Page 4 of The Rejected King
The man began to laugh to himself. “I think this is a misunderstanding.”
She watched him closely. “How?”
“I arrived late last night. The innkeeper was half-asleep when I checked in. He must’ve mixed up the keys.” The man took a step toward the bed.
“Stay right there!” She brandished the chair out in front of her as if it was a dangerous weapon.
He raised his palms up in innocence. “I was just going to grab the keys out of my pants to show you.”
Emree hesitated. The innkeeper had mixed up her keys last night too. She’d had to return to the front desk two times before he finally got her a key that matched the room number he had told her. The innkeeper blamed the whole incident on the fact that she wasn’t supposed to be staying there, saying the entire inn had already been booked for a special visitor. As if that was an excuse for incompetence.
“Just leave, okay? I don’t want to have to hurt you.” She shook the chair as if to emphasize the threat.
“You’ll hurt me with a chair?”
“Yes!” She shook the chair again. “I’ll beat you with a chair. I’ve studied chair weaponry.”
His brows went up. “Chair weaponry?”
Emree didn’t like the smug look on his face. She raised her chin. “Yes. It’s a thing.”
“In all my years of military training, how did I miss chair weaponry?”
“Only the best get trained.”
“And you’re the best?”
“Yes, but that’s beside the point.” She shook her head, not liking how they had gotten off-topic. Theyshouldbe discussing why this strange man she’d found in her bed wasn’t leaving. Even if it was a mistake, he should’ve left by now. “Why aren’t you leaving?”
He rolled his eyes and took another step forward.
Emree reacted, throwing the chair at him. He ducked, but the chair still hit him squarely on the shoulder before it fell to the ground.
He let out a grunt, making her grimace. Perhaps she had overreacted. He was probably trying to collect his clothes. Either way, she liked that she had thrown the chair. It made her feel like she was in charge of this situation.
“Is that all there is to chair weaponry?Throwingthe chair?”
She reached for the book on the nightstand that she had been reading the night before, her favorite one about fairy tales. Emree glanced over the old book. It had been a gift from her parents on her sixteenth birthday, and it wouldn’t survive a throw across the room.
“You better not be thinking about throwing that book at me.” His eyes flashed with warning.
“Are you kidding? This book is a collectible. It’s way too valuable to be wasted on you.” She set it back down. She wasn’tthatdesperate for a weapon. Instead, she grabbed her notepad and threw it at him, but he swatted it away before it hit his face.
“Would you stop throwing things at me? I told you it was a mistake!”
“Yeah, it’s a mistake to mess with me.” She puffed her chest out as if she had won.
“Trust me.” He gave her a pointed look. “I’m not trying to mess with you.”
Emree bent down next to the armoire and grabbed her shoe. She raised her arm, ready to fire. “Well, you obviously wantedsomethingfrom me.”
The man’s lips curled into a smile. “I think it was you that wanted something from me.”
Emree’s face heated as she thought back to the intimate kiss they had shared. A kiss she’d initiated. What would Portlend think? They were practically engaged. She could never tell Portlend about this. She released the shoe, sending it through the air. “I thought I was dreaming!”
He dodged the attack. “That’s a pretty good dream.”
Red sparks shot up her face to the tips of her ears. “Don’t flatter yourself. I was half-asleep.”
