“If you don’t mind, I’d rather not finish that thought.”
And before I can nudge him for a hint as to what he meant, the door swings open. The doctor and nurse come in, and the moment is lost, but I can’t help but wonder if it’s somehow related to what a ‘distraction’ I am to him…
* * *
Text from me to Priya:You'll never guess who’s sitting across from me. I’ll give you a hint. He’s famous and at this moment he has his very expensive shirt unbuttoned…
Priya:OMG! Tell me everything. How did this happen? Who opened his shirt? Why the hell are you texting me right now if you have a partially undressed hot man with you? And most importantly, can you get me a photo?
Me:An iguana ate his breakfast then attacked him, so he’s currently being stitched up by a doctor (I took him to the hospital).
Priya:Nooo! Not the mango rose and the lobster Benedict?
Me:Unfortunately.
Priya:Seriously? Is he okay?
Me:Yes, he’ll be okay, but it all looks rather painful. The doctor and nurse are betting on the number of stitches. She says fifty and he’s guessing thirty-two.
Priya: So NOT okay, then.
Me: Not so much. Here’s the really weird part—he actually seems sort of sweet and he even asked me to come into the exam room with him.
Priya:Because he's totally into you, you lucky bitch! You're going to end up marrying the freaking Clash of Crowns creator and live a gorgeous, incredibly rich life while I'll still be here with my damn parents.
Me:You can have him. A guy like that is way too much trouble.
Priya:Gotta go! Heading to the passport office now.
Smiling to myself, I slide my phone back into my bag and glance at Pierce again. He’s got his face scrunched up and his eyes closed and I can’t help but feel really bad. I should have tried harder to convince him the food shouldn’t be left outside. Although, he was being quite a wanker, so…
After a few minutes, he’s taken to the x-ray department while I wait in the exam room for his return. For some stupid reason, I can’t stop smiling. Okay, I know exactly what the reason is—my mind keeps wandering to his surprisingly muscular body. Even though I’ve only seen the chest and the lower half of one leg, I find myself wondering what the rest of him looks like under those clothes. In my imagination, he looks really freaking amazing…
Letting my curiosity get the better of me, I Google Pierce Davenport and spend the next twenty minutes reading all about him, starting with his Wikipedia page which gives a brief overview of his family's history as well as his writing career. He has two brothers. The eldest is Greyson, who is also insanely good-looking. Greyson is being groomed to take over the family business and is engaged to some beautiful socialite who rides for the Avonian Equestrian Team. Their younger brother, Leo—also on the ridiculously handsome side of the spectrum—seems like Pierce’s polar opposite, a total playboy who hops from scandal to scandal. The latest rumour is that he’s the reason Minka Kelly and Jesse Williams broke up.
Feeling strangely guilty at reading the gossip about his family, I search for images of him instead, finding dozens taken at various events over the years—some of them featuring a gorgeous woman who I'm pretty sure is a Victoria's Secret model. How cliché, Pierce.
HisClash of Crownsbook covers are among the images, and before I know it, I'm one-clicking the first book in the series and settling in to see just what all the fuss is about…
* * *
I’m all the way to chapter ten when Pierce walks back into the room with his hand in a cast. Somehow, I've managed to get so lost in his words that I have no concept of how much time has passed. Feeling slightly disoriented to be back in the real world, I blink a couple of times, reminding myself of who and where I am.
“Well, it’s official: it’s broken,” he says, raising his cast. “Six weeks minimum in this thing which means I’ll have to have it removed when I get home.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, this time not finding it funny at all. “Should we get out of here?”
“Please.”
I find myself wanting to hug him. Maybe it’s that I was just reading a supremely tender scene he wrote where King Draqen was telling his son, Luc, how proud he was of him, but I suddenly have a feeling that there’s a lot more to Pierce Davenport than the snooty rich guy he pretends to be.
* * *
Okay, so apparently Painkiller Pierce is funny as hell. I don’t know what that doctor gave him, but I wouldn’t mind some myself because he is very clearly feeling no pain. It kicked in about five minutes after we got on the speedboat and he’s been hilariously and horribly honest since. Right now, he’s sitting sideways in the passenger seat, facing me, while he talks about his family and I try not to listen because I’m sure Sober Pierce would be horrified at the secrets he’s spilling.
“And another thing…I don’t think they ever loved each other. Not even on their wedding day. It was anarrangedmarriage,” he says, drawing out the word ‘arranged’ to make it last about ten seconds. “Yup. I bet you thought that only happened in places like India or in rural China, but it happens among the elite in the UK, too. It’s a way to keep the wealth where it belongs—with the people who’ve always had it.” Pointing his bad hand in the air, he says, “I’m being fastidious of course. I don’t really agree with arranged marriages. Or any other type of marriage for that matter.”
“I think you mean facetious.”
