Page 61

A black Bentley sat outside the pub on double yellow lines. It was a joke between Isla and Liss that her grandma had friends in high places, but the King’s revelation thrust that into a new light. The spring sunshine glinted off the paintwork, straining Liss’s eyes, but she made out the personal number plate that shouted luxury. It was totally out of place in her dog-eared neighbourhood.

One of the back passenger windows lowered, and her nana’s pinched face popped out of it. Her make-up was immaculate, as always. The years spent performing in ballet shows enabled her to draw attention to her doll-like eyes and cute button nose. She’d tried to impart her make-up skills to Liss several times, but the information never stuck. The flawless make-up and coiffured hair were the last straw. Her grandma must have spent hours perfecting her look when she should have shared crucial information.

“You have so much explaining to do. What the actual hell, Nana?” Liss cried out.

Her grandma glared at her from the open window.

“We don’t have time for one of your tantrums. Get in the car, Felicity,” she snapped. Liss learned her brusque manners from her grandma, although she saved them for critical pub situations to avoid offending others.

The passenger door flew open. Liss folded her arms with a humph to avoid stamping her foot. Her grandma always brought out the teenager in her. It was lucky they had so little to do with each other. Liss let her nana get away with her behaviour to keep her only family happy in case she was left with no one. The door wasn’t closing anytime soon, and arguing with her grandma, who won every battle, was pointless, but Liss took her time climbing into the car.

She pushed up the sleeves of her hoodie as she sat in the backseat. “This is fu–”

Three pairs of eyes whipped her way.

“Get in the middle,” her nana demanded with flaring nostrils. “Bear, get out and go around. I don’t want to be sandwiched between you two.”

The dark-haired stranger with big brown eyes and impressive broad shoulders grunted before getting out and walking around to her side. Liss barely resisted the temptation to touch his arms to check his body wasn’t just padding as he climbed in beside her.

Nana Bets smoothed her classically tailored skirt, took a deep breath, and waved to an empty pavement as if she were the queen while the car pulled away from the curb.

Liss’s blood boiled. “Who are these guys, and where the bloody hell did you get a Bentley?”

Bear’s body pressed against hers. He widened his thighs, forcing hers to close. There wasn’t enough space for his hulking body and certainly not enough to mansplay—the audacity of the guy.

Her grandma hissed, “Less attitude from you, young lady. I will explain all later, but for now, be quiet.”

Nana Bets lifted her chin and waved again. She curved her hand and smiled demurely at strangers. Liss’s phone buzzed with a message from Isla.

Isla: What is going on? Did Nana Bets fuck the King? That makes you a princess or something, right?

Liss: I’ve no idea. She won’t tell me anything. I don’t know where we’re going, and I’ve got some hot-suited man next to me.

Isla: Tell me more. Which celeb does he look like?

Typical Isla. There wasn’t enough space in the tiny car to hide the phone from him and her nana, but he wasn’t paying attention to her anyway. She took a surreptitious look at him from beneath her lashes.

Liss: Maybe Tom Hardy, but when he was younger and without a full beard. He’s kinda hot if you like that sort of thing.

Which Liss secretly did even though both her exes were like preppy perfection with button-down shirts and smart jeans. Bear’s thighs widened further.

Isla: Would you fuck him?

Liss looked again. The stranger was more likely to feature in her unshareable fantasies than he was to get a right swipe from her. He stared straight ahead, oblivious to what she was typing.

Liss: God, no. And he’s a dickhead. He keeps mansplaying. He probably has a small dick, but he’s trying to pretend he has a footlong.

“I’ll take that.” Bear snatched her phone. His voice was so low it thrummed through the car.

“The hell you will! Give me my phone back.” Liss tried to grab it, but Bear slid it into his inside pocket. Had he seen what she’d typed?

“Nana,” she implored, “tell the man with a stupid name to give me my phone.”

“No, Felicity,” her nana said sharply before resuming her wave.

Liss opened her mouth, but Nana silenced her with a pointy finger. Instead, Liss studied Bear with a glare. He was big, the sort of man that little guys wanted to fight to prove something. His suit fitted his body perfectly, gripping every muscle pressing against her. The tailored outfit that displayed a subtle nod to wealth highlighted his biceps and trunk-like thighs. Liss sensed he wasn’t comfortable in it but couldn’t put her finger on why.

“I want my phone back.” She needed to keep Isla updated with her destination. She fixed him with a scowl, but he stared straight ahead. Adrenaline rushed through her limbs, and her fingers tingled. Although she’d never had a sibling, much to her disappointment, she’d learnt via Isla and Steve how to annoy those close to you. “Are you a naturist, Bear? Is that why they call you Bear, Bear? Is it actually spelt B-A-R-E?”

