Royal Games (The Royals of Monterra) (17 page)

I went to the tree to hang up the slipper, but my aunt stopped me. “What’s that?”

“This?” I held it up. “It’s something Rafe gave me.”

“May I see it?”

I walked over, handing her the ornament. She held it up like I had, but now we had multicolored lights to twinkle and reflect off of the surface. She leaned toward me and whispered with a satisfied smile, “This, my darling girl, is why I push.”

“It’s too much. I don’t like him doing things like this for me.”

She let the ornament dangle from her fingers, silent for a few moments. “I don’t want to diminish what you’ve been through, but Rafe is not John-Paul. He’s not trying to control your life or make you feel powerless. He’s trying to show you that he loves you the only way that he can.”

“He could just say it, if that’s how he really felt.”

“Haven’t you heard that words are cheap? He’s showing you instead of telling you.”

And in that moment, I sort of got why she was on his side. I returned to the tree, hanging the ornament on the highest possible branch, next to my
Enterprise
. Rafe had sat next to Aunt Sylvia, and she was teaching him how to make popcorn strands. They talked and he made her laugh, like they were two old friends. I think more of the popcorn ended up in Rafe’s mouth than on the string.

I sat on his other side and ignored the surprised expressions on both of their faces. Technically, he had taken my spot, and this was where all the supplies were. I concentrated on finishing up my strand. Being this close to him made my stomach somersault. And I had homework to get done.

Sylvia excused herself to get a drink. I offered to get it for her, but she said she wanted to do it on her own. I knew her independence was important to her. Apparently so did Rafe, and that had to be the reason he had hired Amanda. Rafe helped my aunt to stand, making sure she had her cane. When he sat back down, he was now much closer to me than where he had started out. His thigh pressed against mine, and his upper arm was against my shoulder. Delicious heat pulsed from him, filling my senses.

While I thought I should probably move, I didn’t.

“Thank you,” I said, keeping my eyes fixed on my work.

I felt his gaze on me. “You already thanked me.”

“No. Amanda stopped by and told me what you did for her. And I know what you’ve done for half of the people in this town. You’ve changed all of their lives for the better. They’re all important to me. Thank you.”

He went strangely quiet, and I stole a glance at his face. He looked so serious. “Everyone important to you is important to me.”

I gulped.
Rafe was important to me
. The realization bolted into me so fast, so furiously, that I knew it was absolutely true. He mattered. I cared. Whether or not I wanted to, I did. The delirious dizziness of my epiphany engulfed me and I wanted to talk with him, to see if we could work things out. I was in danger of folding like a bad poker hand. I didn’t say anything, though.

Because I was going to have to figure out a way to start trusting myself first if I ever hoped to trust him.

Chapter 17

The last time Rafe and I had sat this close, we had been back on the show. A couple of weeks in, after all the girls had gone to bed or passed out drunk, he had me meet him in the confessional room. He had set up a TV so that we could watch a movie. The movie had been my idea; our dates had been so outlandish and had involved so many other women that I wanted a chance at normal. I just wanted to cuddle with him and watch a movie like regular people.

It was totally against the rules for us to be alone like this, but that somehow made it more exciting and romantic.

He had two options for me—an action movie or a romantic comedy. Looking back, I probably should have picked the action movie, but I wanted the rom-com. Not only because I felt like I was living in a real-life one, but because it reminded me of my aunt and home.

And toward the end, when the couple admitted their love, finally kissed for the first time, and fell into bed together, I made a weird sound from the back of my throat. I instantly went silent, praying he hadn’t noticed.

Part of my reaction was because it made me so uncomfortable to be watching a scene like that with a guy I liked that much. I’m sure it would have been no problem for some other girl, but for me it was awkward squared.

It felt like a Big Deal because I’d never done anything even remotely like that. Which he knew, but still.

Despite my wish that he had hadn’t heard my inelegant noise, he immediately turned to me, pausing the movie. “What?”

And he had just made it infinitely worse by pausing the characters mid-action.

So I talked about something else that bugged me instead, as my anxiety bubbled up. “They seriously just kissed for the first time thirty seconds ago and now they’re jumping into bed together. Whatever happened to all the in-between stuff? The buildup? The courting? They just went from zero to sixty.”

His eyes were unreadable and hooded. Like some giant hawk studying his prey. Which only served to ratchet the tension up to eleventy billion.

