A Princess Next Door (Rothman Royals Book 1) by Noelle Adams

Author:Noelle Adams [Adams, Noelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2016-08-23T18:30:00+00:00

Five

It took me a minute to process what he’d said. When I figured it out, the truth hit me like a blow. “You knew?”

His lips twisted in a dry, apologetic smile. “Yeah.”

“For how long?”

“Since that day we were shopping and those people recognized you. You blew it off as nothing, but I found it very strange. So I looked you up online. It didn’t take too long to figure out who you were.”

“Oh.” My heart was racing wildly, and my skin felt chilled and flushed at the same time. “You didn’t tell me.”

“No.” He reached out, like he would touch my face, but then his hand dropped onto the bed between us. “I figured you were keeping it a secret for a reason, and I was hoping you’d eventually trust me enough to be honest with me.”

There was the slightest reproach in his voice, and it caused a stab of guilt in my chest. “It’s not that I didn’t trust you, Jack—” I broke off my words when he arched his eyebrows. “Well, it wasn’t that you couldn’t be trusted with the truth. I just didn’t want…I just didn’t want…”

“What didn’t you want, Amalie?” His voice was very soft and thick.

“I didn’t want things to change between us, and I knew they would.”

“Why would they?”

“Because…because I’m a princess.”

“You were always a princess to me.”

That might have been the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to me. It made my throat ache and my eyes burn with tears. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Jack. But this was the first time in my life that anyone knew me, liked me, for who I truly am, and I didn’t want it to go away.”

“It’s not going to go away.”

Part of me believed him, even though the rest of me had a lifetime of experience to contradict his claim. “So…so you’re not mad at me for hiding it?”

His expression changed back into its normal dry good-humor. “Maybe a little. Every once in a while. And kind of hurt when you had the opportunity lately and still didn’t tell me. But we agreed that we were just hanging out, no strings attached, so I’d be pretty shitty if I held it against you for not baring your soul to me.”

I let out a breath of relief.

He added, “And you’re not mad at me for not telling you that I knew?”

I shook my head. “I’m not mad. And…and I’m glad you know. I didn’t like keeping that kind of secret from you.”

“Good.” He reached out and pulled me into a soft hug, and I clung to his big body for a minute, feeling comforted, feeling safer than I had in a very long time.

When I finally pulled away, Jack’s eyes were studying me closely, as if he were searching for signs of something I didn’t understand.

I cleared my throat. “So you understand why things are so complicated for me? I can’t just do anything I want.”

“I don’t know. I can see why you’d have a lot of pressure.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.