“I didn’t say that, but seeing how excited you were was… funny, so…” He shrugged again, looking kind of uncomfortable.
Since I had no clue what to do with any of that, I asked, “Wanna go to the food court for some lunch?”
“I thought you had to try on some pants now or something?”
“Nope. I’m good. That was only to add more bags for my experiment.”
He rolled his eyes again, but his lips twitched.
I started walking away, but Roman’s voice stopped me.
“Are you serious?”
I looked over my shoulder at him. “What?”
He lifted his arms, making the bags crinkle and swoosh, one of them swinging wildly. “Now that your game’s over, surely you can help.”
That made me laugh again, and I walked over to him, saying, “Why don’t we drop this crap off at the car, then grab something to eat down at the food court?”
“I like that plan, but if we’re going out there, why don’t we go to one of the restaurants around the mall instead of the food court? The food’ll be better.”
I shrugged. “Fine by me. Lead the way, good sir.”
“Oak.”
I bit back a grin and tried my best to look innocent. “What?”
“Innocent doesn’t work on you.”
I gasped in mock horror. “You dare say that to the royal—”
Before I could finish, Roman shoved an armful of bags into my chest, cutting me off and making me laugh at his look of satisfaction. “A royal pain in my ass, that’s what you are.”
I gasped again, this time in mock outrage. “How dare you say that about your—”
His hand came up and covered my mouth, cutting me off, mostly from shock and a little from the feel of his skin on my lips. Holy shit. Holy crapola, his skin was right fucking there. I could actually lick him if I just opened my mouth and—
“Do not finish that sentence…Your Highness.” He actually meant, you royal asshat.
I snorted, and I almost,almostopened my lips and dared to lick a stripe along his palm, but I forced myself to stop and take a step back, making him drop his hand. “Yeah, whatever, Mr. High Guard Dickhead.”
“Wow, now you’re calling me names after I carried all your stuff for you all day long? This is the side of you that no one but me gets to see.” He sighed. “I need the world to know that Oakley Von Stein is actually a world-class douche canoe.”
I laughed. “Oh my Scales, you’re so mean! That’s what I’m going to tell the whole world.”
“The world already knows that.”
That made me roll my eyes, and I shoulder-bumped him as we walked toward the exit. “They think that, sure, which is probably a good thing for a king’s guard, but in reality, you’re one of the kindest people I know.”
He snorted like I’d said the most ridiculous thing ever, and we walked out of the mall.
“Seriously, Rome. You’re amazing, and I never would’ve come this far without you. You… you make me feel safe.”
He stopped walking and faced me, so I stopped too, staring up at him. He really was tall as hell. And handsome. And I really did feel safe with him. I always had.
“I…” He scanned the parking lot for a moment. “Really?”
I sent him a sincere smile. “Yeah, Rome, really. You’ve always made me feel safe.”
