I shoved my hands in my pockets and tried to look modest or something. I really hadn’t done anything except message Shay, but I was taking her thanks and her attention.
And Rose’s.
“Shay has to be useful for something.” I sat back down next her, aware that Rose was also watching me. “He’ll look after you.”
Rose tried to hide closer into her mum, her eyes starting to spill with tears.
I’d seen my niece, Eliza, cry. I’d felt pretty helpless then – she’d fallen over and hurt her knee, but it’d been the shock more than anything that had caused the tears.
I looked at Georgia who was trying to soothe her, her own face worried and her expression tense.
“Here’s your tea.” I held up one of the paper cups I’d brought back and placed down next to me. “And there’s water for Rose.”
“You want a drink, sweetheart?” She murmured the words close to her. “Seph’s brought you some water.”
There was a nod and she turned around to me.
“You want to sit with me while your mum has her tea?”
I didn’t expect the nod she gave.
“That okay?”
Georgia nodded, passing Rose over to me and then reaching down for the drink. I’d brought us both one, but she didn’t need to ask which was hers: we both took tea the same.
Rose settled back in my lap, her head on my chest, watching her mother. I ignored my drink and held the bottle of water for Rose, encouraging her to take small sips.
Right then, I felt something shift. Some haze evaporated and everything seemed a little clearer. I watched Georgia along with Rose; some colour had returned to her cheeks; she didn’t look like she was on the brink of tears anymore and her shoulders had relaxed.
That long dark red hair hung thick and silky framing her face, dropping over her breasts. I traced the hair back up to her eyes, lingering for what I knew was too long on the curves that I’d ignored in the office, or tried to ignore.
When I met her eyes, she was watching me. But it wasn’t annoyance I saw in them. It was heat. Lust.
“Mummy, my head hurts.”
And it evaporated with those four words. Poof. Gone.
“It will, sweetie. You’ve really managed to bang it. But at least we know there’s some sense there.”
I grinned as I saw Rose frown.
“Where there’s no sense there’s no feeling.” Her smile was golden. “So you must be very clever because your head hurts.”
Rose seemed to settle more at that, even though I was pretty sure she didn’t fully get what her mother was saying.
Shay wandered over wearing what looked like a clean white coat instead of the blue scrubs he’d been in before. His grin almost split his face when he saw me with Rose on my knee.
“I have a room waiting. Let’s get you checked over and then Prince Seph can take you home.” His grin looked a little more toned down when he talked to Rose, which was good. I didn’t want him to be responsible for her having nightmares about cannibals.
She tipped her head to look at me. “Are you a prince?”
“Absolutely. I even have a horse.” Technically my brother had horses, but he could lend me one if I needed to provide proof.
Georgia’s eyes widened.
“Do you really have a horse?”
I shrugged, standing up with Rose still in my arms. “Of course.”
