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

with the muffin-lady. Or any other lady,
for that matter.
    “So what will you do with all these muffins? They will be
stale before you can eat them all.”
    “I know.” Jack appeared to pull himself back to his normal
casual demeanor and walked over to the table to stare at the enormous basket.
“I usually just bring extra stuff like this to the office and let people take
what they want. I guess the muffins will still be fresh on Monday.”
    I frowned. “Maybe. Or you could make up little baskets and
give them to people in the building.”
    “What people?”
    “What about Ralph and Mark?” I suggested, referring to the
daytime and nighttime doormen in our apartment building. “They both have
families who I’m sure would enjoy the muffins. And what about Sheila, the
housekeeper? She has six children. Did you know that? And what about Mrs. Daily
who lives on the other side of me. She’s all alone and would appreciate the
gesture. Her son never comes to visit her, although he lives only a few miles
away.”
    I was about to go on with some other people who might like
the muffins when I saw Jack’s expression and trailed off. “Why do you look at
me that way?” I dropped my eyes since his expression was filled with something
almost like awe.
    “You’re amazing,” he murmured thickly. “Do you know that?”
    I could feel my cheeks flushing, but I tried to respond
naturally. “I’m not amazing. I was just thinking of people who might like the
muffins.”
    “You are amazing. And your idea is great. If you can
help me divide them out, we can give them out. No use in letting them get
stale.”
    Relieved that the tension had shifted into something
practical to do, I lost no time in opening up the wrapping and dividing out the
muffins into several groups of twenty-four each. Then, thinking through the
options, I pulled the cellophane off the basket and laid it out so I could cut
it into smaller squares, which I used to wrap up the muffins, tying them off
with pieces of ribbon I trimmed from the large bow on top of the basket.
    “There,” I said. “They look very cute, don’t they?”
    Jack had been watching me and helping when I asked him to,
and now he was smiling and shaking his head as he gazed down at the little
packages. “Amazing.”
    I wasn’t sure whether he was talking about the packages or
about me, but either one made me feel good. I was flushed and smiling as I
picked up the last of the trash and threw it away.
    “You’re going to come with me to pass these out, aren’t
you?” Jack asked. “I can’t carry them all.”
    There was no good reason for me to object, so we made a
circuit around the building, passing out the packages and reserving one for
when Mark’s shift began in a couple of hours. We didn’t stay long to talk to
anyone, but everyone was pleased and surprised and gratified by the gesture,
and I couldn’t help but like how they seemed to assume that Jack and I were together .
    It wasn’t a feeling I was used to—being paired up with a
really good guy in the eyes of other people—and it was something I could easily
become accustomed to.
    When we returned to Jack’s apartment, I told myself it was
time to go back to my own place. I was feeling far too fond of him, attracted
to him at the moment, and I wasn’t sure what might happen when I was in this
mood.
    “Do you want to work out with me this evening?” he asked.
    “Yes.”
    Hmm. That wasn’t what I was supposed to have said.
    But I felt no regrets at all as I hurried back to change
clothes and then met him in the hallway. There was a very nice workout room on
the floor below us, so we went downstairs. I was pleased to see that no one
else was in the room when we walked in.
    We’d worked out together quite often. Jack liked to work out
most evenings, and I could use the exercise too—although I wasn’t as inclined
in that direction as he was.
    It was always a practice in discipline for me to work out
with him,