Page 56 of Resisting Royal

We were on the road for forty-five minutes when he pulled into a parking lot without an explanation. He instructed me to stay put before he hopped out and disappeared. A few minutes later, he came out with two piping hot travel cups and a paper bag. He climbed back into the car, handing the bag to me and offering for me to take one of the cups from him.

I reached out, taking the one from the hand nearest to me. “What’s this?”

He took a small sip from his cup and winced. “I promised you coffee. Careful, it’s hot.”

I wanted to point out that yeah, it obviously was hot, I could see the steam, but decided against adding snark to an otherwise civil moment. Instead, I blew on it a few times, then took a sip, letting the warm, rich liquid fill my mouth and coat my throat as it went down. I nodded my approval. “It’s good. Really good.”

He looked proud of himself. “Wait until you taste the pastries.” He tore open the bag in my lap, pulling out some croissants, some sort of jelly-filled doughnut coated in powdered sugar, and some kind of fritter. “You need to try them all.”

“That’s a ton of sugar, your dentist would have a heart attack,” I pointed out as I took the powdered sugar mess from his hand, taking a bite and moaning.

“My dentist is subpar anyway, I’m looking for a new one.” He shoved a chunk of croissant into his mouth, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

I liked the sparkle. I liked the sparkle so much more than I should have. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that. Whatever happened to supporting your spouse, no matter what?”

“Two days ago, I pulled a man’s fingernails out with pliers then proceeded to use a rubber band to thump at the wound. Do you support that?” He sipped his coffee casually.

“Heavens, no! You did not do that.” That’s savage, cruel, and so unlike the man who bought me coffee and built bunny runs.

“I most certainly did,” he confirmed. “But you don’t look a bit more scared of me with that knowledge. I suspect that you would support me, even knowing I am capable of unethical things. In fact, you’ve known this all along. We may not get along all the time, but if you heard someone talking unfavorably, would you speak on my behalf?”

“Well, yeah. You can be a jerk, but technically, you belong to me.” Shit. I hated that realization.

Me saying it satisfied him. “See. You can support me knowing I’m what most would think is a monster, even if we aren’t in agreement. So, I don’t feel you are the amazing dentist that people raved about, but I support you and would still send people in your direction for business.”

I crossed my arms, still a bit annoyed. “It’s not the dentist's fault you’re a man-baby.”

“Bianca.” His brows pulled together. “You’re missing the point.”

“No, Sir. I got the point, but I was just saying. You’re a man-baby.”

His hand reached over, his palm covering my whole thigh right before he squeezed. When he released his grip, his hand traveled farther up, teasing the inside of my thigh through the outside of my jeans. “I will show you how much of a baby I am not.”

I shivered at his tone, not doubting that he would show me. Instead, I pushed his hand away, not giving myself any extra moments to enjoy his touch. “Don’t you have a meeting to attend? You were all like, go-go-go an hour ago.”

“Amore, you haven’t even begun to see go-go-go.”

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