butt!
She spun around, her eyes capturing his as if to admonish him. But even though he knew he’d been caught, he was unrepentant!
Unfortunately, the elevator chimed, indicating that someone was about to enter. “My sister arrives,” he said with a slight smile to his handsome face.
He turned and looked over at the doors and Miranda felt a lump in her throat when she realized that he was so eager to see his sister again. A man couldn’t be too bad if he felt this kind of affection and love for his sibling, right?
She decided to ignore the fact that she’d caught him ogling her and turned to face the guests as well. The realization that she was about to meet royalty suddenly struck her at the same time Royston’s arms wrapped around her waist. Instantly, she felt better, more confident. “Come meet my sister,” he said.
Royston introduced her to a very lovely, very kind looking blond woman with a riot of curls framing her beautiful face. The man standing next to her with his arm protectively around her, was just as tall and just as broad as Royston, but he had a look about him that screamed out “danger”. She glanced up at Royston, trying to figure out what was going on, but he had a similar expression on his face as well.
“Yarin,” Royston said, extending his hand.
The tall, dangerous looking man took Royston’s hand and it seemed as if the two men were actually having a brawl with the normally innocent handshake even while their eyes glared at one another.
“And you must be Miranda,” the blond woman said, stepping around the two men which effectively ended the power struggle. “I’m Wyndi and I’m delighted to meet you.”
Miranda took the other woman’s hand, startled but grateful by her overt friendliness. “It’s a pleasure to meet you as well.”
Wyndi’s smile widened and she stepped closer, excitement shining through her lovely blue eyes. “You’re going to have to tell me everything about my brother. It’s been way too long since we’ve seen each other,” she said, turning to wrap her arms around Royston, laying her cheek against his chest. Miranda was startled to find herself jealous of their embrace. Royston’s arms gently encircled the blond woman, his eyes closing as he bent lower to more thoroughly surround her.
Wyndi pulled back slightly, keeping her arms around his waist. “You’re okay,” she smiled up at hm. “I can see now why you claim to be doing okay,” she said, turning slightly to include Miranda in her glow of happiness. “I’m thrilled that we’ll all be family soon. And I’m very excited that we met before the wedding!”
The woman stepped out of Royston’s arms and grabbed Miranda’s hand. “So how did the two of you meet?” she asked, pulling Miranda over to one of the long sofas that was set in front of the stone fireplace. “Was he sweet and kind? Did he sweep you off of your feet?” she laughed, eager for details.
Miranda looked back at Royston, begging him for help. “Um…why don’t you explain it?”
Royston winked back at her, an evil look in his eyes as he said, “You go ahead. You tell it so much better than I do.”
Her eyes narrowed and she turned her back on the horrible man. He wanted to play games? She could play them just as well as he could. Facing Wyndi, she smiled brightly. “I work at his company, you see,” she said, taking the glass of red wine that he placed in her hand again, taking a small sip before placing it on the low coffee table right in front of her. “I was frantically trying to compile these ridiculous reports the man thinks he needs every month. I don’t know if you realize this, but your brother is a real stickler for punctuality,” Miranda said with a conspiratorial smile at Wyndi, all the while slyly looking over her shoulder at the man in question. She almost burst out laughing when he rolled his eyes. “Anyway, I was late. Well, actually, the whole team was late but my boss dumped all the reports on my desk and told me I had to deliver them.” She shuddered for effect. “So I brought them into Royston’s office, which I thought was empty but turns out, he was simply hiding. And he caught me delivering the reports late.”
“And you took one look at him and fell madly in love, right?” Wyndi clapped her hands together.
Miranda laughed and shook