Page 36 of Resisting Royal

CHAPTER 18

ROYAL

I had to pause the moment the door closed and catch my breath. I hadn’t realized I was holding it until the moment she was out of sight. Fuck, leaving her there, her skin rosy from post-orgasm bliss, her robe parted open, her bra skewed, that damn tattoo she taunted me with peeking out from under the open material, had to be the hardest thing I’d done in my whole entire existence. She was beautiful, absolutely mesmerizing. So damn entrancing that I could watch her with her eyes closed, her breathing quick, her cheeks pink, for the rest of my days and never get tired.

But, I’d made it my mission to not fucking touch her again. Bigger things hadn’t broken me, but this one declaration had me teetering on the edge of impossibility. How was I to keep away when every look she gave me had me wanting to fall to my knees in front of her, declaring I was hers to do with as she pleased? I rested my head against the door, waiting for my heartbeat to calm and the tremors I felt wracking my body to ease. Nothing had made me this weak . . . until her. Amour. Bianca.

When I felt able, I pulled away from the door and walked downstairs and straight into my office. Was it bad manners to drink before a date with your wife you barely knew but wanted more than your next breath? Probably. But poor etiquette didn’t stop me from walking over to my bar and pouring myself some whiskey.

This was harder than I thought it would be. I thought I would marry the gal, share my space, the space that I hardly ever used, fuck a bit, and pretend she didn’t exist until the days and cycles repeated themselves. I never imagined I would want her this badly. A want that I couldn’t even satisfy.

I was too lost in thought, torturing myself in my own head, that I almost missed Bianca’s knock on the door. I turned, nearly stumbling from how breathtaking she looked in a simple pair of jeans, a blouse, and heels so damn high that she almost rivaled me in height. She looked meek standing there, a bit unsure about what to say or do, and I couldn’t blame her. Not after her body clenched around my fingers like it owned them, and her nails dug into my shoulders so hard, I could still feel bites of pain when I moved.

I spared her the embarrassment of speaking. “You ready?”She bit her lip and nodded, and I wanted to walk over and take that lip in my mouth. But, I wouldn’t make the next move, at least not so soon after claiming a piece of her body. “Good.”

I walked to her, reached out, and grabbed her bag before stepping out of the office and shutting the door behind me. It wasn’t a necessary action, but it gave me something to do while I built up a wall preparing for tonight. Initially, I had planned to woo my wife, taking her to the most beautiful restaurant in town and showing her what life with me could be like. Why? I had no fucking clue. I’d realized that materialistic things weren’t what pleased her.

I opted to change course at the last minute. If I couldn’t win over my own damn wife with money, I was going to have to win her over with the next best thing. Sincerity. Fuck, that sounded cheesy even as I thought it, but it was true; she wasn’t impressed by what I could buy her. Maybe if she saw good intentions were behind my actions, she might open to me more.

She followed me to the black hummer that was parked outside the house, and after beeping the locks, I held the door as she got into the vehicle, then handed over her purse before shutting the door. I jogged around the car, climbed in, and started it up.

“Where to?” she asked, trying to make an effort to have a conversation with me, even when she still couldn’t look me in the eye. I would change that, of course. There was no way I could spend hours with Bianca, and not look into her pretty, little eyes.

I turned my head, staring at her until she looked up at me, her eyes darting from my own to the windshield and back again. “I know this place.”

That was all I said, leaving her to create whatever she wanted to fill in the blanks. “What place?”

“A place you will love.” I was pretty sure she growled as she crossed her arms over her chest, pushing her luscious breasts up, causing me to almost swerve in the road as I stole a glance. Or two.

We arrived at Holmes Street fifteen minutes later, where I parked and made sure to open the door before she had a chance to get out. I took her hand, intertwining our fingers, and satisfaction coursed through me when she didn’t pull away. We walked half a block without saying a word until we reached the little window of the food stand. “Do you trust me?”

“Nope,” she answered instantly, and yeah, it pained me a little to know that she didn’t believe I would always put her best interests before my own.

“Let me rephrase this, can I order for you?” She thought about it, her damn teeth pulling at the bottom lip again before she finally agreed.

I let go of her hand long enough to lean down to the window, happy to see a familiar face greeting me. We chatted for a few minutes, catching up before I instructed Maria, the elderly lady I’d known since I was a kid myself, to give me two of the usual. She shouted to the cook before handing me two drinks.

I pulled back and stood, looking at Bianca in just enough time to catch the weird look on her face. “What?”

“You seem friendly.” She didn’t pull away when my fingers found hers.

“I’ve known her since I was a kid. She and her husband used to give me food when I didn’t have any. She said her granddaughter just got accepted into Harvard, isn’t that amazing?” I took my phone out of my pocket and made a quick note to send her granddaughter an anonymous scholarship.

She looked at me like I had grown a second head, but nodded her agreement. “Yeah, that’s great.”

I tugged on her hand to pull her toward the picnic tables set up in a little alcove in the back of the alley. “It’s not fancy, but there are tables here if you want to eat. Otherwise, we can take it to go.”

She followed along, neither agreeing or disagreeing. I figured if she was totally against it, she would tell me before the food arrived so I could let Maria know, but she said nothing. Not a single word was muttered, until the moment Maria arrived.

I may not have told Maria about my recent engagement that lasted all of five minutes before my sudden marriage. It’s not like I had gotten up that day thinking, hmm, today is the day I’ll be shackling myself down to a female for life. But, every time I looked at her, I waited for the regret to sink it and still it hadn’t come.

Maria's shock was written all over her face as she walked toward the table with two heaping plates of food. “No Troy?”

Her thick accent made me smile. “No, he’s off today.”

She nodded her understanding. “He spend time with Genie?”

“Last update he sent, he begged me to rescue him from all the pink,” I confirmed.

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