Page 7 of Protected By the Elf Prince

I was fifty-three, old enough to be his father. Hell, I had a son probably older than him.

The coffee I’d drank threatened to come up.

This couldn’t work.

I couldn’t miraculously change my way of thinking. I liked women. No. I loved women, and now this twentysomething elf wanted to be… married to me?

With another twist to my stomach, I shut the door behind him and turned, suddenly very aware of how small my house felt with him in it.

He looked around briefly before his gaze landed back on me and locked.

He said nothing, and I didn’t know what to say, either, but it honestly did seem, from his small, pleased smile, that he was just happy to be in my company.

This was weird.

“Ah, coffee?” I asked, because I needed something normal.

“If you’re having one, I would welcome the opportunity to have a drink with you,” he replied.

That was a very fancy way of saying yes.

“Right,” I muttered, heading back toward the kitchen. “Coffee it is.”

Monkey had disappeared by the time we entered. Smart kid. Or maybe he just knew this wasn’t a conversation he needed or wanted to be part of.

I busied myself with the machine, grateful for something to do with my hands as more silence settled in.

I could feel him behind me.

Waiting. Watching.

At least he wasn’t pushing me for answers.

He did seem like a nice, considerate person, so maybe what I could do in return was give him the real me and actually get to know him. Then at least I could say I honestly tried, but switching up for a guy was never in my cards.

Nodding to myself, I poured the coffee into a couple of mugs before turning and handing one to him.

Okay, why am I noticing that our fingers didn’t touch?

Leaning against the counter, I took a sip and gestured vaguely between us. “So,” I said. “This… thing.”

Smooth, Landon. Real smooth.

His gaze briefly dropped to my wrist, which had me looking down to see that the tattoo seemed warmer now. Was that because he was near?

“The bond,” he said.

Lifting my gaze, I blinked. What had we been…? Oh, right. “Yeah. That. The bond.” I exhaled slowly. “Look, I’m just going to ask this straight, all right?”

He inclined his head.

“You’re really okay with this?” I asked, gesturing between us again. “With me?”

His expression didn’t change, but his eyes softened.

Shit. They looked nice like that.

Wait… huh?