Page 54 of A Royal Arrangement
“A lady never reveals her secrets.” Rosalie crossed her arms as she leaned back in her seat, a twinkle in her eye.
The game continued, both of them growing quiet as they countered each other’s moves. She must’ve been playing with someone else in her spare time, because where she used to seem to think two steps ahead, Rosalie was now thinking toward her end move with every turn. Before she had been a worthy adversary, but now she was the one winning.
He bit his bottom lip as he stared at the board. No matter how hard Colin thought out his moves, he couldn’t find any avenue for him to win.
About an hour into their game, he sighed, making his final move and leaving his king defenseless.
A large grin was plastered on Rosalie’s face as she took her last turn.
“Checkmate.”
Colin was flabbergasted. He stared at the board, wondering where he had gone wrong. “I can’t believe it. You actually beat me.”
Rosalie jumped out of her seat and did a victory dance. With no ounce of rhythm at all, she shook her arms in the air while spinning and laughing in utter glee. “Yeah, I did!” she exclaimed, ending her dance with a fist pump into the air.
He couldn’t contain the goofy grin that pulled at his lips. Before he could think about what he was doing, Colin was out of his chair, chasing Rosalie. She let out a small squeal in surprise as she ran from him, weaving in and out of the rows of bookshelves. In a few long strides, he caught her, his arms wrapping around Rosalie’s waist. He tickled her sides and lifted her into the air as a laugh escaped from her.
When he set her back on her feet, she turned to face him, her hands resting on his chest. Both of their chests heaved like they had just finished running a marathon, though he knew it wasn’t from their short jaunt around the library. It was the proximity of her in his arms. It was the feel of her hands on his chest. It was the emotions that bubbled to the surface whenever she was around, whether he wanted them to or not.
He glanced down at her mouth, and her lips parted as she looked up at him expectantly. They were so close together that it wouldn’t take more than a dip of his head for his lips to be on hers. Colin inched closer, drawn to her like a moth to a flame.
Mere inches apart from her, his body tensed, finally alert to what he was about to do. He abruptly took a step back, running his hand along the back of his neck. Her face dropped, showing the smallest bit of disappointment.
“Congrats, you finally beat me. You’d better soak up the win because itwon’thappen again,” Colin teased, trying to lighten the moment.
Her lips tilted up into a smile again. “I think you’re the one who should get used to being beat, Your Majesty, because I promise you itwillhappen again.” Rosalie bumped her hip into his and sent him a wink before walking away with a bounce in her step.
She was completely adorable.
Completely mine.
Crap. Maybe he really was in the deep end…and there wasn’t a flotation device in sight.
Days later, Colin still couldn’t get the image of Rosalie’s dance out of his mind. It was permanently seared into his brain. He sat in the desk chair in his study after dinner, rubbing at his eyes, hoping it would remove the image of her so he could focus on the speech he was supposed to read at an upcoming charity polo match.
All his efforts were for naught. He would read a few lines of his speech and then hear Rosalie’s laugh echo in his mind. Another few lines and then see her auburn hair fluttering around her as she spun in circles.
Colin grabbed his desk, his knuckles turning white, as he forcibly pushed up from his seat, hunching over his desk. He needed a distraction, something else to get his mind off the person currently taking up residence in it.
A Danish. I need one of Gloria’s Danishes. Immediately.
He practically jogged down the stairs, arriving in the hallway leading to the bakery kitchen in record time. Before he could reach the room, the fire alarm started beeping, the sound so loud he could feel the vibration in his body. It sounded like it originated from one of the kitchens. He knew he shouldn’t runtowarda fire, but he wanted to makesure everyone was okay, so Colin continued his fast pace down the hall.
He popped his head into the primary kitchen. The chefs in there looked alarmed as they prepped food for the next day, but nothing appeared to be amiss. When he reached the bakery kitchen, his heart nearly stopped. Addie—hisfive-year-old daughter—was standing in front of one of the ovens, wearing oversized oven mitts. She was holding a burnt cake, smoke billowing from it toward the smoke detectors.
He grabbed a towel and rushed over, taking the cake pan from her and setting it on the counter. Colin knelt in front of her, gently grabbing her shoulders and looking her right in the eyes.
“Addie, are you okay?” He tried to keep his voice calm, but anxiety seeped through his words.
She nodded her head, looking up at him.
Colin sighed in relief. “What’re you doing down here all by yourself?”
She looked down at the floor. “I was twying to make a cake fow Wosie.”
“Why are you making a cake for Rosalie all by yourself? Where’s Luna?”
“Luna is getting stuff fow the fwosting fwom the other kitchen. She told me to wait fow her, but the oven was beeping fow a long time,” Addie replied sheepishly. “Wosie needs a biwthday cake.”
