Page 41 of The Royal in Room 3

I balanced everything on a wooden tray and headed for the back door, already imagining Jude’s reaction. He would take one bite, look at me with surprise, and tell me how proud he was. For once, he wouldn’t be disappointed, and he wouldn’t want to send me back to Halo House.

For once, I was offering him more than sex.

The workshop stood behind the house, the short path between them taking less than a minute. I had seen it from the outside plenty of times but had never gone inside. Jude had always joked that until I minimized the number of disasters in the house, I shouldn’t enter the workshop due to the hazard.

The wide double doors stood open to let in the sea breeze, and the steady hum of machinery drifted into the yard.

“Daddy?” I called as I approached.

When I didn’t receive an answer, I stepped inside and looked around. The workshop was larger than I’d expected and smelled strongly of fresh-cut wood, oil, and something sharp I couldn’t name. Long shelves covered one wall, packed with labeled containers, tins, clamps, and hand tools arranged so neatly that even I could tell everything had its proper place. Pieces of lumber rested on racks near the ceiling, while half-finished furniture occupied different corners of the room.

Jude stood near the center of the workshop with protective glasses over his eyes and large earmuffs over his ears. His back was to me as he worked at a heavy wooden bench. A long section of carved walnut was secured in front of him, and whatever tool he held gave off a low mechanical whine.

So that’s why he didn’t hear me.

That made the surprise even better. Grinning, I carried the tray farther inside.

“Daddy, look what I⁠—”

My shoe caught the edge of something on the floor, and the tray tilted.

I managed to steady the lemonade, but my elbow bumped a narrow stack of wooden boards leaning beside one of the workbenches. They shifted, and I held my breath, hoping for the best, but I’d long since concluded that the universe hated me, so I stared in horror at the whole stack slowly falling toward me.

Jude turned, his eyes going wide.

“Soren, move!”

I froze, staring death in the face, and was actually impressed at how easily I accepted my fate.

Jude crossed the space between us in what felt like a single step. He caught me around the waist and dragged me hard against his chest just as the boards crashed across the floor where I had been standing.

“No!” I cried as the tray flew from my hands.

My beautiful grilled cheese sandwiches sailed through the air and landed face down in a pile of sawdust.

For several seconds, neither of us moved. His arms remained locked around me while my heart hammered painfully against my ribs.

“What were you thinking?” he demanded.

I blinked up at him, surprised at the sharpness in his voice. He’d never shouted at me before—not when I turned his white towels pink and not when I tore the bed sheets while putting them on the wrong way.

“I—I brought you lunch.”

“I told you never to enter the workshop,” he snapped. “Do you know the damage you could have caused?”

I stared at the scattered wood and hung my head. “I’m sorry. I’ll clean it up.” Then I embarrassed myself further by bursting into tears. “I know I haven’t been much help and I’m a burden to you, but please don’t send me back to Halo House. I don’t want to leave you. I like it here, and I promise I’ll work harder.”

“Little prince, what are you mumbling about?” Jude pressed me tighter against his body. He smelled of sawdust and sweat. In other words, fuckable, and I shouldn’t be thinking about sex when one of us had almost been an inspiration for A Million Ways to Die in the West Part Two, but I couldn’t help it.

“Why would I send you back to Halo House?” Jude said. “We have a contract and everything.”

“Because you didn’t know how terrible I was when you decided to accept me.” I sniffled, trying to wipe my face on his shirt, but he tugged my head back.

“Don’t, unless you want sawdust in your eyes.”

He still cared about me? I inhaled deeply and took a step back. “I really am trying.”

“I know you are.”