I continued, now that I was on a nervous babbling roll. “It’s why I like movies set in different centuries. At least then there are these steps to their romance, a path they travel down before it gets to this point. Nowadays it’s like there’s this big buffet out and everyone just jumps in and piles their plates up and stuffs themselves without even tasting what they’re eating.”

He reached out, running the back of his hand slowly across my cheek. “As opposed to a six-course meal where every course is appreciated, where each dish leads to the next, and it’s savored for hours.”

Whoa. My heart slammed right against my lungs, while the little hairs on the back of my neck stood up. He was so not talking about food.

“A woman should be savored,” he said against my lips, nibbling on them like I tasted delicious. That managed to shut my stupid, talkative brain and mouth down. We made out for a while, and I’d felt very savored afterward.

But I worried that we had wandered into a new place, one completely outside of my comfort zone.

And I felt that way now, too, like I didn’t know what I was doing or what I wanted or how to get there. More uncharted territory. And I didn’t know if I wanted him to boldly go where no man had gone before.

“Genesis, I need to explain—”

He broke off when my aunt came back. Aunt Sylvia wore a disappointed expression when she reentered the room with her drink. Like she was some kind of reverse chaperone and she’d hoped to catch us doing something but was let down that we weren’t.

More small talk resumed, and things were going well right up until the moment when it all came crashing down around me.

Sylvia harmlessly mentioned my appearance in Iowa City the next night.

“I’ll go with you,” Rafe said. Which I might have been fine with if he hadn’t added on the last part: “You can’t go that far at night by yourself.”

“Um, I go that far all the time,” I said. “It’s where I go to school.”

“Considering the current circumstances, I think it’s better if you don’t ever drive into Iowa City by yourself. You need someone to protect you.”

That did it. I dropped my popcorn and stood up, glaring at him. “As refreshingly sexist as that is, I can actually take care of myself. I’ll be driving alone, thanks.”

He jumped to his feet, eyes blazing. “I won’t allow it.”

I really hoped that was some kind of mistranslation on his part, because I was ready to start throwing things. Even Aunt Sylvia looked worried now. “Won’t allow it?” I repeated through gritted teeth, as my melting resolve hardened right back up. “You don’t get a vote. You don’t get to ‘allow’ me to do anything. Can I just remind you that I ran away from the last man who decided what I was allowed to do?”

“This is nothing like that! I’m trying to keep you safe from that man!”

I hated that he was capable of making my emotions bounce all over the place. How he’d made me shift from maybe-this-could-work-out to thinking of ways that I might possibly make his soon-to-take-place homicide look like an accident.

But before I could scream back, Sylvia intervened. “Genesis, I know you can take care of yourself, but it would make me feel better if you’d let Rafe drive you. There’s supposed to be a big storm coming in tomorrow, and I’d rest easier knowing that you weren’t alone. In case something happens.”

The odds of that were so low it was ridiculous. I’d been driving in Iowa winters for almost eight years. Which I might have told her, if she hadn’t been so concerned. It was like she had just dumped a bucket of ice water over my head. I couldn’t stay mad at her. “Fine,” I said, giving in. “I will do it for Sylvia. But there are conditions.”

The fire seemed to have gone out of Rafe as well. “Such as?”

“No bodyguards, and we take my car.” I liked Marco and Gianni, but bodyguards were basically stalkers that you paid. I didn’t want to be stalked.

“Two bodyguards, and I will drive my car. My car that was designed for inclement weather.”

I glanced at Aunt Sylvia, who was becoming more despondent with each passing moment. I could negotiate and give a little. For her sake. “Your car. You can drive. But I am not traveling with an entourage. Still no bodyguards.”

He let out a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. “Okay. No bodyguards. I’ll work something out with them. But they’re not going to like it.”

Not my problem. If he was going to crash my event, then he could figure out a way to make it work. I also wasn’t going to let him take advantage of our situation. “And no explanation conversations in the car,” I added. If he thought he’d get me alone and try to make this all better after telling me I wasn’t allowed to act like my own person, he had another think coming.

After several long beats he finally said, “Agreed.”

Good. “I have homework,” I said as my good night. I knew I was being terribly rude, but I didn’t care. I needed to cool off. I tried to think of a bright side. I settled on the fact that with Rafe driving, I could probably get some studying done on the way.

