Stone’s eyes roll as mine transform into hearts bouncing out of my skull.
“Well, she’syour‘honor’ now,” Stone says. “I have an appointment with a beach and a margarita.”
“Millie would be so jealous,” Archie mutters, then sighs. “Very well. I wasn’t prepared, of course, but I can make thiswork. Are you absolutely sure you wouldn’t like to take up gambling though? I’m positive I could find an illegal boxing ring by the end of the hour.”
“No gambling,” Stone snorts. “Now, give me a hug. I’m leaving.”
Archie does, wrapping the man tightly in his arms and giving him a slap on the back that would probably have me on the ground, but Stone takes in stride. “I love you,” Archie says. “Though I’d love you more if you had a secret addiction, right about now.”
Stone chuckles, mussing up his nephew’s hair. “Love you, too, kid. Be good to the girl. I like her.”
Archie sniffs. “As if I needyouto tell me that.”
To my surprise, Stone approaches me next, wrapping me in a gentle hug with a soft, sweet, “You’ll like it here, darling. Archie’s a good kid. He’ll take care of you.”
And then he’s gone, and I’m alone.
With Archie.
Archie Pine.
I pinch myself again.
It still hurts.
Chapter Four
?
Archie
“Here you go, love,” I murmur as adrenaline rushes just below the surface of my skin.
I set Sarelia’s tea in front of her at the table. Sugar and milk. Like howI knowshe likes it, not because Stone told me, but because I’ve gone through every minute of the footage he’s sent me and learned her preferences for myself like a good stalker.
“Thank you,” she says, wrapping her hands around her warm tea cup as she gazes up at me with wide, star-struck eyes.
She…
Wow.
My heart pounds in my ears, making me deliciously dizzy.
Pictures have never, not once, done her justice. Videos pale in comparison to the beauty in front of me.
Soft brown hair falls in sheets over her shoulders and down her back, all the way past her waist, flowing around her in a phantom breeze. My fingers twitch, yearning to run through the long, shiny strands. Perhaps just one touch…
She gasps, and I pull back, then sigh, allowing my eyes the pleasure of tracing the contours of her face, where I delight to find she hasfrecklesthat my cameras have not showcased to the degree they deserve to be showcased. They’re light—barely even there, but they are.Rightthere, below her star-studded hazel eyes.
“My goodness, you’re beautiful.”
She blinks. “I’m tall.”
Mm, and so she is. Slender and tall, she has several inches on me. Like an angel looking down on me from above.
“Like I said, beautiful.”
She blushes, covering the constellations on her skin with a sweet pink. I wonder if it tastes as sweet as it looks.
