Page 32 of A Legacy of the Light

“You have free rein with my bank account. See what damage you can do. Get whatever you want.”

I’m teasing but he seems totally serious.

“Whatever I want?” I ask.

He nods and takes a step closer to me.

“A horse?”

He nods again. Another step closer.

I take a small step back and drop my arms.

“Stupidly expensive jewelry?” The question comes out a little breathier than I intended.

Fundamentally, I’m against being a kept woman. I make my own way and won’t depend on anyone. But the way he’s looking at me right now makes me want to throw all my feminist beliefs out the window.

Another nod and he takes another step, trapping me between his huge body and the counter. We’re so close that a deep breath from either of us would have our chests brushing against each other. My head tilts up so I can look at him fully.

He slowly reaches one arm above me, making me feel tiny under his bulk. “Whatever. You. Want,” he whispers, enunciating each word, holding my gaze.

We stare at each other. For the briefest of seconds, Tavish’s eyes flick down to my lips and his pupils dilate the tiniest bit. My breath stalls in my chest and Tavish moves imperceptibly closer to me as I prepare to push him away.

But then I feel the whisper of the cupboard door opening and he steps back from me and begins putting away the dishes we just cleaned.

I drop my eyes from his, flustered at what his proximity does to me. If he could hear my heart from the hall yesterday it must sound like the beating of a drum to him now.

“Are you up for the challenge, Elsie?”

I feel the question has a double meaning, but it’s likely in my head given he only got close to me to get to the cupboard. I should’ve just stepped to the side.

What a fucking idiot.

A knock at the door makes me jump, causing me to elbow Tavish.

“Shit, I’m sorry!” I gasp, placing a hand on my chest.

We’re still pretty close together as he puts away the dishes. This place is definitely going to kill me at this rate.

Tavish chuckles and steps back, giving the person at the door permission to enter and letting me evade his loaded question.

Reyne sweeps into the room wearing gray pants similar to mine and a white shirt under her black jacket that comes to her waist.

“Ready to go, Elsie?” she asks, with a huge grin on her face.

“Yeah. Just need to grab a coat from my room on the way out.”

I turn my attention back to Tavish, keeping my tone even and friendly. “Thanks for breakfast, maybe I’ll see you later?”

He nods and sees us out of his quarters.

I blow out a breath when he shuts the door, and head back to my room, Reyne walking beside me.

“How was breakfast?” she asks politely.

“It was nice, but I’m going to get whiplash from the gear changes in conversation. It got pretty intense at the end.”

Reyne laughs. “Tavish can be intense at times, but he’s a good prince. He’s kind, and insists those who work with him don’t treat him like a prince. He likes things to be kept informal. He insists we call him Tavish and that we don’t need to bow in his presence,” she tells me.