Page 28 of Protected By the Elf Prince

I stared at him while he watched me patiently. Then before I could overthink it, I blurted, “Do you want to have dinner with me tonight?”

Dashiel gave me nothing but silence as he blinked once, and for the first time since meeting him, I saw his composure crack entirely.

His eyes widened slightly as warmth flooded the tattoo so intensely, my wrist practically burned beneath my sleeve.

Was that a good or bad sign?

“I mean…” I cleared my throat quickly. “At my house. Nothing weird. I just thought maybe we could talk more.” I shrugged.

His expression softened into something so openly happy, it stole the breath from my lungs. “It would be my honor,” he said quietly.

And God help me, but that made me smile too. “Right,” I muttered awkwardly. “Okay. Good.”

Neither of us moved for a second until I pointed toward the building behind me. “I should probably go before I get fired.”

“That would be a fortunate outcome.”

Confused, I told him, “What do you mean?”

A flicker of amusement crossed his face. “Just that if you did get fired, I would then have more of your time.”

I shook my head, still smiling despite myself, and turned toward the building entrance. I could feel the warmth of his gaze follow me the entire way inside.

And I liked it.

That realization haunted me for the rest of the morning because, once again, I couldn’t focus. Every time I tried balancing reports or reviewing spreadsheets, my brain wandered right back to Dashiel standing outside my work, looking absurdly pleased because I had invited him to dinner.

Oh hell. Dinner.

I had invited an elf to dinner.

A two-hundred-year-old elf who wanted to burn down bars when women flirted with me.

Normal people did not have these problems.

I stared blankly at my computer screen while my coworker Janice rambled beside me about weekend plans that I barely heard.

“Landon?”

“Hm?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I lied.

She eyed me suspiciously before eventually wandering off again. The second she disappeared, I rubbed a hand over my face.

“This is ridiculous.” Except the smile threatening to escape ruined the complaint entirely.

I liked talking to him.

That was the truth.

Liked how calm he was around me.

Liked the strange gentleness beneath all that intensity.

Liked that he listened when I spoke, as if every word mattered.