Page 41 of The King's Fake Bride

If she wasn’t drunk, I would be hauling her out of here and straight to bed for the fun she’s suggesting.

“Amy.”

She arches an eyebrow and stands tall again, a new song coming on.

People laugh and jostle each other as they dance near the table, some of them handing Amy drinks. Thankfully, she’s still sober enough to hand them to someone else.

“It’s the king,” someone whispers beside me.

Amy hops down from the table as the song ends. “If you’re going to stand here like a rock all night, you probably should’ve stayed home. You’re going to ruin the fun for everyone.”

“I heard that you were missing.” I tense as people start to turn to look at us. “Your cover’s been blown, and so has mine. We should go back to the castle.”

Her lithe fingers reach for the hem of my shirt, untucking it from my slacks. “Nope. I know you know how to have fun. You used to do it. Don’t let the crown ruin you, Xander.”

“It hasn’t.” I grit my teeth, wishing that I could just throw her over my shoulder and carry her out of there.

Right now, she might not realize how the press is going to spin this, but once the articles hit the news in the morning, things are going to get ugly. People who have never met her are going to have all kinds of things to say about her life.

They’re going to hurt her, and I want to do everything I can to prevent that. I want to protect her from the same mess I went through for years.

And yet, she doesn’t seem to care.

She’s not so drunk that she doesn’t know what she’s doing.

It’s clear from the way the corner of her mouth has an impish curve while she reaches for my top two buttons, flicking them open.

Her hands travel up my chest, sending desire rushing along with them. When her body presses flush against mine and she starts to sway us to the music, I know I’m a goner.

I would give this woman the world on the platter if she asked for it.

And that scares me to no end.

I bite the inside of my cheek, unraveling myself from her. “I have work to do, Amy.”

“One night.” She steps closer to me again, but she doesn’t touch me.

Instead, her eyes do all the work. She looks at me like this is the one thing in the world I can give her to make her happy.

So I do.

“All right, how about we get some water first though?” I ask, already heading for the bar.

Several people part to the side as Amy follows along behind me.

She stops to talk to a woman like she’s known her forever, laughing and joking, both of them busting out dance moves to an American song I don’t recognize.

Amy grins and waves me back to her once I have a bottle of water in my hand. “Xander, this is Lyra. She’s a journalist with theKatastinia Chronicle. Did you know that she’s their entertainment writer?”

The hair on the back of my neck stands. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too.” Lyra gives a smile before turning her attention back to Amy. “I love this song! We have to go dance!”

Amy grabs her hand, and they rush off together. Daphne appears out of the crowd and joins them near the DJ.

As more people gather around them, Amy greets all of them like old friends.

Standing to the side and watching her is like being in a theater as the audience falls in love with her.

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