Chapter Seven
Regina slowly climbedout of the hold sleep had her in. She stretched, then remembered how she’d fallen asleep last night. She turned, hoping to find the king still lying beside her, but knowing somehow before her fingers found the cold sheets where he’d lain that he was gone.
A small ache that wasn’t quite regret filled her chest as she thought about what had happened last night. He’d come to talk about his proposal. That was the only logical reason he’d shown up at her door. And yet when he’d seen her, he’d focused all his energy, all his words, on making her feel better.
She pulled herself up, swinging her legs out of the bed, and started her day with a quick shower. She threw on a pair of cream high-waisted slacks, a matching fitted crop top that fell just above her belt, and her favorite pair of Louboutins. A quick glance in the mirror at her size-sixteen form confirmed what she’d always known: fashionable and fabulous didn’t have a dress size.
Intending to make a last stop in the kitchen for a cup of coffee before she headed to her lab, she ran into a solid wall of flesh. Before she could lose her balance, she felt a strong arm circle her waist, pulling her up against said wall.
She looked up to find amused blue eyes looking down at her with a matching grin to boot.
“Good morning, Treasure. How did you sleep?”
Being this close to him, she could smell the faint sweet and spicy tones of his cologne luring her to lean in and bury her nosein his chest. This chest had been pressed hard against her back as he cradled her while she slept.
Thinking over everything Aléx had said and done caused her to soften against him. Her sister had made him out to be a calculating monster. Considering he was a king, she was pretty sure that was a professional skill he had to expertly wield when necessary. The way he talked about duty and protecting his people, she was certain he didn’t walk around pinching babies and kicking puppies all day either.
He was nothing like Reigna had made him out to be. How could he be when both times she was in his arms, he’d done everything to keep her safe and give her what she needed?
A spark of something warm and soothing spread through her as she thought about how he cared for her. It almost reminded her of how looked-after Ace always made her feel.
Safe.
Secure.
Protected.
Wanted.
It was that last one that was doing something to her, that made her pull back and steady herself on her own two feet. When you grew up with toxic parents who didn’t hide the fact that you were a nuisance, no matter how great your life became, there was always this inkling buried deep inside your cells that needed to be wanted.
“Since I didn’t even notice you slip out of the bed, you know I slept well. What are you still doing here? I thought you would’ve been back on your throne making royal decrees and such.”
The amusement in his eyes was contagious, making her lips draw into a full grin in response.
“You Americans really do have a fantastical imagination when it comes to what a working monarch actually does.”
She lifted a shoulder before stepping around him and leaning against the counter in the middle of the room.
“All we’ve got to go on are Disney movies andThe Crown. What do you expect?”
She made quick work of making a single-serve cup of coffee, but kept her eyes focused on the machine so she wouldn’t have to be mesmerized by the sight of him.
“What I mean to say is that I can’t imagine you have a whole lot of time for leisure. Why are you still here, letting me take up all your time?”
“I’m right where I want to be.”
He was standing next to her in one stride, his more than six feet of solid, broad body making her look up at him in her stiletto heels.
“Do you feel better? Are you still upset by what your sister said to you?”
She gave herself a mental shake, not wanting to think about those dark parts of her that Reigna’s words had hollowed out. Unknowingly triggering the internal murkiness she fought to keep at bay. Aléx’s care had wiped the stains of those parts away, and she wanted them to remain locked out.
Regina had spent so much time playing understudy to Reigna’s main character that she’d somehow become supporting cast in her own life too. As much as she wanted to blame her sister for her emotional mess, Regina couldn’t. She’d allowed Reigna to take the lead because it made her sister feel secure. But now that Reigna was married and living in another country and Regina was left alone, she regretted not showing up more for herself in the past.
When she was with Aléx, she didn’t feel invisible. He saw her. What she wouldn’t give to feel seen like that always.
Isn’t that what the king is offering you, a life where you’re wanted, always? A life where you’re seen?
