A Princess Next Door (Rothman Royals Book 1) Read Online Free

obviously care about me so much.
    I finally looked away from him—to keep myself from doing
something I definitely shouldn’t do—and noticed an enormous basket on his
table. “What is this?”
    “Oh. That. Someone sent it to me.”
    My eyes widened as I realized the basket was full of
mini-muffins of different variety and was decorated with cellophane and
ribbons. “Who sent this to you?”
    “Oh, some woman.”
    I gasped. “You must have had a very good date.”
    I didn’t like the idea of his going out on such a good date.
At all. In the past few weeks, he hadn’t seemed to go out very much, but I
didn’t keep track of all his comings and goings, so it was certainly possible
that I missed something.
    If the woman had responded with this huge basket, it must
have been a mind-blowing date.
    Jack shouldn’t be blowing any other woman’s mind. The idea
made me very unhappy.
    “It wasn’t a date,” Jack replied, looking rather
self-conscious. “It was someone I’ve been doing some business with. I guess
it’s just a gesture of thanks. It’s a little odd, but I do sometimes get things
like this.”
    Relieved at his mood and at his obvious disinterest in whomever
the woman was, I plucked the card from the basket and opened it, deciding he
would stop me if he didn’t want me to read it.
    Jack didn’t stop me, so I read, Thanks for everything. I
look forward to a richly rewarding relationship .
    I stiffened my shoulders and met his eyes. “This woman is
definitely interested in you.”
    “It’s just a business relationship.”
    “Not to her. You must believe me. This woman wants far more
than business from you.” I scowled slightly at the thought.
    He chuckled again and took the card from my hand. “You don’t
look very happy about that. Maybe she would be a good match for me.”
    “Maybe,” I said, rather primly, since I was trying to hide
how bothered I was by this whole discussion. “You’ll have to decide that. It’s
not my concern.”
    “It looks like you’re concerned about it.” He reached up to
brush my hair back from my face, the light touch making me shiver.
    “I’m not concerned. You can date and marry and have babies
with your muffin-lady, if that’s what you want.”
    His eyes held mine, and his expression softened and heated
up at the same time. “You said you didn’t want to go out with me, so all I’m
left with is my muffin-lady.”
    That wasn’t exactly what I’d said. I’d said there could be
no future since I was moving home right after graduation. “You are left with
any woman you want.”
    “Except you.”
    “Ex-cept....” I could barely get the word out since my mind
was whirling with feeling and excitement. It looked and felt like Jack would
kiss me, and I wanted it more than anything. We’d been friendly for the past
three weeks—hanging out several times a week and talking nearly every day. But
he hadn’t been flirtatious like this, and now he was almost irresistible.
    He cupped my cheek. “Except you.”
    I tried the words again. “Except…me.” I cleared my throat.
“I have to move in fifteen days.”
    Jack let out a long breath and dropped his hand. His
expression hadn’t changed very much, but something about him felt almost
deflated. “I know you do.”
    I’d been dreading the move back home more than ever, and now
I suddenly couldn’t stand the thought of my life without Jack in it. Even if
nothing ever happened between us, I felt closer to Jack than I’d ever felt to
anyone but my family.
    I would miss him. So much I could feel pain rising in my
chest.
    Trying to distract myself, I said, “So you should ask out
your muffin-lady. She obviously wants more than business.”
    Jack shook his head. “She can want all she wants. All I’m
offering is business.”
    It was wrong to be so pleased by this response—I should want
him to be happy in a relationship when I went back home—but I was pleased. Very, very pleased.
    I didn’t want him