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He looks at me and takes my hand. I resent that it calms me a little when I want to stay angry.
“Try to imagine this, Bella. The love you have for Lily, how much you want to protect her. Can you imagine how a king feels? That’s how a king feels about his entire country. Every man, woman, and child.”
“Are you kidding me?” I don’t realize I’m yelling until Water looks up. “If he loved her, none of that would have mattered.”
“This isn’t a fairy tale. This is real life. Royal obligations –”
“Are a pathetic excuse if you ask me. Do you really think what your uncle did was right?”
“I think there are a lot of –”
“You know what? I don’t want to hear it.”
I get ready to swing myself up into the saddle and reach to find the reins. “Water. Let’s go.”
But Water’s not going anywhere, I’m realizing.
Alex has a hold of the reins and is stroking Water’s nose. And Water, the treasonous beast that he is, appears to be enjoying it.
“Bella, we aren’t going to settle this today.”
I shrug my shoulders and then cross my arms.
“So why don’t we give it a rest? I want to learn more about the ranching life. Can you show me what you do?”
“Seriously? No.”
“You can show me all your favorite spots in town after that. I’ll buy dinner.”
I grunt at him. He whistles for Maximus, who trots right over to him. Alex climbs onto him.
“Tell you what, Bella. I’ll race you for it. If you win, I buy you dinner. If I win, you have to go out with me tonight.”
“That’s… wait a minute.” I roll my eyes.
“On your mark, get set –”
“Go!” I yell, urging Water into a run.
As we streak across the trail, I can hear Maximus’s hooves pounding behind me. This time, I have too much of a lead for Alex to narrow it. Of course, the bet is rigged. There’s no winning, even if I win.
We finish, and I beat him by at least five seconds. But I’m frowning at the Pyrrhic victory. “You won, fair and square. Happy?”
He’s grinning at me. He looks like a kid, and I smile back before I can stop myself.
“If you want to take me to dinner, you have to work for it.”
“Okay.”
“No, I mean it. I’m going to work your butt off.”
He looks down over his shoulder. Yeah, that butt. For the rest of the day, it’s mine.
17
ALEXIS
“You’re good at this sort of thing,” I say, leaning on the stable gate while Bella brushes the mane of one of the horses.
