Stealing Kisses With a King (Kings of Carolina #3)- Sylvie Stewart Page 0,39
heart racing, palms wet, skin burning, chest tight. “I was afraid it was never going to end.”
“Okay. Good.”
My eyes opened to find her standing closer than she had been, looking both ridiculous and quite adorable in my oversized jacket. The sight served to calm me almost immediately.
She shook her head. “I don’t mean good that you felt that way.”
I managed a small smile as I continued taking slow, measured breaths. “I know what you meant.”
“So, on a scale of one to ten, how awful would you say that experience at the hospital dinner was?”
I didn’t hesitate. “Nine point five.”
She only nodded and shifted closer to the edge of the roof, gesturing for me to join her. “Take a good look down.” I did as she requested and then looked back at her. “No. Keep looking.” My gaze returned to the stone courtyard below. It had to be twelve or thirteen meters down. “If you fell off this roof right now, what would happen?”
My eyebrows spiked as my eyes shot back to Alice. “Besides Leo being crowned instead of me?”
One hand emerged from beneath the jacket to push her glasses up her nose as she pursed her lips at me.
“I’d say a broken back for certain, probably death, perhaps just paralysis and brain damage.” I peeked once more over the edge and then back at her. “Has anyone ever told you you’re a fun date?”
Ignoring the last part, she said, “Let’s go with a broken back. You’d be in excruciating pain, suffer through a long and difficult recovery, likely battle an addiction to painkillers…”
“It is me we’re talking about, after all.” I fought a small grin.
Again, I was ignored. “Ending in a lifetime of stiffness and pain.”
“Sounds grand, but I have a dinner to get to.” I threw a thumb over my shoulder and tried not to let the chilly air—or Alice’s sudden fascination with my potential maiming—bother me.
“I’m not finished.” She tightened the jacket again and met my eyes. “So, on a scale of one to ten, how awful would that fall over the edge be?”
Giving it half a second of consideration, I responded, “Three hundred.”
“No cheating.” Her tone was back to scolding.
“Fine. Ten.”
“Okay. Now, would you like to change your rating for the hospital dinner?”
I threw a hand out in the direction of the courtyard. “That’s like comparing apples to oranges.”
“It is.” She agreed.
“Your point, then?”
Her eyes remained pinned on mine. “Despite how panicked you felt standing at that podium, you were never in any real danger. It was always going to end at some point, and you’d return to feeling like yourself. You weren’t going to cease breathing and die. The panic just had to run its course.”
What she said was true, of course, but tell that to my brain once the panic hit.
“And this little exercise means it won’t happen again?” I asked, knowing it wasn’t that easy.
She shook her head, more hair falling from her knot as the wind picked up again. “I didn’t say that. We just need to change the way you’re thinking about it to start turning things around.”
I let out a long exhale. “Okay. I can work with you on that.”
She nodded, clearly pleased, and my chest swelled the tiniest bit at having achieved her approval. “I have an assignment for you.”
“Homework? That was never my strong suit.” Evasion was always preferable to commitment.
“Too bad. This is important.”
“All right, Ms. Williams.” I straightened. “What’s my assignment?” A random notion suddenly popped in my mind. In all my sexual adventures, why hadn’t I ever pursued any sort of bedroom role play involving a little student/teacher scenario? It sounded quite hot, now that I considered it.
Pay attention, you wanker!
Ignorant of my mind’s musings, Alice continued, “At the dinner tonight, I want you to find an appropriate moment to stand, hold up your glass, and say ‘Cheers!’” Her hand rose in a mock toast, my jacket threatening to fall from her shoulders before she quickly secured it again. “That’s it. Just the one word, and then you can sit back down.”
“And having people think I’m insane will help me how?”
“These people know you, sir. They’ll forgive you anything. Besides, surely you’ve behaved more oddly than that.” Her lips curved, causing the apples of her cheeks to bump her glasses so they required straightening again. For a woman who worked at an eyeglass company, one would think she’d own a pair of glasses that fit properly. Although the sight of Alice pushing her glasses up her