Page 53 of Rogue

Dree was sitting in the bed, looking at something on her phone. She looked him up and down, ogling the way the white tee clung to his shoulders and chest.

Yep, a lot of people had looked at Max like that in his life, from the time when he was far too young to while they were shopping that afternoon.

When a pretty little woman like Dree did it, the evening might end with his dick in her mouth, so that was okay. However, lots of people had ogled Maxence like that,lots of them,and he was pretty good at deflecting most of it before it reached an embarrassing moment for both of them.

However, the little blonde was looking at him with fire in her eyes, and he felt a little less like this might be just a transaction or like he had coerced her with money.

He knew that, as a man, he wasn’t supposed to care about that, but he did. After you’ve done that a number of times, it becomes monotonous.

She asked, “Are those your jammies?”

He scowled at his legs. “No, these are Arthur’s. I think all these red and blue lines represent the Union Jack.”

Dree kept looking at him, and her eyes got a little bigger, slid left, then back to him, and she seemed at a loss for words.

Ah, Max needed to defineUnion Jack.“The Union Jack is Great Britain’s flag. It’s the red and white stripes and the blue triangles. The various crosses and saltires essentially represent England, Scotland, and Ireland.”

“Oh! I see it now!” she said.

“Arthur is an Englishman, and he’s very,veryBritish.”

Dree asked, “And what are you?”

Maxence looked up at her, considering whether he was supposed to continue to lie to her or whether he should tell her the truth. He waited a beat before he said, “Monegasque.”

“Oh? I’ve never heard of Monagasquay, but I’m an American. Our geography curriculum is terrible. Where is it?”

Monagasquay.

Maxence choked back a full-throated laugh and turned it into a cough. First, he wouldn’t want to embarrass the poor girl, but also because it was the cutest little mistake he’d ever heard.

Monagasquay.

When Max got home, he had to tell his cousin Alexandre about that one. Alex would die laughing. Alex’s recently-wed wife was American, and he’d tease her about that forever.

But for now, Maxence coughed, recovering his composure.

When he thought about it, her interpretation of the wordMonegasquemade sense. She was from the southwestern US, so she was probably more familiar with South American countries like Paraguay and Uruguay. When she’d tried to make a country’s name out of the nationality Monegasque, it hadn’t worked, so she’d figured something out.

Come to think of it, Monegasque was a peculiar word.

Max cleared his throat and tested it with a fewharrumphsto make sure he wasn’t going to bray laughter. Then he said, “Yes, you’re right. I’m from Monagasquay.”

“What’s it like?” she asked him.

“Monagasquay is a very small country and sort of near France and Italy. Very, very small. Smaller than Luxembourg. Sometimes, we sweep the whole country with a broom just to keep it tidy. It’s practically just a harbor and beach, and there’s a casino, too.”

Dree nodded. “Monagasquay sounds beautiful. I love beaches.”

Max walked over to the other side of the bed. Damn, this was killing him, and he couldn’t laugh now. That would be mean, and Maxence was never mean. “The beach is amazing. Blue water, because it’s the Mediterranean Sea and part of the French Riviera.”

She sighed, smiling. “Oh, wow. Sounds gorgeous.”

“Oh, it is. Simply stunning.” Maxence got a terrible idea, and he did it. “And as a matter of fact, I am a prince of Monagasquay. I’m second in line to the throne.”

Chapter Eleven

Prince Auggie