Royal Opposites Read Free Page B

believe how much he was enjoying Joan’s company. Maybe he should’ve sought her out months ago.
    He would love to keep in touch with her once he left, but he was pretty certain he wouldn’t have a lot of time for himself. Once he returned home, a myriad of duties would fall on his shoulders. Not the least of which was parceling out loans to the thirty businesses he’d targeted for expansion around the city of Santa Monica. Still, that wasn’t going to stop him from enjoying today.
    “You’re not afraid of anything are you?” he asked when she wrapped up the story of how she’d been lost in the Santa Monica Mountains overnight.
    “Are you kidding me? I was terrified. I’ve never been so glad to see dawn in my life.” She nibbled on the remains of their apple crisp and he reveled in the satisfaction of sharing a meal with an appreciative woman. Not once had she wrinkled her nose at the dinner he’d ordered. Since he’d just met her and didn’t know her tastes, he’d wanted to provide a variety of foods for her to sample.
    Between the two of them, they’d managed to polish off everything.
    He did have to admit, he’d done most of the polishing. Still, she’d held her own. He remembered their brief spar over the last bit of the jerk chicken with fondness.
    “What are you thinking over there? You’re looking very satisfied with yourself.”
    “I am?” He affected a blank look.
    “You know you are.”
    “Maybe I haven’t had dinner with such an engaging companion in a very long time.”
    She rolled her eyes like she had every other time he’d given her a compliment then brushed it off. “Whatever. You’re very kind for letting me chatter away like this.”

    “Your chatter is enchanting.”
    Her eyes rolled again and he smiled. Yes, he would have quite enjoyed getting to know this woman better. If only he’d met her back in his wild oats days. They could have had some great fun together. Now, however, the next woman to join him in his bed would be his queen, the way custom dictated, at the conclusion of his year away. The thought didn’t bring him much joy. He speculated that it was because he didn’t know who his queen would be.
    Would she be as delightful to dine with as Joan? Would she keep him mentally on his toes? Would she agree with everything he said just because he said it? Would she have a mind and personality of her own?
    He hoped with great fervor the answers to all those questions would be yes. He hadn’t even returned home, yet, but he was already feeling pressed for time to meet and woo the woman who was to become his wife since the wedding was already scheduled for three months’ time.
    “Apparently not so enchanting that you don’t space out on me.” “I blame the food. I believe I ate way too much.”
    “I think you did, too.”
    “Are you calling me a pig?”
    “If the snout fits.”
    He chuckled and was searching for a suitable reply for her clever retort when his cell phone rang. He longed to hit ignore on the device and continue their banter, but the ringtone was the one assigned to his mother. For a woman who was as technically challenged as she claimed to be, she sure managed to figure out how to download ‘God Save the Queen’ and load the ringtone on his phone. Then she’d assigned it to herself. When the woman put her mind to something, nothing could deter her.
    “Excuse me a moment. I must take this.” Tom waited for Joan’s nod then answered the call. A small part of him hoped it would go to voicemail first; however, he wasn’t quite so lucky. He had the sneaking suspicion his mother had also managed to change the number of allowed rings for her calls.
    “Hello, Mother.” He watched Joan’s reaction and was a bit relieved when she seemed to relax again. He’d noticed how she’d tensed up before nodding her permission for him to answer the phone. “Tomas, where are you? Are you in the air, yet?” Tabitha Josephina du Bacoeur’s smooth contralto