Page 70 of A Royal Arrangement
“Colin, wake up.” She shook a little harder when he continued to wiggle underneath her. “Colin, it’s only a dream. You have to wake up.”
He jumped, his eyes slowly opening. “Rosalie?” His question came out more like a whimper.
“I’m right here,” she responded, taking his hand in hers.
A second later, a guard came rushing into the room. Even in the dark, Rosalie could see a slight blush covering his cheeks when he saw the two of them together. “I heard screaming. I apologize for interrupting, Your Majesty.”
Rosalie hopped off the bed in an instant. “No, you’re not interrupting anything. His Majesty was having a nightmare.I got here just before you did. Everything is fine. Thank you for checking.”
“I’m only doing my job, Your Majesty.” The guard bowed and left the room.
Rosalie sat back on the edge of Colin’s bed with a sigh. “Are you okay?” she asked.
He took a giant sip of the water from his nightstand. “I think so.” Colin set the glass down and ran his hand through his hair, making the front of it stand straight up. “The guard said I was screaming?”
She nodded. “You woke me up too, but I didn’t fully realize what was happening until I heard it again. It took me a minute to wake you up once I came in here, and then the guard came rushing in. You obviously know the rest.” Rosalie clasped her hands together. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Colin sat up straighter. “It was only a nightmare.”
“Okay.” She stood. “It’s fine if you don’t want to talk, but I’m here if you want to.” She turned to leave, but his next words stopped her cold in her tracks.
“Will you stay?” he asked, his voice quiet and weak.
Rosalie faced him slowly. “Of course.”
She went to sit on top of his comforter, but before she could, he pulled the sheets down for her. Rosalie hoped it was dark enough for him to not see the blush climbing her neck as she lay down beside him.
As soon as she was next to him, he pulled her body flush against him, wrapping his arm around her. Every little wall she still had up came crumbling down and she melted against him.
“Is this okay?” he asked.
If any words came out of her mouth, she knew they would sound breathless. So, instead, Rosalie nodded, trying to calm her racing heart.
With her back pressed against his chest, she could feel his breathing start to slow into something more calm and steady as he fell back asleep. But the feelings coursing through her were anything but calm and steady. They were exhilarating and all-consuming.
They werelove. If she hadn’t known it before, she knew it with certainty now. She was in love with Colin.
She lay awake for a long time, thinking. They were complete opposites. She was a glass-half-full kind of girl, and he was a glass-half-empty kind of guy. She was more emotional, while he tended to avoid his feelings. She was joyful, while he had a grumpy attitude. She desired to be needed by those around her, and it seemed he didn’t want to have any needs at all. Because of all their differences, they struggled to understand each other at times.
But those same differences also helped them balance each other out in ways she couldn’t fully explain. They justworkedtogether. As the saying goes, opposites attract, and there was no shortage of attraction between them—at least there wasn’t onherend.
Then Rosalie startedoverthinking.
Because while she knew where her feelings stood, she didn’t know wherehisdid. Yes, he had been flirting with her lately, and he had asked her to stay tonight. He had been touching her more often, making them feel more like a real couple. But Rosalie could also tell that he was still holding back. He had complimented her a few times, but he had never shared how he truly felt about her.
She wasn’t sure he ever would. He had loved and lost, and she could see how scared he was to have history repeat itself. Rosalie would have to find a way to show him she was invested and wasn’t going anywhere.
When she finally closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, the last thought on her mind was how at home she felt in Colin’s arms.
Rosalie woke up when Colin groggily shifted behind her, pulling her closer. She soaked up the sensation of being next to him, but she could feel the moment he actually woke up. His whole body tensed against hers. She felt him carefully pull away his arm that was wrapped around her and then the dip in the bed as he inched away from her.
When the bed sprang back up, she knew she was alone on the mattress. She kept her eyes closed for a few seconds before she dared peek at him. He ran his hand over the scruff on his chin and stared at the spot where he had lain on the bed next to her. Colin bit his bottom lip as he thrust his hands into his pockets.
She moved her shoulders slightly and feigned a big yawn before pulling herself to a sitting position. Her eyes found his as they went as wide as saucers and his cheeks tinged with pink.
“Good morning.” She smiled at him, trying to de-escalate the awkwardness of the situation.
“Morning.” He turned around and moved forward, colliding directly with his dresser, grunting at the impact.
