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Layla was exhausted — as she should be!
She flopped down on my chest, placing her head on the unbuttoned section of my chest.
She remained there, her legs splayed out on either side of me.
“Thank you,” she said. “I needed that.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle.“Youneeded that?Ineeded that!”
We lay there for a while as I gently stroked her hair until she became perfectly still.
I wondered if she had fallen asleep.
After our gymnastics last night and then all the effort she’d put in this morning, I thought she must be exhausted.
I gently eased her off me, placing her on the bed beside me.
Her eyes were tired with dark rings underneath them.
She was clearly tired.
I pulled the blanket up over her and wrapped my arms around her comfortingly. “I want you to rest this afternoon. Then come to the palace tonight.”
It was an idea I had been toying with ever since I first met her.
She turned her head to one side. “You want me to come to the palace?”
“It’s not the first time you’ve been there,” I pointed out.
“I’ve never been there by myself though.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “If we’re going to maintain this relationship, I don’t want to do it in secret. If you want to make a go of it, I am willing to try too.”
She rolled over so we were face-to-face, her stockinged leg draped over mine. “But what about the people? Won’t they start talking?”
I shrugged again. “Let them. I’ve been single for six years. I haven’t dated anyone — not seriously, anyway — so they will just have to get used to the idea of me dating from now on.”
She smiled but it was twisted and distraught.
If I didn’t know any better, I would have said she was on the verge of tears. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just wish… I just wish…”
She reached out and stroked my cheek. “I just wish things could have been… different when we met.”
No doubt she was referring to the previous relationship she’d had with Sleii, with how we had met so soon after they had broken up.
I shook my head and shushed her. “Don’t think like that. The important thing is we met. That we’re togethernow.Let’s just enjoy that.”
Layla nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes.
“How do you females do that?” I said in genuine wonder.
“Do what?”
“Wear makeup that’s the right color, choose the best style of nails, do your eyelashes, do your eyebrows… Men can barely manage to put their clothes on in the morning.”
She barked a laugh. “I guess it’s just something we grew up doing.”