But her digs hit his vast muscles and pinged off. She was still in fight-or-flight from the stress of the morning. Her nana’s attitude and unanswered questions made her jittery, and she poked his thigh with her fingers. Her chipped blue nail varnish was bright against his dark suit. Each prod met resistance. Not only did he have thick muscles, but his mansplaying thighs were taut as if he was tensing. She swallowed the saliva building up in her mouth.

Liss gritted her teeth against a sigh. She was supposed to be getting to him and not vice versa. Was it his muscles, the deep voice that climbed into her body, or her existing annoyance? Damn Isla for making her consider if she’d fuck him. The attraction freaked her out. Her hands were clammy, for goodness sake. She sighed dramatically, making the wisps of her hair falling from her ponytail jump in the air. She’d always crushed on big men with strapping bodies that could throw a woman around a bedroom. Not that she’d experienced it herself, but it was on her fantasy list. Aches pulsed in her belly, and sweat beaded the back of her neck. The guy was pissing her off, and she wanted a reaction from him.

“Is the naturist thing why you’re uncomfortable in a suit, Bear?”

Still nothing.

“So that’s a yes then, Bear. Do you know where we’re going? Give me my phone back, Bear.” Every time she said his name, she overemphasised it. The B was like a poke.

Bear’s only movement was widening his legs as if hinting at the package in his trousers while squishing her limbs tightly. With broad thighs and taut trousers, she couldn’t stop staring, even as he disregarded her space. It turned out her message to Isla was wrong. He did look bigger than she’d suggested. But the size of his package was irrelevant. She shouldn’t be attracted to this knobhead. She licked her lips and fisted her hands. Her body was intent on embarrassing her.

She side-eyed her nana, who was busy staring out the window while speaking on her mobile. In her faux upper-class accent, she was giddily telling someone called Sergio about the King’s announcement. She was so involved in her conversation that she was unaware of the drama next to her. Why was she allowed her phone?

Liss needed to get her phone back and control her growing lust. If asked, she’d explain her next tactic was because, once, her mum told her after a detention, “You catch more flies with honey than vinegar.” But in truth, Bear’s widening thighs pressing against hers were doing things to her. She desired a reaction from him and couldn’t stop herself.

“Look, Bear. Maybe we can come to a deal.” She slid her hand down his thigh. His leg shuddered so subtly that she would have missed it if she hadn’t touched it. Liss fought the temptation to squeeze it to get a bigger response. She was supposed to get her phone back, not seduce a stranger.

He cleared his throat, and there was a teeny twitch to his right eye as he picked up her hand and popped it back on her lap. His hand was hot and coarse, like she fantasised a night with him would be.

Liss leaned into his ear. He smelt of aftershave, something with notes of wood and citrus. She was tempted to breathe him in and imagine his scent on her skin after a night of decadence. Fuck. It was too long since she had sex. Maybe that was why she was acting so out of character.

“Okay, so I need my phone. I don’t want my grandma to know why.” Liss sneaked a look at her nana, but she was still engrossed in her phone call, cackling loudly.

“I’m listening,” Bear grunted.

“The thing is, I sent this guy a picture of me in underwear an hour ago, and he hasn’t replied,” she confessed in a rush of words to the brooding stranger. She wasn’t this confident with strangers, yet his impenetrable persona made her want to poke the bear.

“Does the photo include your face?” His voice was gruff, and it made her skin tingle. She added his voice to fantasies she didn’t need to be embracing. Her throat dried at the idea of sharing the image with him.

“No,” she replied quietly. “I never include my face, and I don’t normally send underwear pics, but my potential date asked, and he’s really hot, and he probably hasn’t replied because?—”

“I don’t care how hot he is. I was asking for security reasons.” He refused to make eye contact, as if she wasn’t worth his attention. Seeds of anger threaded through her desire.

“Rude much?” Liss folded her arms and stared at a spot on the windscreen. Her skin heated, and she ran through everything she should say. Usually, with strangers and out of her comfort zone, she’d sink into the seat and hide away.

“And for the record,” he whispered in her ear before slowly looking her up and down. Liss clenched her thighs under his inspection. “If he hasn’t replied to an underwear picture within five minutes, he doesn’t fancy you.”