When I got to the stairs, I heard Aunt Sylvia say, “It’s the curse of the Summers hair. Makes all of us feisty and stubborn when we’re backed into a corner.”

I almost marched back downstairs. I was not feisty and stubborn! I was logical and reasonable and Rafe was the one acting like this was the twelfth century and I wasn’t allowed to go outside by myself.

My inner beast needed a Reese’s peanut butter cup.

At least I got what I wanted, I consoled myself, still searching for the silver lining. I’d given in to Aunt Sylvia’s request, which would make her happy, and Rafe had given in to mine, which made me happy.

I had won.

But even though I might have won this particular battle, I had the feeling that I was in danger of losing the war.

Which led to us in his SUV, driving through thick and blinding snow. “We don’t have to go,” he said. “I think they’ll understand.”

“I need the money,” I responded.

“I’ll give you the money.”

I scrunched my face up. Would he ever get it? “I need to
earn
the money. I’m not your charity case.”

His hands tightened on the steering wheel. “I’m not saying you are—never mind. Forget it.”

Gladly. I rested my elbow against the base of the window, looking out into the stark white landscape that was lit up by the headlights of his car. I wouldn’t have admitted it to anyone, but I was glad he was driving in this and I wasn’t. I might have been tempted to do just what he had suggested—turn around and go back.

But I couldn’t say no to the five thousand dollars the club was paying me. This would probably be my last chance to make any more money from the show. The new season of
Marry Me
was starting up in a few weeks. I didn’t know how they hoped to top identical twin princes.

Because there would soon be a new batch of contestants, nobody was going to be interested in the people from previous seasons. There wouldn’t be any more big checks in my future.

The car slid a little, as the freeway hadn’t been salted and cleared yet. But Rafe quickly regained control, putting us back into our lane. It was then that I realized I hadn’t seen another car in a long time. What if nobody showed up?

I texted the club owner, a man named Frank. I asked if he still needed me to come, because despite my objections, maybe Rafe was right. Frank responded immediately, telling me that the snow was not bad closer to the city, and the club was already packed. They were definitely expecting me. I told him there might be a delay with the weather, and he said not to worry about it, and to just get there safely and in one piece.

“The snow gets better up ahead.”

“It certainly can’t get worse,” he muttered, leaning forward with his arms locked into place.

“How about some music?” I said. He was in a bit of a mood, and I didn’t want to be stuck trying to make conversation with him.

Without waiting for him to respond, I turned the radio on. It was set to my favorite station, which seemed odd. Weirder still—Rafe was humming along to the Garth Brooks song that was playing. I didn’t know a lot about Monterra, but I was pretty sure they didn’t have country music there.

“How do you know this song?”

At first he didn’t say anything. And just when the silence got so oppressive I was in danger of lapsing into some nonsensical conversation to keep the quiet away, he said, “It makes me feel closer to you.”

My jaw dropped as my eyebrows gathered together, right above my nose. What was I supposed to do with that?

Rafe took out his phone and handed it to me. “Please call the last number.” Something in his voice made me do it. I tapped on the phone icon and went into his “Recent” tab. I selected the last call and pushed the green button to place the call. I put it on speaker for him.

The person on the other end picked up immediately. “This is Marco.”

“Marco, I’m checking in. The weather’s terrible,” he said as he side-eyed me. “But we’re fine. I’ll call you again in an hour.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

The bodyguard hung up, and I handed the phone back to Rafe. “I promised to call them every hour on the hour,” he explained as he put his phone back in his front jeans pocket.

I didn’t know whether or not to believe that his guards had stayed away. They might have told him they would, but for all I knew they were tailing us right now like some super stealthy hound dogs.

It took longer than normal, but we finally arrived. As promised, the snow was much lighter here, but it wasn’t any less cold. The SUV’s GPS guided Rafe to the front of the club, where valet-sicles were waiting to take our car.

“Look at that. We made it all the way to the club and I wasn’t kidnapped once,” I said sarcastically, letting myself out.

A loud cheer went up from the crowd. Frank had certainly promoted this event. There was a big picture of me with my name on it, and a huge line of freezing people waiting to get inside. A wall of blistering cold wind slammed into me when I opened the door, and my teeth immediately started to chatter. I had a shawl on, but it was no match for this weather. My vanity and inability to be weather-appropriate was going to kill me.