Page 213 of Dark King Daddy

After ten, I intervened.

“Not going so well?”

He looked up sharply. “What?”

“You look like you’re being forced to admit Arkady is right about something.”

He glanced at the page, then back at me. A laugh escaped him. He put the pencil down and rubbed a hand over his face.

“I didn’t think it would be this difficult.”

He picked up the pencil again.

I had expected to enjoy being the center of his attention. I hadn’t expected how much I would enjoy watching him. The tiny crease between his brows. The way he leaned back to judge a line, then forward to change it. Once, he glanced at my hand and shifted his own on the table, testing the angle of his fingers.

Watching him, watching me. It was electric.

I knew those hands. I knew how gentle they could be. Watching him struggle to persuade one pencil to do what he wanted made me want to get up and kiss him.

I stayed where I was.

“Turn toward the lamp a little.”

I turned my head.

“There.”

He studied my face. I felt myself smiling.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

“That’s rarely true.”

“I like you.”

The pencil stopped.

“Well, well, well. What an unexpected development. He likes his wife.”

“I know. I was very resistant.”

“You hid it badly.”

He looked at me for another moment before returning to the page. The corner of his mouth stayed lifted.

A few minutes later, I stretched my ankle.

“Do you need a break?” he asked immediately.

“No. I need you to stop gripping the pencil like it owes you money.”

He looked at his hand and loosened it.

“Better,” I said.

“Keep that expression.”