Page 79 of This Is Not True Love’s Kiss

He strode out, and I burst into tears.

“Oh, Aoife.” Ceri rushed forward, closing the door behind her. “What’s wrong?”

I clutched the parchment, tears falling, shoulders shaking. “I keep pushing him away, and I don’t know why,” I said.

Ceri looked back at the door, then at me. “Lor?” she asked, voice hesitant.

I swiped a tear and dropped down on the edge of the bed that was pushed against the wall. Ceri sat beside me.

“We’re all afraid, you know,” she said in a gentle voice as she took my hand.

“Afraid of what?” I asked, not sure I understood.

“Love,” she said simply. “Everyone has their reasons. I was afraid because I worried how it would change my life. Cillian was afraid because he thought if he ever admitted his feelings for me, he’d lose his best friend.” She paused. “So why are you afraid, Aoife?”

“Because it’s another chain,” I admitted, already knowing the answer to that question. “I vowed to myself that I’d never be chained to anyone again.”

I looked at my wrists, at the puffy raised skin, feeling that cold metal rubbing it raw.

“Everyone knows Aoife the Warrior Queen is not a woman who could ever be chained again. That’s why I think you’re perfect for Lor, actually.”

I let out an incredulous laugh. “You think I’m perfect for Lor?”

“You’re the only one more stubborn than him. Do you know how many meetings he’s been missing in the last month since you two started . . .” She waved her hand. “Whatever it is that’s going on between you?”

I blinked. He had missed quite a few events on his schedule. I hadn’t given it much thought because he’d missed all those events to do things with me. But that was quite unusual.

“You’re changing him,” Ceri said. “For the better. That man needs to start relying on people, and I think you’re showing him how to do that. He can’t chain you, Aoife. No one can. You’re too fierce, too strong, to ever let that happen.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “I don’t know how to say all the things that need to be said. It feels too hard, too complicated.”

“Then don’t,” Ceri said. “Show him.”

That wasn’t any easier. “I don’t know how.”

“Dinner is ready!” Karina called from the other room.

Ceri stood. “I’ll go and stall. You take your time.” She walked out of the room, and I looked down at this perfect painting Lor had done.

I stared at it for who knew how long before an idea popped into my mind, one that might just show Lor everything I wasn’t ready to tell him.

CHAPTER 42

Castle

She cared for him, and he for her. Castle was sure of it by now, yet nothing further was happening between them. Castle did not understand this. It didn’t understand how to push them together any more than it already had.

Aoife had spent most of that time outside of Castle’s hallways. Castle had no idea what to make of that. There’d been no argument that it was aware of. No falling out. Nothing.

The doors to Castle’s foyer creaked open, and there she was, Aoife the Warrior Queen. She held full bags, her face flushed, her eyes gleaming.

“Castle,” she called to it. “I have something I need your help with.”

Castle rumbled in response. It would help Aoife with whatever she needed.

She ran forward, bags rustling and bouncing against her legs. “I have a project for you,” she said. “Do you think you could create a new room and do it quickly? It’s for His Majesty,” she said the last words quietly, shyly, almost. Aoife was never shy.

That was all Castle needed to hear to get to work.