Page 35 of Protected By the Elf Prince

I accepted both as I thought about how this was very much a domestic situation.

This time together mattered.

Monkey watched me closely as I cut vegetables with practiced ease before his eyes narrowed slightly. “You really like him.”

Landon froze halfway through reaching for a pan.

I considered denying it to save embarrassing my beloved, but lying around Landon felt wrong too. “Yes,” I answered quietly.

Monkey’s expression softened almost immediately.

While Landon remained rigid, I kept my attention on the vegetables rather than pushing him toward a response he was not ready to give.

After a moment, Monkey spoke again. “You know he’s freakin’ out, right?”

“Monkey,” Landon warned.

“What? You are, and it’s good to be honest, since you obviously invited him here to get to know him.”

“I am aware,” I said softly. “He has been honest with me too.”

Monkey watched me for another second before nodding slightly, like I had passed some invisible test.

Landon exhaled quietly before shaking his head. “I cannot believe this is my life now.”

I glanced toward him as warmth spread through me at the sight of him standing in his kitchen, cheeks faintly flushed while cooking dinner for both his son and the supernatural male Fate had tied him to.

“We will work this out together,” I said gently.

His eyes rose to mine instantly, and for one perfect moment, he smiled.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Landon

By the time dinner finished, I realized I might actually be in trouble, and not because Dashiel was intense, which he definitely was. But somehow that wasn’t the issue anymore.

The issue was that I liked being around him.

Way too much and in such a short amount of time.

Was this what being fated to a supernatural meant?

That my usual thoughts and processes flew out the window, and I was suddenly thinking about all the ways we could spend time together?

I’d watched his lips move more times than I could count—and I was an accountant for crying out loud—all while wondering if they were as soft as they looked and what they would feel like against mine.

This bond was blowing my mind, and it wasn’t even a full connection yet.

Yet?

Like I was considering being with him.

Dear God.

I needed to figure myself out, but I didn’t have a clue how. All I knew was that I liked Dashiel’s company. Could I eventually love him?

What the hell am I thinking?