Royal Ruin by Jessica Peterson

Author:Jessica Peterson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Peterson Paperbacks
Published: 2018-01-18T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Two days later, and I was back at Primrose Palace.

I was determined to keep my distance from Emily. I wasn’t sure what I’d do about the visit to the Rose and Thorn I’d promised her. I didn’t want to be a dick and fall down on her. Enough men in her life had done that, and I’d be damned if I joined their ranks. But it seemed I couldn’t spend five minutes with her without forgetting myself. What might happen over a couple pints? A couple of hours?

The air felt different the moment I stepped through the door to my apartments. It hummed with anticipation. Electricity. There was a warmth about the place that hadn’t been there before. Immediately I was looking around.

Looking for Emily.

I smelled the faintest trace of her perfume in every room I moved through. Time held its breath, like Emily had just slipped out and we were all—the furniture and the drapes and me—waiting for her to come back.

Fuck me, I was starting to think in Beauty and the Beast songs. I half expected a candlestick to jump off the mantel and ask me what I wanted for dinner.

My room. I just needed to get to my room. Then I’d be safe from Em.

I climbed the stairs, keeping my head down. I tried not to notice that the door to Emily’s bedroom was open.

I tried, and I failed.

My heart sped up. My legs slowed. I could hear the quiet, low tap of her typing. Emily sighed. I’d recognize that sound anywhere. It was so her. Feminine. Determined.

I stopped at the door, leaning my chest into the frame. Emily sat at the secretary on the far wall, her back to me. The glow of the computer screen was especially bright in the dark room. I got the impression she’d been working for a while and had forgotten to turn on the lights as dusk fell.

She had one leg tucked beneath her. Her hair was loose and a little wild. She typed furiously, stopped. Deleted, pounding on the delete key. Typed again. Was she churning through emails, maybe? Typing up a proposal?

I suddenly wanted to know, quite badly, how she’d been. What she’d worked on while I was away. If she was okay.

If she’d missed me as much as I’d missed her.

“Hello,” I said, turning on the light. My voice managed to be soft and gravelly all at once.

Emily turned, her head whipping around. Her eyes were uncertain, but her lips pulled into a tight grin.

“Hey, Kit. Trip back went okay I hope?”

“It was fine. Quick.” I nodded at her laptop. “How’s work?”

“It’s good. Busy. Really busy.” Em slid her hand onto her neck and rolled her head. I watched, transfixed, as the sinews and strong lines of her neck appeared. “Aly came down with strep throat yesterday, so I’ve been playing catch up on my own.”

I furrowed my brow. “Funny, but Rob has the same thing.”

“Must be going around,” she said.

I rolled my lips between my teeth.

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