The Summer King Bundle 3 Stories - Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,37

an idiot and honestly, the offer knocked me off guard. “I guess.”

One side of his lips kicked up. “Good, but I just have one request.”

“You invited me to grab something to eat, but you have one request?”

“I do,” he said. “I want you.”

My eyes widened as the heat from earlier returned in full force, and goodness, that was annoying… and a little frightening. “Excuse me?”

“I want you to be yourself. I don’t want this.” He gestured in the general direction of my head. “I want you to be… you.”

* * * *

I’d used a restroom on the second floor to change… back into myself. Of course, I wasn’t able to get rid of the makeup. That required near industrial strength makeup remover, but I took off the wig and unpinned my hair, shaking it out. That was the best I could do, and I wasn’t even sure why I’d done it.

Maybe it was because no one… no one ever seemed interested in me before, the real me, that the request stunned me into complying. That was the best reasoning I could come up with as I found myself sitting across from the Prince in a brightly lit Creole House, toying with the paper wrapper from my straw as the amazing scent of spicy seafood had my stomach rumbling.

We were… we were getting a lot of looks. Strange ones. Long ones with raised eyebrows. I figured it was partly because the Prince was so big and so freaking nice to look at, that people were probably wondering if he was a celebrity they couldn’t place. I also figured that some of the looks were due to the fact I looked like a hooker.

I like to think I at least looked like an expensive hooker.

“You’re nervous,” the Prince commented after we placed an order for crab cakes and, per the Prince’s request, a crawfish platter.

I glanced up at him. Was I nervous? Uh, yes. I was currently sitting across from the Prince in a restaurant looking halfway like my normal self, and I really had no idea how I’d ended up here. “Do you smell it?”

A faint smile appeared. “Don’t need to. You’re building a compost pile over there.”

Frowning, I glanced down and saw that I did have a significant pile of torn paper in front of me. I dropped my hands to my lap and drew in a shallow breath as I lifted my gaze. “I don’t… I don’t think this is a good idea.”

His stare was unwavering. “It’s probably not.”

My heart skipped at the agreement. I don’t know what I was expecting him to say, but I wasn’t thinking he was going to agree. “You asked me to join you.”

“I did.”

I stared at him. “So why did you ask me to join you if you think it’s a bad idea?”

He leaned against the booth, tossing his arm along the back. “Because good ideas are ideas rarely wanted… or needed.”

Flattening my hands on my thighs, I wasn’t sure how to respond that. “Okay.”

“Why did you agree if you think it’s a bad idea?”

I let out a dry laugh. “Honestly? I don’t know.”

The faint smile reappeared. “So, since you were recognized by the fae tonight, will that be enough for you to rethink what you’re doing?”

“Is that why you asked me to come here?” I picked up my diet Coke and took a sip. “To involve yourself yet again in something that does not concern you?”

“It concerns me.”

I put my glass down. “How is that?”

He dipped his chin and stared at me through lowered lashes. “That’s not going to deter you, is it? The added risk.”

Shaking my head, I lifted a shoulder. “Do you want me to tell you what you want to hear or the truth?”

There was a flicker of amusement that crossed his face. “You risk too much.”

“I haven’t risked nearly enough.”

“How do you see that?”

I leaned forward, placing my hands on the table. “I’ve spent thirty years playing it safe.”

His brows lifted. “That’s your logical reasoning for putting your life on the line?”

Sounded pretty illogical, but whatever. “You know why I must do this, risk or not. Just like you would go after Aric or the Queen even if it meant your death.”

A muscle ticked along his jaw. “As I said before, it’s different.” There was a pause. “I remember,” he said. “I remember the first time I saw you.”

A shiver danced across my shoulders as I lifted my gaze to his.

“You were scared of us—of me and my