Page 46 of Cinder's Trial
Hannah snorted. “Levi is choosing to be near you. Otherwise, you’d be in a different room.”
“He thinks I’m in danger.”
“If that were true, then he would have us bunking together. I have two beds, too,” Hannah stated.
He’d lied? “What? He told me you only had a single.”
For some reason, my reply had her guffawing. “I didn’t think the boss had it in him to be sly to get a woman alone. About time someone tied him in knots.”
“You think he likes me?” I mean I should think he did; after all, we’d become lovers. However, I couldn’t forget my initial qualms about him. About how our differences made us an impossible match. Then again, they did say opposites attract.
“He more than likes you, honey. The man is utterly besotted.”
A thought that warmed me through and through.
“What’s on the agenda today?” Hannah asked.
“Killian’s got some meetings this morning, but we thought we’d try and get rid of a few more potentials before the ball tomorrow.”
“I don’t know that there’s any point. The list grew again overnight.”
“More Cinderellas?” I ogled her. The number already gathered proved unprecedented.
“Yeah, they’re pouring out of the woodwork.”
I rubbed my forehead. “The ball is going to be a nightmare.”
“I’m thinking more like the aftermath will be. They’re all going to be dropping shoes in front of Killian. And if he doesn’t choose one, who knows what will happen? We’re going to have to be on high alert for assassination from disgruntled potentials. I also wouldn’t rule out a kidnapping, but most likely, we’ll have a riot.”
I’d not actually thought that far ahead. Would things get ugly if he didn’t select a bride? “Poor Killian.”
“It might be possible to avert disaster. I’m thinking maybe the ball would be the perfect place for you to announce a fake engagement. Hit them all at once.”
“That seems dangerous. You saw what happened yesterday with that woman who suddenly turned witch.”
“That kind of shit might still happen if the prince leaves that ball without being engaged.”
My lips turned down. “I hate this curse.”
“We all do, honey.”
I eyed her. “Think Levi would go for it?”
“Nope.” Hannah shook her head. “I think he will rant and rave and bluster.”
“Because it’s a dangerous idea.”
“More like he’ll be insanely jealous. I’ve never seen a man so tense. Every time you cooed at Killian I thought he’d crush his own hand he fisted it so tight.”
“Let me think about it.” While I found myself basking in Levi’s possessiveness, I wanted to help Killian. At the same time, I couldn’t ignore how it bothered Levi when I pretended affection for another.
“You have until the ball to figure it out. In the meantime, I’m bored, and since we can’t go outside, I say we hit the pool for a swim.”
“Levi will throw a hissy fit if I leave this room.”
“His orders were to not leave the hotel and to stick close to me. He didn’t actually say it had to be in this particular spot,” Hannah cajoled, finding a loophole.
A swim would be nice. “I don’t have a suit.”