Queen of Hawthorne Prep

“Problem solved.” His body shakes with silent laughter. “Now we don’t have to hide.”

My mouth tumbles open. I’m on the verge of blasting him into next week when he lifts a finger and rims the edges of my lips. “Open your mouth that wide and it’s going to get stuffed full.”

Oh!

My teeth snap together. “How can you joke around at a time like this?”

“Who says I’m teasing?” he smirks, heat filling his eyes. When he shrugs his broad shoulders, it’s almost enough to distract me.

Almost.

A growl rumbles up from deep in my chest.

“Oh, come on, it’s not that bad,” he laughs. “So your Mom got an eyeful of cock. Big deal.”

Hearing him say mom and cock in the same sentence has me on the cusp of hyperventilating. “Are you kidding? It’s a huge deal!”

He peels back the covers and points to his hard dick. “No, this is a huge deal.”

Oh my God, I’m seriously going to kill him!

“Do you realize the can of worms you’ve opened up?” When he remains silent, I hiss, “Now I’ll have to endure yet another sex talk!”

“Guess you’ll have a lot more to contribute to the conversation this time.”

Argh! He’s impossible!

My lips flatten. “Yeah, I don’t think so.” I cradle my head in my hands as if it’s moments away from rolling off my body. “Given the fact that we’ll both have fresh visuals, it’ll be significantly worse.”

Before I can whine about the situation any further, he pulls me into his arms and presses a kiss against the top of my head. “Want me to come with you?” There’s a pause. “Cuz I’ll do it. You know I will. It’s doubtful Eloise will appreciate my presence, but that’s too damn bad.”

“No,” I grumble, some of my anger melting away as he continues to pepper me with soft caresses. “You’ll only make it worse.”

“How is that possible when I make everything better?” As he snuggles against me, his boner pokes my thigh. “We probably got a few minutes—”

“Are you serious right now?” What am I asking, of course he is! “Hell no, we’re not having sex!”

“Aw, come on, babe,” he wheedles like a petulant child, pouty face and all. “Thanks to her untimely disruption, the cat is already out of the bag.” He gyrates his hips and the hard length of his cock strokes against my leg. “Your mom can wait. I won’t take long.”

Not giving him the chance to convince me otherwise, I shove my way out of his arms before sliding from the side of the bed and stalking to my dresser.

Kingsley sits up and the sheet falls down his sculpted body. “Looking good, baby girl.”

He chuckles when I give him a one fingered salute.

I grab a pair of panties and bra before yanking them on. “You need to go.”

“Fine.” With an exaggerated huff of breath, he throws off the covers and rises from the bed before sauntering toward me. When he’s within striking distance, his hand snakes out, yanking me into his arms. As I land against his chest with a soft grunt, his lips descend. “See you tonight?”

His sharp teeth nip at the plump flesh of my bottom lip.

A sigh escapes from me. “Yeah.”

“Same place, same time?”

Those words melt all of my resistance.

Most nights, we lay on the thick carpet of grass at the back of the yard. Tall pines delineate our property from the golf course. With my head pillowed against his chest, we stare at the dark canvas of night sky as it stretches over our heads. I point out constellations and we talk for hours.

“Yeah,” I sigh.

He grins and smacks another kiss against my lips. “Good.”

“Now go,” I repeat, still aggravated at the situation I’ll have to contend with in a few short minutes.

“You gonna let me get dressed first?”

My gaze drops to his cock. It’s still impressively hard.

“Don’t worry,” he whispers roughly, “you’ll get that tonight.”

Yeah, I better.

Chapter Two

It takes five more minutes before I’m finally able to shove Kingsley out the private entrance off my deck. I pull on black leggings, a gray Hawthorne Prep hoodie and throw my hair up into a messy bun before reluctantly heading down the staircase to the first floor in search of Mom. Dread pools in the pit of my belly with every step I take.

In a way, I suppose Kingsley is right about the situation.

Is it really that big of a deal if we’re sleeping together?

What did my parents expect to happen when they forced me into an arranged marriage?

Once in the double story foyer, I peek in the study, only to find it empty. Dad is nowhere in sight. If he’s not in his lair, knee deep in paperwork, he’s at Hawthorne Industries. I suppose one positive to Dad spending more time at the office is that I’ll only have to deal with Mom.