I rolled my eyes. “You are taking this far too seriously, Royce.”
“There’s nothing too serious when it comes to you, pauper.”
We were passing by one of the alcoves used for studying and other things and I yanked him inside, shutting the curtain. “Tell me the truth, Royce,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “Why are you here?”
“Because,” he growled, stalking toward me until my back was pressed up against the stone wall. “You are being reckless, Anna, and when you are reckless, bad things happen to you.”
Royce was right, but I couldn’t just stay in the shadows if I was going to stay at the academy. “Well, at least I don’t have to worry about you coming at me with a sword again,” I said dryly, trying to lighten his mood.
He hung his head. “Pauper, this isn’t a joke. This is your life.”
I wanted to joke around, to say that it was hard for me to understand how a king could care for another, but there was something in the way Royce was saying his words that made me wonder if he truly did care about me. First the run-in at his house and now this show of caring.
Unable to help it, I touched his cheek with the palm of my hand, forcing him to meet my gaze. “I know,” I said softly, emotion in my voice. “I promise I won’t do anything rash or crazy, all right? Will that help?”
He let out a shuddering breath. “I should lock you in my mansion.”
“Well, you are going to have to if I don’t get to class in the next two minutes,” I said lightly. “Can we go?”
Royce leaned in, brushing his lips over mine. “Yeah, pauper, we can.”
Why, oh why did he have to do that? It made me crave things that I knew I couldn’t have.
But before I could process what he had done, Royce was out of the alcove and waiting for me against the wall, no trace of the man I had just shared the space with.
In fact, the look on his face was almost like he was bored and couldn’t wait to deliver me to my class. “Come on, pauper,” he drawled, a glint of humor in his eyes. “You’re going to be late.”
So, we played this game all day. Whenever I exited a classroom, Royce was waiting. I ignored the whispers around me as I marched ahead of him, hoping to shake him from continuing to do this, but he followed close enough for the rumors to keep going.
I tried to keep my head down and concentrate on classwork but by the time the day was over, my nerves were shot, and I really needed to go somewhere to be alone.
Except Royce wouldn’t let me. “Come with me, pauper,” he said softly, drawing an arm around my waist and moving me toward the front door.
“Royce, please,” I said tiredly as we walked outside. “I really just want to go lie in my bed.”
“I tortured you today, didn’t I?” he said in a low voice as he steered me to his car.
“You didn’t help,” I muttered. “Where are we going?”
“For a drive,” he answered, opening the passenger side door. “I won’t keep you long.”
Sighing, I climbed into his car, not really wanting to fight with him right now. Maybe I could talk him out of this stupid following me around.
Royce climbed into the driver’s seat and we pulled out of the academy’s parking lot, heading toward the long highway that wove through the mountains. I leaned back on the headrest, looking out the window as the mountains passed, feeling some of the tension ease out of my shoulders.
“You can roll down the window if you want,” he said, his hand sliding onto my knee and squeezing it. “But not too far or your face will fucking freeze.”
I laughed, cracking the window just slightly so that the breeze would hit my face. “Thanks for this. I didn’t realize how stressed I was.”
“It’s my fault,” Royce said, turning the car off the main highway and onto a small section where one could take pictures of the mountains. “I pushed you too much today.”
I turned my head to face him, resting my cheek on the cool leather headrest. “I really wish you were talking about sword training and not just having me walk from class to class.”
His grin was quick. “I wish I was talking about something else too, pauper.”
I blushed, unable to help it. “I mean, do you ever turn it off?”
“What’s that?”
“The charm. It’s like it’s been ingrained in you.”
“You’re a beautiful woman,” he responded, his grin widening. “Plus, I know what you look like naked. That makes it really bloody difficult, pauper.”
“I could say the same,” I murmured, seeing the way his forearm flexed as he gripped the steering wheel. “I’m just glad you aren’t an asshole any longer.”
He chuckled. “Oh, I’m still an asshole, just not to you.”
That was good. I was glad to have him on my side, even if he was going a bit overboard with the whole protection thing. “Royce, can I ask you a question?”
“You know you can, pauper.”
I drew in a breath. “If you were in my position, what would you do?”
His jaw worked and he turned his eyes away. “That’s a loaded question.”
“Just tell me,” I begged. “I won’t hold it against you.”
He ran a hand through his thick hair. “Well, I would have to weigh the risks versus the rewards first,” he started, his gaze on the windshield. “What I wanted in life and if I was willing to put up with the shit that is going to come, things I haven’t done before. The world isn’t all about money, but it’s going to give you a hell of a lot.”
More than I could even fathom. My father’s will was very lofty indeed, but why I hadn’t quite figured out. I didn’t know if it was because he had a guilty conscience over what he had done to my mom or if he wanted to give the finger to his ex-wife and parade me around under her nose so that she would always remember what she hadn’t been able to give him.
God, I really hoped it wasn’t that. “What if I decide not to take the money?” I asked. “Would I be an idiot?”
“To some, hell, yes,” he stated. “But to others, it might be a sign of a strong person.” He then looked over. “And I will be heartbroken if you don’t pick me to be your husband.”
I rolled my eyes. “As if I could put up with you that long.”
Royce didn’t smile, looking down at the hands in his lap. “I could make you happy, Anna.”