Page 50 of The Stolen Princess
She ran her fingers through her tangled hair as best as she could and then braided it. She tied the ends of her hair together, hoping the braid would stay. Without her maid, Pennie, to help her, Myka’s options were limited.
She slowly cracked the door open, not wanting them to know yet that she was done showering.
Drake sat on the edge of one of the chairs, and Cora knelt in front of him, examining his eye where Myka had elbowed him yesterday.
“It looks really bad,” she said as she wiped the wound with a clean cloth. “I’m glad we’re cleaning it up.”
That was an exaggeration. It didn’t lookreallybad.
Cora set the cloth aside and dipped her fingers in some sort of cream, then she slowly rubbed her fingers over the cut. Myka rolled her eyes in disgust at Caressing Cora. Was that what Nurse Myka had looked like? The thought made her want to gag.
Cora placed a fresh piece of gauze over his eye and covered it with medic tape. Then she grabbed the dirty cloth and Myka’s pink scarf that had somehow ended up next to Drake on the couch.
She held the hair tie up by the corner. “I’ll get rid of this dirty thing for you.”
“No!” Drake stood, reaching for the tie.
“What?” Cora looked confused.
Drake looked down at the ribbon between his fingers. “You can’t get rid of this.”
Yeah, because it’s mine!
“I’m growing attached to it,” he said.
Myka’s eyes went wide.
Attached?
She tried to ignore the funny feeling swirling inside her stomach.
Cora shrugged. “Oh, okay.”
Drake shoved the ribbon into his pocket then rotated his body toward the bathroom. Myka quickly threw the door open, pretending like she hadn’t been spying on them.
“All done,” she said a little too loudly.
Drake bent his brows down. “Let’s go, then.” He started walking to the door. “Please thank your parents for letting us use their house.”
“What about you?” Cora asked. “Don’t you need to shower?”
“I’d like to.” He looked at Myka. “Let me get the princess taken care of first.”
Myka strode past Cora. “That was code for, let me find a babysitter for the princess.”
Drake smiled at Cora. “Yes, it was.”
Myka glared at him as he held the door open for her.
He leaned in and sniffed her hair as she walked by. The action sent a buzzing thrill through her stomach. “I’m glad you showered,” he said. A playful look danced across his eyes. “I was starting to get nauseated from your smell.”
If the insult hadn’t been about her, Myka would have thought his lighthearted expression adorable. But it wasn’t adorable. It was anythingbutadorable.
“I guarantee you smell worse,” she said with a flat smile.
His eyebrows went up as he shut the door behind them. “You guarantee it? Wow. That’s coming on pretty strong.”
His dancing brown eyes were on her, but she kept her focus straight ahead.
