked up her hand, noting the absence of a ring and patted her hand. “Such a pretty girl for my boy. He’s a good man.” She tilted her head. “Rough, but good.”

If only she knew how rough I could truly be and I wasn’t even talking about my day job. She turned to me, still holding Bianca’s hand. “You buy her a ring. Other men will try to take her.”

I swallowed hard. It wasn’t like I hadn’t tried, but ever since I left the little box for her, I’d heard nothing about it. She got it, I knew, but never once had she placed it on her finger. I cleared my throat again. Nothing made me more vulnerable than scrutiny from people who have known me my whole life. “Well . . .”

Before I could finish my sentence, Bianca spoke up. “I have a ring, I just forgot to put it on after doing some dishes today.”

It was a partial truth, but I appreciated her offering it. Maria’s face lit up with Bianca’s admission. She let go of Bianca’s hand and reached up to pat my cheek tenderly before pinching it and kissing my forehead. “You are a good boy.”

I hadn’t been good or a boy for some time, but I appreciated the sentiment. “Thank you, Maria.”

She gave us both hugs, her excitement infectious, before she left us promising to share the news. When she was out of sight, I picked up my fork. “You didn’t have to lie to her, but thank you.”

“There was no reason to lie to her. You had bought me a ring.” She took a bit of the pork ladled in green sauce sitting in front of her and moaned around her fork. She chewed, her eyes completely closed until she swallowed. Fuck, I rubbed my palm over my cock, trying to adjust myself from the sudden hardness she just enticed.

Trying to take my mind off the sight in front of me, I asked, “Are you going to wear it?”

I took a bite of my own food, savoring the burst of flavor. “I haven’t decided yet.”

“Why is that?” I felt a bit disappointed.

“If I do decide to wear it, I want it to be when I feel completely committed to you. I am your wife, Royal. I know that to be true in all the official capacity. But you’re a stranger to me.”

“I didn’t seem to be a stranger when you were coming around my fingers,” I reminded her.

She kicked me under the table. “That was one moment of weakness that you can’t hold over my head. Besides, we are strangers, don’t you think?”

I guess we were, yeah. “So, what are you suggesting?”

“I want to get to know you before I can decide if all this is worth it,” she confessed, and it stung. The moment I saw her, I knew she was worth it, at least to me, and it hurt a little that she doubted my worth.

“Are you suggesting I . . .” I paused, trying to think it through, “date my wife?”

“Yes. I mean . . . no.” She sighed. “I mean, I don’t know, I just feel like I can’t put your ring on my finger until I feel something for you.”

Ouch. That was actually painful to hear. “You feel nothing for me? At all?”

“I mean, lust.” She rolled her eyes. “A whole lot of that, honestly. But, we can’t build anything on lust alone.”

Want to fucking watch me? I could build whole fucking walls on lust alone, and if she thought lust wasn’t a solid foundation to a relationship, I sure as hell had a lot to show her. But I stayed quiet, knowing the challenge she just issued was a hundred fucking percent accepted.

When I didn’t respond, she continued. “I have to be honest here, you’re not the man I would pick.”

I quirked a brow. “And why is that?”

She looked at me like I was crazy for not knowing, but answered anyway. “Well, to start with, you’re a criminal, a shady lender, and I’m pretty sure that fighting ring I witnessed wasn’t legal.”

I licked my suddenly dry lips, pondering her words. “Fair enough. But that’s not all I am.”

“Isn’t that all that really matters? The fact that your morals lean on the side of questionable means that you would be one of my last choices.”

“Questionable by your standards or society’s? It appears that you only want to see what makes me an unlikely candidate, but what about the favorable qualities?” I held my fingers up to tick off all the qualities I would like in my own mate. “Loyal. Charitable. Fair. Sexy as sin. Don’t even get me started on how I fuck.”

She laughed dryly. “I would hardly count the last two as favorable qualities, those are biased opinions.”

“I could show you.”

She held up her hand. “I’ll pass.”

My phone rang, and I was thankful for the distraction to get us away from this conversation that had quickly gone downhill. Bianca could think what she wanted, but I knew I was willing to put forth the effort to prove her wrong, one day at a time. I excused myself and answered my phone, disappointed with the whole night in general.

---