Page 67 of Enchanted Kingdom
Keir laughed and put his hands in the air. “Very little. She’s just perceptive.”
Prince Krewan rolled his eyes. “Lovely. Well stop dropping hints at every turn then.” He turned his steel blue eyes to mine. “Also. You two hardly even speak at dinners anymore yet seem to spend a lot of time with one another when no one is there to see it?”
I gave him an innocent shrug.
Keir’s voice turned rough. “I took your advice and am not flaunting her in front of father.”
Prince Krewan squinted his eyes at Keir, as if he knew there was more to it.
Not wanting him to also find out about my run in with the king, or at least not with me standing right there and having to relive it all again, I picked up a cookie and tossed it to Prince Krewan.
He turned his squint to me.
“Go on now,” I told him. “Take a few cookies and you two skedaddle.”
He raised the cookie for a moment but then lowered it. “Did you just tell me to skedaddle?”
I nodded. “I did. And before you even try to be offended, I’d like to remind you that you’ve said far worse to me.”
That had him shutting up and taking a bite of the cookie. He spun for the door heading outside and muttered his words from earlier, “Never a dull moment.”
Keir laughed and rose from his chair as Prince Krewan left the kitchen. He came around the counter and put his hands on either side of where I was scooping cookies off the pan. “Do you want me to stay until you are finished?” he asked. “Krew can wait.”
I shook my head. I did not want him to hate me any more than he already did. Lately he had seemed less hateful, but I didn’t want to try my luck. “No. That’s not necessary. I’ll clean up and have Easton take me up.”
He sighed, which I felt on my neck. It sent a shiver up my back.
“Thank you for the cookies,” he whispered. “They are spectacular. Can I take some?”
I nodded and turned around to face him, his arms still trapping me. “Of course. I’ll leave some for you.”
“Now, I think that whole kissing you senseless bit is long overdue,” he warned me.
I pressed my lips to his though, beating him to it.
He kissed me thoroughly. As promised. Just when I thought he would leave and pull back, he was there and back for more. By the end, my heart was hammering in my chest and my skin was set a buzz with a need for more.
“You are hard to skedaddle from,” he whispered as he finally pulled away. “I must go, before Krew comes back for me.”
I smirked. “Goodnight, Your Grace.”
He kissed me once more on the temple. “Try to get some sleep tonight. You have a trip to Nerede in the morning after all. Goodnight, sweetheart.”
I found myself humming as I cleaned up the mess. I didn’t know how I wanted this to all play out. If I could even see myself wearing a crown and becoming queen. I just knew when Keir and I were together, everything else seemed to fade away. He wasn’t a prince and I wasn’t a lowly Nerede woman. We just were.
Upon coming here, I’d had one goal and one goal only: to avoid the crown princes and not, under any circumstances, form an attachment with either of them.
I was beginning to see how miserably I’d failed.
CHAPTER21
The following morning Silvia came in with another box and letter. She didn’t have to get me ready on the days we took a trip to Nerede, but she refused not to.
“Another gift for you,” Silvia said with a knowing stare.
I sat up and took the small box, slowly lifting the lid. I found a box holding truffles, but this time three or four times as many as before.
For your travels today. Tell your mother hello.
