Rolling his neck, he exhaled, long and dramatic. He could do this.If she won’t talk to me, I’ll say my piece from behind the panel.He nodded to himself, then stalked into his washroom.
At the top of the hidden stairs, he rapped against the door, was greeted by a muffled yelp, took a steeling breath, then popped the latch from the inside.
Kas waltzed into the chamber like he owned the place—which he did—and locked eyes on Nesrina. She stood, frozen halfway between the sitting area and the bed, like she’d been coming to greet him. Her dinner tray sat, lid still in place, atop the low table.
Nes didn’t speak, but she didn’t need to for him to know he’d made the right choice. Sure, she had her hands on her hips and pursed her perfect rosebud lips in a rather terrifying scowl. But he knew her better than that, he saw beyond Nesrina’s show of anger and noticed her left foot tapping beneath her long dress. He noticed the pinching and rolling of fabric between her thumb and forefinger on her right hip. He noticed her raised brows.
She was nervous, yes. A little annoyed with him? Sure. But she was also intrigued.
Kas bit back a smile and inclined his head in a show of respect before walking past, picking up her dinner, and striding right back to the panel he’d left open.
Although he didn’t allow himself to turn around for her reaction, he heard her mouth pop open as he passed by.
At the base of the stairs, he waited. It took a minute, but eventually, as he’d hoped, she followed. True to form, his lovely distraction stomped all the way down so he would know she wasn’t happy about it. “I’m only joining you because I’m hungry, and we need to talk,” she shouted in time with her steps.
This time he didn’t bother biting back his smile as she followed, hot on his heels, all the way to the table.
Kas set down her dinner across from his, then pulled out Nesrina’s chair.
She sat.
With a flourish, he lifted the lids from both trays before taking his seat across from her. They had identical meals of steak, potatoes, and roasted vegetables.
She wouldn’t meet his eyes, instead busying herself by twisting the stem of her empty wineglass back and forth between her fingertips.
“Nes—” He cleared his throat. “Nesrina. We need to talk.”
The glass in her hand stilled, and he heard her teeth grit. “I literally just said that.”
“Sorry, you did. I’m nervous.”
She blinked at her plate, apparently stunned by his confession.
“I want to apologize for forcing you to join me like this. I may not be a smart man, but I’m not an idiot—”
She tilted her left hand from side to side.
He chuckled. She still hadn’t looked at him, but it was better than nothing. She was listening. “I’m no fool, Nes. I recognize manipulating you into dinner tonight is exactly what youdon’twant me to be doing.”
She nodded.
“But I desperately needed to speak with you.” His voice cracked on the word desperately, something that hadn’t happened since he was a very young man.
Nesrina tilted her face up and met his eyes, finally. She smirked as she took in his blush.
He shook his head. “If you’re at all concerned about the propriety of dining together, let me remind you, the staff are all aware we’ve both come down with something. You’re dining alone in your chamber; I’m dining alone in mine. We won’t be bothered.”
She sucked her teeth.
“Wrong thing to say?” Kas leaned forward and filled Nes’s wine glass liberally, before addressing his own. Tonight’s servings were at least one and a half times as much as usual. He, for one, needed the liquid courage.
She took a slow sip.
“You’ll stay?”
“I’ll stay.”
Thank the gods.
