Page 46 of The Rejected King
She nodded, closing her eyes slightly. “I don’t think it’s real.”
“What?” His fingers gently moved from her cheek. It was too intimate of a gesture.
“Portlend and me.” She tried to open her eyes. “It’s not real.”
“Of course it’s real.”
Her shoulders sunk, and her eyes seemed to get heavier. Her words came out slow. “I don’t think he loves me.”
Davin’s heart broke. He waited for her to say more, but her breaths deepened as her body lost itself to more sleep.
Emree’s words gnawed at him. Why would she say that Portlend didn’t love her? Was there a chance that they really weren’t together? And if so, did it matter to him? Davin still wouldn’t be free to be with her. Nothing could change her social class.
His face fell into his hands. How had he gotten here?
How had he fallen for the one girl he couldn’t have?
19
Emree
Emree walked to the king’s suite, holding a tray of breakfast food. A bluish bruise painted the side of her forehead, but worse than that was the humiliation.
She had run into a door last night.
In front of everyone.
Her pride hurt more than her dull headache, but she was determined to return to her professional ways. That’s where the breakfast came in. It was her thank you to the king.
Thanks for taking care of me when I knocked myself out like a fool.
Memories of the night before flashed through her mind. Davin had been by her side, but the details were fuzzy. Had he held her hand? Caressed her face? Say he wanted to marry her?
No. That couldn’t be right.
The medicine had meshed flashbacks from last night with her subconscious fantasies—not that Emree fantasized about Davin.
Because she didn’t.
Ever.
Okay, maybe she had once. Possibly twice.
But every time her mind drifted to Davin, guilt tormented her. She wouldn’t like it if Portlend thought about another woman all of the time. Emree was sure her feelings for the king would dissolve as soon as the Promenade was over, and as soon as she could spend a little more time with Portlend. She just needed to feel that spark. It used to be there; surely they could find it again.
She passed Millar in the hall. “Good morning, Miss Dutson. Are you feeling better?”
The smile behind his eyes made Emree nervous. “Yes, thank you. Is the king in his room?”
“Yes,” he said. “I’m going to make sure my team of men is ready to go.”
Emree knocked on the king’s door, balancing the tray of food in one hand. The door immediately flew open. Emree’s lips parted as her eyes dropped to Davin’s bare chest. There were negative consequences to visiting his room so early in the morning. But really, nothing about the chiseled chest in front of her seemed negative. She tried to tell her eyes to go back up to his face, but they were on their own program.
“Emree?” She could hear the amusement in Davin’s voice, her eyes still cemented to his abs. “Are you going to come in?”
Her head tilted, still studying him. She had always been a good student. Then she finally came to her senses.
Get it together!
