Page 29 of Surfaces
“Fine,” I conceded. “I won’t force the matter.” But as I settled into my chair and let her finish up the braids, I decided I would scheme a bit on Gita’s behalf.
After she left, I called Felipe into my room because I needed to ask Lizza to visit me anyway. I needed her to gather whatever spells and ingredients she needed to test my magic. So sending Felipe on an extra little errand wouldn’t be much trouble.
After I’d asked him to fetch Lizza, I added my request that he ensure that Gita and Humberto rode next to one another on the trip to Navagio. I was hardly able to keep a straight face as I asked, giggling in naughty anticipation and ready to face whatever consequences my maid would have for me later, though I fully expected her to be in a giddy daze afterward, not thinking at all about me.
“But he’s one of your competitors.”
“Yes, but Gita likes him.”
His blue eyebrows rose but he didn’t make further comment on the matter. He only clarified, “We aren’t taking the whale this time so there aren’t seats like before.”
“Oh?”
“Shorter trip. Not quite a day’s journey. We’re taking dolphins and sharks and they can fit two each.”
“Shark shifters?”
He nodded and immediately, I shook my head. “Nope. No shifters. Animals only.” Watkins’s rant about shifter treatment popped into my head and I couldn’t erase it. I wasn’t going to treat people that way.
“There’s no way we can rearrange transportation—”
Sard it.“Fine. Then go announce this. Any shifters working today will be paid triple their normal wage. After today, if they want to move into other positions in my castle and work in their human forms, I’ll accept letters of recommendation.”
Felipe’s deep blue eyes gazed fiercely at me for a moment and caught me like a net, dragging my stomach upward into the sunlight zone of the ocean, where everything sparkled and shone. “Of course, my queen. Anything else?”
I wanted to ask him for a dozen other things, including a kiss. But the door was cracked open behind him, he wasn’t actually in the tournament, and he worked for me … a million reasons that I couldn’t swarmed through my mind, making me sink from sunlight back to the twilight zone, to cooler, more level-headed waters. “No,” I whispered.
“Are you sure?”
I glanced up uncertainly.
He swam closer, his spear brushing against my hand as he spoke. “You can ask me for anything, you know.”
Oh, what those words did to me. I drank them in like they were the finest wine—they made me just as dizzy. Combined with his earnest look and the heated intensity of his eyes, I never wanted this moment to end.
I wanted this devotion to morph slowly, like the water around us, swiveling and turning in new directions around our bodies.
Devotion wasn’t far off from affection and only a stone’s throw from attraction, wasn’t it?Felipe wouldn’t do all he’d done for me solely based on his position, would he?I asked myself.
But I didn’t ask him.
Even though he’d blatantly told me that I could, that was one thing I couldn’t ask him.
Because if he even hinted at yes, I’d be in a world of trouble.
“I think I pretty much have.” I finally admitted, redirecting my eyes from his face to the wagon wheel tattoo just above his heart. I longed to trace it.
But apparently, my answer wasn’t what he’d wanted me to say. His shoulders slumped slightly for just a moment, making me feel wretched. I wanted to reach out and touch him and ask why. What had he wanted me to ask? What more could I possibly ask of him? What was it he wanted to give?
But instead of broaching that dangerous topic, I changed the subject. “You know, I do owe you a favor for jousting on Keelan’s behalf.”
He started to shake his head, but I held up a hand to stop him. “I had to bribe Keelan with two statues of himself for him to allow you to show him up.”
Felipe’s expression morphed from downtrodden to amused. “Really?”
“Yes. So think of something extravagant that you want for your part. After all, you did more work than him. He just had to sit there.”
Felipe’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed and nodded. “Alright. So, shifter announcement—”
