Suddenly Royal(50)

“Normal dice. Nothing to see here.” He rolled double sixes and I groaned loudly. Another good move.

“You’re so cheating. Magnets or something.” I grumbled as I collected the dice for my roll. Eight spaces put me on one of his hotels. Cursing under my breath, I took half my remaining money and threw it at him.

He laughed. “Thank you. I appreciate your patronage.”

“Shut up and roll, cheater.”





The Royal Price Tag

—Financial Tally





In only a few more rolls I was completely out of money and Alex was gloating. “Ah, what shall I do with you?”

“Again?” I raised my eyebrow. He was competitive, but so was I.

“But I’ve already won.” He smiled. “And I like to win.”

“Bet you can’t do it again.” I narrowed my eyes. We still had two hours before we landed to refuel.

“Oh, I can do it again.” He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “But I’ll only play again if we up the stakes.”

“What are you betting?” The last couple of hours had gone by in a flash as I laughed and joked with Alex. I hadn’t realized we’d started flirting until I was almost out of money.

“If I win I stop pretending we’re just friends.” His voice dropped an octave and he glanced at my lips. “And I get to kiss you. Whenever I want.”

My body temperature rose as I considered what he was asking. “One kiss?”

“Maybe.” He leaned even closer. “But we both know we’ll want more than that.”

“And what do I get if I win?” I licked my lips, his smell invading my senses. A kiss didn’t sound too bad. In fact it sounded like a pretty good idea right now.

“What do you want?” He smiled cockily, knowing exactly what I was wanting right this minute.

“You teach me Lilarian.” I frowned. “I don’t want to sound like an idiot at the ceremony.”

“You realize this means I win either way.” He ran a hand over the scruff on his jaw and I was mildly fascinated by the sound it made under his fingers.

“No. If I win, you have to teach me Lilarian while keeping your hands to yourself.” I picked up the dice and rolled. “Like a good friend.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” He kept his voice low. “I can think of some really fun ways to teach you my native tongue.”

“I bet you can.” I let out a nervous chuckle, thinking about the things I’d like him to do with his tongue.

“I can think of some things I’d like to hear you say in Lilarian, too.” His eyes stared holes into me as he moved his top hat five spaces. “Loudly.”#p#分页标题#e#

“Then you better bring your A game.”

“I always bring my A game.”

“Is that so?”

We set up the board for another game. Alex’s eyebrows had drawn together as we worked our way around the board and I realized he meant business. It excited me to know how serious he was about winning a kiss, but it also scared me. Possibly because I was excited by the idea.

Eventually I bought a hotel and put it on Park Place. I needed to reel in my hormones and focus. Even if he won, I wasn’t going to just give in to him. It was too complicated.

Alex landed on my carefully laid trap. “Pay up, Prince Yummy.” The nickname burst out of my mouth as I mentally screamed in slow motion, trying to stop my lips from uttering the words.

“Prince Yummy?” He threw his head back and laughed loudly. When he looked back at me, there was heat in his eyes. “Care to explain that one?”

“Jess.” I shook my head, trying to not look embarrassed. I was going to kill her the next time I saw her. “That’s her nickname for you.”

“I’m liking her more and more.” He leaned forward again. “Looks like you agree with her.”

“There goes your ego again.” I narrowed my eyes. “If you hear something enough it gets stuck in your brain.”

“Hm.” He pushed the dice toward me. “That’s one explanation.”

“I’m going to kill her.” I frowned at the game board.

“Just make sure you hide the body well.” He chuckled, his hand reaching out to brush over my fingers. “I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a game of Monopoly this much in a long time.”

“I’m developing a deep hatred for it.”

“That’s because you’re losing.” He narrowed his eyes. “In fact, you’re losing so badly I’m starting to think you want to lose.”

“Har, har.” He was right. I was losing. Badly. “Maybe we should try another game.”