Page 48 of Resisting Royal

If there was an award for the number of eye rolls in five minutes, I was positive I would have gotten the first-place ribbon. “Feeling pretty confident in yourself today?”

“There isn’t a day I wake up where I’m not feeling confident, Amore.”

He stood, his body suddenly closer than I was comfortable with. I inhaled, which was an absolutely bad idea because not only was my body close to his, but my senses were drowning in all things Royal, and I wasn’t even positive if I wanted to be saved. I lost my thoughts, unable to answer him, and he knew it. He leaned down, his lips caressing my ear as he whispered, “Two minutes.”

Damn him, but I could hear the laughter in his voice taunting me. I took a step back as he took a step forward. “I have to get going.”

“I never pictured you as one to scurry away like a frightened lamb, Amore.”

Yeah, well, I never wanted to hate someone as much as I wanted to fuck them, so there was that. A first for both of us. But I didn’t voice it. “I’m hardly running away; I have work to do.”

“In a minute and . . .” He glanced at his watch, “twenty-three seconds.”

I stepped back again, my hand searching for the counter I knew was somewhere behind me. “So precise.”

“A man is nothing without precision,” he pointed out. “But you wouldn’t know that, would you?”

But I wanted to know, god, I really, really wanted to know just how precise he would be. He stepped closer, and I avoided his eye contact, positive I heard footsteps in the hall coming in our direction. He cocked his head, and I was confident he heard them too. The approaching steps didn’t stop him from advancing. In fact, they encouraged his strides until I found myself pinned between the counter and his hard body.

“Forty-five seconds,” he whispered, then tilted his head, his eyes roaming my face before his lips captured mine. I kissed him back, hating myself for the weakness this man caused but elated at the sparks he sent through my every nerve ending.

A throat cleared, and neither of us parted. It cleared again, this time louder, and reluctantly, I pulled away. How did my fingers wind up so entangled in his hair? Movement from the doorway caught my eyes, and I tore my gaze away from Royal’s penetrating gaze. Ricardo stood there, shifting from foot to foot, looking uncomfortable.

“Yes?” My inquiry came out more of a croak than an actual word.

“Hmm.” He shifted again, his eyes looking between the both of us. “Reception asked me to let you know your one thirty is here since I was coming back in this direction anyway.”

I nodded my acknowledgment, and he was gone. I turned back to Royal, my fingers still intertwined in his thick locks. I loosened my grip. “I thought you said you wouldn’t make the next move, that you wouldn’t kiss me.”

He used the counter to push back, separating his body from mine before going and grabbing the trash off the table and tossing it in the trash can. “That, Amore, wasn’t a kiss.”

“No?” I watched him wearily.

“No. That wasn’t a kiss, it was a claim.” He didn’t wait for me to respond, he turned and walked out.

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