Page 35 of The Daredevil

“You don’t? What’s wrong with you?” I grabbed a large pillow and whacked him with it. “Don’t you love sinking into their softness? Pillow fights are the best!”

He laughed, and the sound echoed through the room. “Pillow fights?”

“Yeah, haven’t you had one before?”

“Nope. I can’t imagine having a pillow fight with the guys. We prefer playing video games.”

“Well then, you’re missing out, Viking.”

Royce looked like a Nordic god with his height, build, and gorgeous face, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. A man like him already had a sizeable ego and didn’t need me to increase it.

He grabbed a strand of my curly hair and tugged at it before letting it bounce back to its natural state. “Why don’t you show me sometime, angel?”

He offered a challenging smirk.

An idea popped into my head. This could be an opportunity for me to exercise my SSG 003 mission. Audri, Kiera, and I dressed up as spies for Halloween one year in college. We all loved the spy who preferred his martini shaken, not stirred, and came up with our own group of female spies.

What would my friends think if they found out I enticed Royce to a pillow fight? What kind of rules would I have? Did I need rules? What if I could make him open up to me? He seemed like a man who loved a challenge, and I was a woman who loved a challenging man. At least this man in front of me, anyway.

“If you dare.” I grinned, narrowing my eyes. “A pillow fight between a Viking and an angel could be catastrophic to your pillows.” I whacked him with the pillow again.

He reached for a pillow, whacking me back. “Indeed. I can always buy more.” Whack! Whack! Whack!

“Stop!” I held up my hand. “We’re not having a pillow fight now. You need to wait.”

“Why?”

Because I need a plan to ensure I’ll win, but I can’t think right now.

“Because it would exert too much energy, and I need to work. Idareyou to wait. Or are you too afraid of what an angel can do to you?”

The corner of his lips tilted up as amusement sparked in his eyes. “I accept your dare. Maybe after my banquet on Friday?”

Friday was in two days. Dammit.

I hadn’t expected him to want it so soon. How could I have a pillow fight without knowing what we’d be fighting for? I mean, the spontaneous pillow fights I’d experienced weren’t complicated. They all started with one of us whacking the other. But I couldn’t just do that with Royce, could I? I needed to use the situation for something more, but what?

Why did this sound more complex than it needed to be? Maybe it wasn’t a good idea . . .

“Wait a minute. You have a banquet Friday too?”

“I’m a speaker at the Volcanic Museum.”

“No way. I’m attending with my coworkers. I’m working for NewYou Beauty. They just opened a resort not too far from here.”

“NewYou Beauty has sponsored our Volcanic Sustainability Research Program. They’re using some technologies we’ve uncovered for their products.”

I remembered Audri mentioning Royce was a volcanologist. “Where do you find the time for it all?”

“What do you mean?” He quirked an eyebrow.

“Just curious how you manage Paradigm Excursions Group while being a volcanologist.”

Amusement glinted in his eyes. “I’m a part-time volcanologist and full-time businessman.”

“I admire a person with many passions.”

“Passion gives life to things. You have them too. I see them.”

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