Page 55 of Reckless King

When those clear blue eyes meet mine, I do my best to force the fantasies out of my head.

“There aren’t any prices?” she asks.

My voice when I speak is rough. The mental imagery still has me in a stranglehold. “How can patrons show how much money doesn’t mean to them if they’re worried about prices?”

She lets out a laugh. “That’s ridiculous. What about the people who come here who aren’t millionaires like you?”

“Billionaires,” I correct her automatically.

She looks at me blankly for a second before scrunching up her nose. “When you get to a certain point, surely the extra zero doesn’t make that much difference.”

“Sometimes that extra zero is what keeps you on top.”

Her head tilts. “On top of what?”

“The people who enjoy looking down on others.”

With a furrowed brow, she gives a little shake of her head. “Has anyone ever looked down on you way up there where you’re sitting?”

I let out a wry chuckle. “In my world, people will use any chink in your armor as an excuse to prove they’re better than you. It’s best not to give them that opportunity.”

She searches my gaze, a little line still etched between her brows. But there’s concern in her expression now, not disbelief. The candlelight reflecting in her eyes makes her irises look like twin blue flames. “That sounds… exhausting,” she says softly.

That simple observation makes my chest draw tight. “Sometimes you have to step away from something to realize just how exhausting it is.” And being here with her is exactly like that—a break from putting on a mask it feels like I’ve been wearing for far too long.

She hesitates for a moment, then touches my arm. “Do you get a chance to step away from it?”

My gaze drifts slowly over her face, lingering a moment too long on that plush mouth of hers. “Sometimes.”

There’s a subtle shift in the air between us, and the slender column of her throat moves in a swallow.

But when I don’t expand on what I said, she rolls her lower lip between her teeth, then nods. “I know what you mean. I’ve spent so long concentrating on nothing but keeping True Brew going. I didn’t realize how all-consuming it’s been until now.”

I raise my brows. “Now?”

“Sitting down and enjoying a meal with an attract—uh, I mean, with a man.”

My slow smile has her delicate jaw tightening, but she manages to keep the rest of her expression even.

Rather than teasing her about her slip up, I move the hand still resting behind her to the back of her neck and stroke lazy circles over her skin with my thumb. “I’m enjoying it too.” My attention drops to her lips again for just a second. “Far more than I ever anticipated.”

Sparks flare in her eyes and she stiffens, apparently taking my words as an insult. “You were the one who came to me.”

I shake my head, still smiling. “I don’t mean you. I mean pretending to be in love.”

Those pretty eyes of hers soften, along with her body. I’m still stroking the warm skin of her neck, and consciously or not, she allows herself to lean back into it slightly, as if she’s enjoying my touch as much as I’m enjoying touching her.

“Is that what we’re doing?” she asks.

I cock a brow in query.

“Pretending to be in love. We’re pretending to date. But I didn’t know we were pretending to be in love.”

I sift my fingers through her hair and a tiny shiver works its way through her. “Are you worried your acting skills aren’t up to the job?”

The softness in her eyes disappears and they narrow in that look of irritation I’m so familiar with. “You should probably be more concerned about your own acting skills. Have you ever even been in a relationship?”

I suppress a grin, but before I can reply, she shakes her head, her full lips tilting down. “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for.”

---