Page 12 of Royal Shark
She turns inside, gesturing for me to follow. “Come in.”
I follow her upstairs, my guard trailing me, and she opens the door to a tiny apartment. I turn back to Jack. “You can wait outside.”
“I need to take a look around, Your Highness,” Jack says.
“Is it okay?” I ask Sara.
She gestures him in. “Sure. Not much to see.”
Jack goes in and steps out a minute later. “All clear, sir.”
“Thanks,” I say.
“I’ll be outside, sir,” he says.
I nod at Jack and follow Sara into a one-room apartment. It’s clean but sparse—an old green futon, a beat-up wooden coffee table, and a small black end table with a lamp. Tiny galley kitchen. Maybe Sara’s version of “good money” from poker game tips is a lot less than Silvia’s version of good money. I don’t know what Sara’s used to since her parents died. They used to be well off, I think. At least enough to live in Manhattan and spend summers on Villroy, though her father never stayed the whole summer. He did something in finance. Her mother was headmaster at a private school, where Sara went for free, so her mother had summers off.
I study her face for a moment, trying to see the tough hardness Silvia mentioned. She sounded tough on the intercom, but she doesn’t look tough to me, more like an assured competency. Like she knows exactly who she is and what she wants to do. She has a much more serious expression than when she was a kid, but that’s to be expected, especially when she basically had to grow up overnight with the death of her parents. As the older sister by seven years, I’m sure she looked after little Chloe too. I like this look on her. I appreciate competent people.
She turns to the small refrigerator, opens the door, and bends down to look inside. “Can I get you anything to eat or drink?”
My gaze lands on her heart-shaped ass in short shorts, and my skin prickles with awareness, my hands itching to touch. I tear my gaze away, trailing down her smooth toned legs. Raw desire surges through me.Look away, look away.I remind myself I’m only in town for a few days. I need to fly home Thursday to be at the casino for the busy weekend time. I could never treat Sara like a casual fling, which means just friends. My gaze drifts up her legs to her sweet ass.Thong? Bikini underwear? Lace or cotton?My trousers get tight. Fuck.
She turns, and I jerk my head up to meet her eyes. She gives me an apologetic smile. “Maybe we should go out. I don’t have anything but condiments, old takeout, and wilted lettuce. I wasn’t expecting company.”
“Is it an imposition, me showing up here? Silvia said she just showed up, so…”
She plants her hands on her hips in a stance I remember well. “The Rourke twins within days of each other. So crazy. I just can’t believe you’re really here. So you just got in town?”
She was my first stop after the airport.Sorry, sis!“Got in today. Let’s go. Drinks on me.”
“Sure.”
Her cheeks flush pink as she reaches behind me to grab her purse from the futon. I love that her skin gives her away—getting closer to me made her pink up. Maybe this lust goes both ways.
“I guess Silvia told you about our visit?” she asks, tucking the strap of her purse over her shoulder.
“She mentioned it. I was coming to visit her anyway so thought I’d stop by and say hello.” I smile and say warmly, “Hello.”
“Hello.” Her voice is breathy. She stares at my lips for a moment, then my jaw—I’ve let it get scruffy—her gaze dropping to my shoulder and then my exposed forearm. Her cheeksandneck are flushed pink now. The attraction is definitely mutual. I’m secretly pleased, even though I’m not going to do anything about it.
I can’t help myself. “Like what you see?”
Her hand flutters in the air, her cheeks flaming bright pink. Embarrassed this time. “Sorry.” She rushes out the door.
I follow her out and watch her lock it behind us. I keep it light. “I don’t mind you ogling me,” I say as we head downstairs. “I’m shockingly manly, and you’re trying to reconcile it with how you last saw me.”
She bursts out laughing, and my chest warms. “True. I may remember you prepuberty.”
“I was in the throes of it last time I saw you.”
She stops on the sidewalk outside. “I’ll take you to the same place I took Silvia. It’s a nice restaurant with a bar, where your guard won’t be looked at with suspicion.”
“Drive or walk?”
“We can walk. It’s a nice night.”
“Lead the way.”
