Page 36 of Façade

My pulse quickened. “What business?”

He gestured around the room. “Weren’t you in the middle of searching?”

I narrowed my eyes. “Is that an invitation?”

He shrugged. “I have nothing to hide.”

The glimpses of the emotions he kept carefully tucked away made me sincerely doubt that, leading me to believe his cooperation was nothing more than a mind game meant to lead me into thinking he was innocent when in truth, he was anything but. Everything was so complicated, made even more with my thoughts caught up in a tangle of confusion.

Desperate for a distraction, I seized hold of his offer to search and began by rummaging through his nightstand drawer in case I’d missed something during my first perusal. When I found nothing, I turned my attention towards the bed. He stepped forward, not to stop me, but to helpfully hand me one of his pillows.

“This would be a convenient place to hide something suspicious, so be sure to check inside them thoroughly. When you finish, I can assist you with checking beneath the mattress, considering it’s likely too heavy for you to lift on your own; I am a gentleman, after all…though with your current mischief, there’s still debate on whether or not you’re a lady.”

I doubted that whatever secrets I was looking for would fit beneath a mattress. I rolled my eyes, but the gesture only seemed to amuse him. He was being strangely cooperative…which naturally made me assume he was being driven by insincere motives; it wouldn’t be the first time.

“It’d be foolish for me to accept your offer for help that’s undoubtedly only given in an attempt to lead me astray.”

He paused in bending over to lift the mattress to instead raise a dubious brow. “What reason do you have to doubt me…besides the obvious?”

Theobviousbeing a rather large reason indeed. “I need no further reason than that you have yet to convince me I can trust you…though allowing me to escape tonight’s state dinner would certainly be a start.”

His lips twitched. “A valiant effort, but I believe my initial offer inviting you to search my room is sufficient to earn your reluctant trust, at least for tonight. If it’ll help my case, I’ll allow you to direct today’s investigation…though I hope you understand why its prudent I don’t leave you unattended.”

Nothingwould compel me to trust him, even as part of me desperately wanted to, despite everything. “Because I want to spend more time with you.”

Yet my sarcasm didn’t match the unnamed emotion causing my heart to twitch—the deep, hidden part of me that almost welcomed his inconvenient presence as I searched his room. Despite all that had transpired between us, I found our exchange interesting and far more amusing than I wanted to admit…especially with the way his eyes glistened, making me feel both alive and that he was silently making fun of me, the latter of which made me half-tempted to take the rock adorning his bedside and hit him. These yearnings must have been obvious in my expression, for his gaze flicked towards it.

“It appears that despite my generous offer, you’re still inclined to more mischief.”

“I’m merely curious; rocks are not a decoration commonly found within the royal quarters.” It was the partial truth, at least.

To my surprise his cheeks pinked, which only escalated my curiosity. “Perhaps it’s not a rock at all but a container to hide something.” I theatrically lowered my voice as I leaned closer. “Secrets, perhaps?”

He raised a single eyebrow, an attempt at coyness marred by his lingering embarrassment. “Why would I use arockfor such a purpose?”

“The best ways to keep things hidden are within places otherwise deemed entirely ordinary.”

“As a common girl masquerading as a royal, you consider yourself an expert in such matters?”

I ignored his jab and extended my hand in invitation for him to uphold his promise to give me control of my investigations by allowing me to examine the rock. It was as good a place as any to continue my search, especially over those he’d suggested I search instead.

After a moment of silent deliberation, he heaved a reluctant sigh and started to hand it to me…only to hesitate. “Do you promise to be careful with it?”

I gave him an exasperated look. “It’s a rock. I doubt I could do anything to harm it.”

“That’s not true,” he argued. “This rock is conglomerate, a sedimentary type that is quite soft compared to more solid varieties and thus can crumble if not handled with care.”

I tilted my head curiously. “You seem rather informed about such things.”

He made no response to that particular observation. “Promise me you’ll be careful with it, especially when you find yourself vexed at discovering nothing suspicious about it—I’d much rather you vent your inevitable frustration by hitting me with a pillow; even a candlestick would be preferable.”

At my nod in promise, he carefully placed the rock into my hand, his fingers grazing mine. I ignored the heated pulse from such a simple touch and focused on studying the rock from every angle.

It was admittedly rather interesting—a unique shape, brown with grey bits flecking its rough surface. I carefully searched every crevice for any possible openings, but it appeared to be an entirely ordinary rock, inviting questions as to why he kept such a thing on his nightstand. My suspicions only escalated, but unfortunately there was little I could do to investigate further, so I reluctantly handed the rock back to him; he immediately tucked it away into his pocket.

My eyes widened. “So thereissomething unique about it.”

“Perhaps, perhaps not. You had your chance to verify your suspicions and must now resign yourself to forever wondering what secrets it could possibly contain.” By the deepening laughter in his eyes, he was definitely toying with me, and having far too much fun doing so.

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