The Grumpy Count by Alix Nichols

Author:Alix Nichols [Nichols, Alix]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, RomCom
Publisher: A novel in the Montevor Royals Saga
Published: 2023-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

Back in my room at ten, I prepare for bed, fit my earplugs in my ears and climb into my sleeping bag. But unlike last night, sleep eludes me. I think about the attack last night. Naturally and inevitably, that makes me contemplate what Jonas did for me.

And that, somehow, leads me to remembering how much I’d enjoyed his caress in the library. A truth I’ve done my best to suppress hits me with a vengeance. I’ve been craving his touch ever since. The maddening push and pull between us has been my fuel. Methinks, his attempts to banish me to the attic are his latest “push.”

Two more days, I remind myself.

Two more days, and I’m out of this house and free from this man who’s been undermining my convictions and ruining my peace of mind.

He’s driving me bonkers!

At that point, a deep vibrating sound reaches me despite the foam plugs in my ears. It’s coming from Jonas’s room. He’s snoring worse than my late grandmother’s pug when he had a cold. And I thought it was impossible to snore worse than that.

Weird… We’ve been here almost two weeks now. I’ve never heard him snore before.

I get up, tiptoe to his door and peep through the keyhole. He’s at his desk. Looking absurdly sexy in checkered pajama bottoms and an old tee, he’s watching something on his computer. The dailies, I assume. He’s wearing a headset. The snoring comes from his phone. It must be a recording or some bizarre app…

Without warning, the knife at my throat from yesterday flashes before my mind’s eye.

Human life is short. And it can end abruptly, long before the expiry date.

I knock on Jonas’s door. He pauses whatever was playing on his screen and frees one ear. After he’s ascertained that someone’s rapping on his door, he turns off the snoring app. I straighten up quickly when he takes off his headset and strides my way.

“May I help you?” he asks after he opens the door.

“May I come in?”

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit at such a late hour?” he asks, dodging my question.

“You were snoring very loudly.”

“Yeah, I do that sometimes.” He bobs his head in support of his own statement. “Very regularly, in fact. But you know what? Remember that cozy corner of the attic I mentioned earlier?”

“What about it?”

“Oli and I prepared it for you while you were having drinks upstairs.”

“But why?” I search his face. “We’re moving out of your house on Sunday.”

“I want you to be comfortable for the remaining two nights.” He begins to count on his fingers, “You’ll have a real bed, a carpet, a chest of drawers, a full-size mirror… What else? Nontransparent screens all around, and—”

“The snoring came from your phone,” I butt in. “I saw it through the keyhole.”

He stares at me in silence.

“Why, Jonas?” I ask him again. “Why do you want me out of the dressing room so much?”

He looks away.

It’s my turn to count on my fingers.

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