“Why would you say that?” her mother interrupted. “You were born to be queen.”
“And that’s all that has ever been expected of me.”
“Karolyna, please come home and we can sort this all out. Lord Donoveaux is simply beside himself with worry.”
“I don’t give a fuck about Lord Donoveaux or what he’s feeling.”
“Language, young lady.”
“You know what? I don’t know why I called. I just wanted you to have your people stop following me around and make sure you know that I hadn’t been kidnapped or anything. I can see that I’ve wasted my time.”
“Karolyna. . .”
“I’ll come home when I’m ready, if ever. Good night father, mother.”
Kerry ended the call, almost wishing that she hadn’t dialed the number in the first place. No matter what age, her parents were always able to make her feel like a foolish child. And she hated that feeling.
A knock on the door sounded and Landon peeked his head through.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah. . .” she lied. He looked at her suspiciously but didn’t press further.
“Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, just some chicken alfredo.”
“Okay. I’ll pop into the shower really quick.”
Holding his hand out with her bag dangling from his fingers, he placed it on the dresser beside the door.
“Thought you might need that.”
“Thanks. It has something priceless in it.”
“Really?” Landon took a step into the room and eyed the bag as if it were Mary Poppins’.
Wordlessly she moved to the dresser and opened the bag, unzipping the secured pouch at the bottom. The tiara felt heavier in her hand than she remembered. And as she brought it up, the gems gleamed in the light from the window.
“Is that?”
“Yeah, it’s my crown. Literally.”
“Holy shit.”
“I know. Maybe I’ll wear it for you sometime.”
“So long as that’s th
e only thing you’re wearing.”
Chapter Eight
The night before, Landon and Kerry had spent their time in her bed doing nothing else but talking. He felt things for her so quickly that it scared him, and he still worried that she would run scared when she learned about his past — something he needed to remedy sooner rather than later. With the threats coming for her, Landon wanted to make sure that she had no remorse for her time spent with him. And the truth was part of that. She had shared her secrets with him and Kerry deserved to hear his.
He had tried to disclose some of his past to her, but she kept changing the subject. And by the time she seemed interested in hearing his tale, she fell asleep in his arms just a moment later. Of course, having her in his arms had him falling asleep faster than he ever had before. And he had the most lifelike visions. Landon had dreamed of stripping her bare, leaving only that glistening tiara on her head while I took her on the counter of his bar.
Landon woke with the stiffest erection he had ever experienced, but Kerry took that as an invitation to soothe the ache with her mouth.
“Jameson is going to stop by to install the register system for me, if you’d like to learn the program while we wait for Preston and Cliff to arrive.”