Again, she was reminded that he was too big for the back seat when the driver took a corner too quickly and his entire body pressed into hers. She avoided the need to release the moan tickling her tongue. Liss shifted, which made his thigh slide against hers. She stilled suddenly, processing his words. How dare he suggest the guy didn’t fancy her. But the statement gripped her fears about her Tinder match, who hadn’t appeared as keen as she hoped and bruised her further. Bear had no right to say that to her. She hissed, “He’s busy, and he’s working?—”

“I don’t care what he’s doing.” Bear’s voice was like thick, sweet honey, and his breath as he leaned in close made the hairs on her skin rise. “Once, my fuck buddy sent me a photo of her in a couple of dresses. They weren’t fancy, but she wanted help to decide what to wear before seeing me. I excused myself from a meeting, feigning that it was an urgent work issue. Then I called her immediately and told her what I would do to her in my favourite of her dresses while she played with herself in the changing room. I only returned to my meeting when she came from my words. Her moaning climax made me hard as a rock. And I have a big rock.”

Oh shit. He’d seen her messages to Isla.

His dick juddered as if remembering, and Liss fisted her hands, sinking her nails into her palms. The pain from her nails in her skin and the silver ring that dug into her flesh was almost satisfying. Anger and arousal blistered as she imagined his thick London accent telling her to touch him while he stroked between her thighs. Liss shifted awkwardly in her seat. Don’t let him in your head.

Bear leaned in again, and his scent filled her once more. Her whole body quivered. Her fantasies were suddenly more vivid, filling with colour as she memorised every aspect of him. His full lips parted. “If your date hasn’t replied by now, then bin him off, because he doesn’t want you. And buy better underwear, because that must have been a shit photo for him not to respond even now.”

Anger won, and she snapped back, “Fuck off. I looked great. I’ll show you.”

“No, thanks and you’re not getting your phone back. Besides, the last thing I want is to see you like that.”

Liss reared away from him, but there wasn’t enough space. Her lips were tight, and her face burned.

“I’ve got to go, Sergio. My granddaughter is being a drama queen.” She hung up the phone and handed it to Bear. “Stop wriggling, Felicity,” her nana reprimanded, making the fire in Liss’s cheeks from Bear’s insult grow further. Her nana reached up to touch Liss’s hair. “And do something about your hair. You look like you work in a pub.”

Liss batted her hands away as her insides flamed. “I do work in a pub.”

“Yes, but not as a cleaner.”

Bear chuckled, and Liss glowered, but he smirked before mumbling something towards the window.

Liss rallied at Bear. “Is it ‘have a go at Liss’ day? And you still haven’t answered my questions. I don’t know where we’re going or why you’re talking to yourself, Mr. Meathead.”

“We’re here,” the suited stranger in the front passenger seat announced. Camera flashes penetrated the windows from outside the car as they slid through a set of gates, and the driver spoke to someone from his open window.

“Where’s h—” But she was cut off by the front passenger getting out and opening the door for her nana. Bear had said earlier that he needed her phone for security reasons, but she’d been too distracted by his body to ask what he meant.

Bear dived out his door before holding it for Liss. She huffed as she slid across the seat and climbed out. He offered her his hand, but she ignored it, instead sticking up her middle finger at him. At his chuckle, she barely resisted the temptation to claw out his eyes.

“The ladies are out of the car. We’re coming in now,” he said with a quiet grunt.

“Who are you talking to?” she snarled. Bear pointed to his earpiece with a roll of his eyes.

Everyone was rushing around the car, noises coming from all angles. Strangers walked out of what appeared to be an old building into the courtyard before them.

Questions about the past and present flooded her consciousness. Her ears pounded, and she planted her feet firmly on the ground. “I refuse to go anywhere until someone tells me what’s happening. I’ve had enough of being forced here and there. Someone tell me something, or I’m going back to my pub. And you”—Liss jabbed a digit at Bear—“you give me my bloody phone, or I’m coming for it myself.”

She reached into his jacket, but he wrapped his hands around her wrists with lightning-quick reflexes and pinned them mid-air. Her legs quaked, and her skin blistered as arousal filled her veins. Why does that do it for me?

“I will pick you up if I have to,” he grunted. “There’s very little stopping me from throwing you over my shoulder and taking you to the?—”

“I can’t apologise enough,” a male voice called out in the classiest accent she’d ever heard. Even that couldn’t stop the heat burning between her thighs at the idea of being popped over Bear’s shoulder. It was so caveman, and yet fuck, it was hot. None of the preppy guys from her past would have considered it, let alone dared to do it. “The secrecy is all my fault, darling Felicity.”

Liss spun and gasped loudly. She was in the presence of King Archibald.

The King opened his arms, and a measured smile covered his face. “Please come in and have coffee with my family, Miss Granger, and I will explain everything. And security, unhand her. Felicity Granger is a princess now.”