Page 42 of The Defiant Wife

"The one where you're about to expose me."

Lucky studies me for another second.Then gasps dramatically."Are you ill?"

I frown, "What?"

"Your face is red."

"It is not."

"It is."

"It's hot."

"We have three fans."

I narrow my eyes.Lucky narrows his right back.

Finally he shrugs. "Okay."

The smile on his face tells me he absolutely does not believe me.Wonderful.Even the children have started noticing.

This day keeps getting better.A little later, I find myself outside in the courtyard.The afternoon sun filters through the trees surrounding the NGO.

Children run around in every direction.

Few are playing cricket.Someone is arguing over crayons. Someone is dozing off when they should definitely be studying.Business as usual.

The sight immediately relaxes me.It always does.No matter what kind of day I'm having, these children somehow manage to make everything feel lighter.

I drop onto the grass beside a group of girls braiding friendship bracelets.Within seconds, three children climb into my lap andtwo more lean against my shoulders. Personal space doesn't exist here.I've accepted it.

A burst of laughter escapes me when Keshav trips over absolutely nothing and starts blaming the grass for it. The grass. Apparently it attacked him.

I am still laughing when I feel someone's gaze.I look up.And immediately find him.Of course.

Veeraj sits beneath a tree on the opposite side of the courtyard. A file rests in his lap.His sleeves are rolled up.His attention appears to be on the paperwork—’appears’being the important word.Because every few minutes his gaze lifts. Toward the children.Toward the courtyard.Toward us.Then drops back down.

Like nobody will notice.I narrow my eyes.The man genuinely thinks he's subtle.Which is adorable.And by adorable I mean mildly insulting. Because I absolutely notice.The children notice too.

Laila follows my gaze andgrins."Prince uncle."

I immediately look away.Far too quickly.

I glance back toward Veeraj.

He's listening to Jay explain something passionately so patiently, as if Jay's the most interesting guy on the planet, which he might be, but the expression on Veeraj's face does something weird in my chest.

I ignore it.

The man confuses me.That's the problem.He's awkward around children.Yet they adore him.He rarely talks.Yet theyconstantly seek him out.He acts like he doesn't care, like coming here is a task.Yet somehow he remembers everyone's names.Everyone's favorite stories.Everyone's struggles.It's contradictory and so annoying.

Because nobody can be that emotionally constipated and still care that much.It's mathematically impossible.

My gaze lingers on him.He says something to Jay whoimmediately rolls his eyes.The prince actually gets eye-rolls from children now.

Progress.

I watch him for another minute, and suddenly a thought occurs to me.A dangerous thought.My lips slowly curve upward. I may look remotely evil.Because there's absolutely no way this man is as unaffected as he pretends to be.