Page 48 of My Queendom for a Horse

“So you don’t have another date tomorrow?” He raises his eyebrows.

I’m not sure why that makes my stomach do a flip, but I squash that feeling immediately. “I don’t. Sean will be gone for a few days.”

His smile reminds me that I can’t trust him. “That’s good.”

“No.” I shake my head. “Sean’s a good man, and I like seeing him. It’s bad that he’ll be gone.”

“If you say so.”

“I do.” I drop my phone next to him and race down the stairs so fast that I forget I’m supposed to call Sean until I’ve reached the house.

“Dad,” I call. “I need your phone. Mine is dead.”

It’s not entirely true, but it’s not the biggest lie I’ve told today, either.

“Thank goodness you’re alright. Is Obsidian Devil okay?” Dad’s clearly been pacing in here—the carpet has a path worn across it.

“We’re both fine. That horse is stupid, but he’s healthy.”

“Thank goodness for that,” Dad says. “I don’t know what we’d do if he really disappeared.”

I’m not entirely sure he’s right. The part of me that thinks Obsidian Devil is a threat to my future is growing a little each day.

10

I should have just dropped Aleks off with a fistful of cash.

He probably would have come home with bizarre tweed pants and lace up shirts made for renaissance festivals, but at least he wouldn’t keep trying to drag me into the changing room with him.

“It would be so much faster if you’d just stand in here,” he says. “It’s not like you’ll see something you don’t see all the time.”

The sales lady blushes.

And I want to sink into the plush carpet and die. “Aleks.” If I could inject even one more speck of censure into my tone, I would do it. “Stop, please.” I switch to Russian. “Or at least use another language when you say such outrageous things.”

“Outrageous? Me?” He smiles this time, and I realize he’s not clueless.

He’s baiting me.

“Your boyfriend is really good looking,” the woman says. “You should just go in there. I’ll give you some space.”

Oh. My. Word. “He’s not my boyfriend,” I say. “My boyfriend—”

“Don’t say Sean’s your boyfriend,” Aleks says. “Or I’ll—”

“You’ll what?” I ask. “Just go in the dressing room again and put things on, one at a time. You can make decisions on your own, but if you insist on asking my opinion, you can come out, fully dressed, like every normal person on earth does.”

“Or I’d be happy to go inside and give you my opinion,” the twenty-something sales clerk offers. “I don’t have a Sean. . .”

For the love. I open my mouth to tell her to buzz off, when Aleks’ laugh shocks us both.

“No, thanks.” He slams the door shut, just like that.

I eye the sales clerk. She’s young, attractive, and she has a great figure. Why did he laugh? Probably some kind of chauvinistic prince thing that dates back to his hundred-year-old mentality. “Don’t let him make you feel bad,” I say. “He’s really, really old. Way too old for you.”

She shrugs. “I kind of like older men.” She’s still staring at the door. “And he doesn’t look very old to me.”

Why does every single woman seem to lose her mind around Aleks? He’s hot, yes, but is he really that hot?

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