Chapter 1

 

 

 

“Royal, get’cho hands off of my butt,” Gemma said, standing in front of Royal while they danced to some ol’ school music – probably some tunes his father had selected although it could’ve been Ramsey’s idea to play some Teddy Pendergrass. After all, it was his party and his yacht.

Royal smiled wickedly, causing a muscle in his cheek to flex. “Don’t act like you don’t like it,” he said, biting his lower lip so that his top row of perfectly straight, annoyingly white teeth rested on it.

The gesture made Gemma’s heart skip a beat. Why’d she have to be friends with a man so fine? But fine or not, he still needed to remove his hands from her derrière. “I repeat, Royal, get’cho hands off of my butt.”

Ignoring her, probably because she’d made the demand with a smile on her face, he tested his limits by squeezing the plump flesh instead and said, “But I like the feel of this apple bottom. It fits so well in the cradle of my palms.”

“Well, we’re supposed to be dancing—not bottom-grabbing and grinding.”

“Grinding?” he said, raising his brows intuitively. “What do you know about grinding, lil’ innocent, Gemma?”

She giggled. “Just because I was sick doesn’t mean I don’t know things. I know what grinding is. It’s not something I do, but I know what it is. That’s what y’all wild folk usually do to this kind of music, right?”

Royal took Gemma by the hand, spun her around, then settled his hands right back on her bottom. “I wouldn’t mind if you decided to get loose and let your boy have a little grind action,” he said and had the nerve to gnaw on his lip again. “Gone twerk something, girl.”

Gemma laughed. “How the freak am I supposed to twerk to Teddy Pendergrass, Turn Off the Lights? Really?”

“You can do it in slow motion,” he said flashing a charismatic smile.

Tickled, Gemma said, “You’re cute. You really are, Prince Royal, but if you don’t keep your hands off of my apples, you’re going to be dancing by yourself. We already have an audience.”

“Who?” he asked, not bothering to look around to see who she was talking about because he didn’t care. When he was with her, nothing else mattered and for that reason, he kept his gaze trained on her.

“Your parents, for one. Your mama got her nose turned up like we stank and your daddy looking like he wants to take your place.”

Royal laughed.

“And Ramsey’s been looking, too, like he’s about ready to reprimand you for being so aggressive with me. Ramsey knows I’m a good girl.”

“Ramsey also knows every good girl got a lil’ freak inside waiting to come out. Why do you think Gianna’s pregnant?”

Gemma playfully slapped his arm. “Hush. Don’t worry about what married people do. You need to be more concerned about your parents.”

“Don’t mind them. They’ve been married since Noah built the ark. I’m sure my dad has done plenty of grinding in his day.”

“Then why ain’t he tearing up the floor with your mom?”

“I don’t know. She’s probably not in the mood to dance, or having a case of motion sickness. She does get that from time-to-time, especially on boats.” Royal glanced up at his mother and said, “Ooh, she is making a stank face at us.”

“I told you.” Gemma laughed. “So, you need to keep this PG-13,” she said, grabbing Royal’s arms by the wrist and pulling his hands away from her butt.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, settling his hands at her small waist instead. “Is that better?” he asked, staring at her lips.

“Much better.”

As far as Royal was concerned, there wasn’t a better way to spend his Saturday – on his brother’s yacht, celebrating with the family. His brother Ramsey had married Gemma’s sister, Gianna, and they were busy on the dance floor celebrating their marriage and the surprise news that Gianna was pregnant which meant he was due to be an uncle soon. But something else had him feeling like he was on cloud nine on this beautiful day on the open waters of Lake Norman.

It was her.

Gemma.

He moved his hands away from her waist to touch and interlock his hands with hers as they swayed back and forth to the music. Several times, he’d lost himself in the honey color of her eyes and when she’d catch him in a trance, she would only smile – and that smile was equally as beautiful and brilliant as everything else about her. He doubted she knew just how appealing and stunning he found her to be. It didn’t matter how much he stared – she hadn’t taken the hint.

“Your hands are cold,” he told her, staring down at her face. He flirted with the idea of running the pad of his thumb across those beautiful brown freckles on her face and over the softness of her pretty lips. He’d dreamed of kissing those lips and enjoying the warmth of them. The taste of them. For now, he’d keep all of those fantasies at bay and be a friend. That’s what she was comfortable with after all. With them being friends. Besides, she was just getting over a sickness. Cancer.

Gemma had surgery about three months ago – a successful surgery, thank God – and Royal, along with Gianna, was there with her in the hospital every step of the way. After Gemma was released, Royal made sure to rearrange his schedule to maximize the amount of time he spent with her. And he kept their relationship at a friendship level ever since, but now standing here staring into her eyes, he knew he couldn’t keep up this friendship façade for much longer. He wanted her too much to stay friends. A simple friendship wasn’t going to cut it.

Gemma felt him squeeze her hands. She looked up at him and met his glassy gaze. “What?”

“You didn’t hear what I just said?” he asked.

“I did. I was ignoring it. I don’t need you being my personal thermometer, Royal.”

He leaned forward and said, “Sometimes, we need things that we don’t know we need.” Then he smiled.

Something in her stomach pulled out of nervousness. Maybe it was how close his lips came to her mouth or the brilliance of his smile. Royal had a beautiful smile – no, not beautiful. It was one of those breathtaking ones that made your heart flutter. But everything about him did crazy things to her, and she was sure other women had succumbed to his spell. He was a handsome, six-feet-four, tower of a man. Light skinned with dark black eyes and a beard that plowed into smooth, caramel skin. And he would let her play with his beard. Normally, he wouldn’t allow a woman to touch his face, and he’d told her that much, but Gemma had free reign to touch him wherever she wanted and whenever she pleased.

“You know I worry about you,” he admitted. “Even still.”

“Yeah, and I keep telling you…it’s not your job, Royal.”

“I made it my job, so in a way, it is, beautiful girl.”

Gemma blushed.

“And by the way, when I said what I said before, why did you look at me like you didn’t believe me?” he asked.

“When you said what?”

“That you looked nice in your outfit. You looked at me like I was lying. Why?”

She shied away from his gaze. She didn’t think her outfit was all that, especially not attention worthy from a man of his caliber. Since it was an all-white party, she had on a white, fitted dress and a matching white scarf. On her feet were a pair of nude flats. “I honestly think I look a mess,” she finally responded. “I was up in the air about coming here.”

“Why?” he asked, frowning.

“Because I have to wear this stupid scarf.”

“No, you don’t. There’s nothing wrong with your hair, Gem.”

“There is. I don’t have any. My hair is still short. It’s just starting to grow back.”

“So what?” He shrugged. “It’s still pretty. Short hair suits your face. In fact, you can take this scarf off right now,” he said, reaching for it.

“No,” Gemma said, ducking away from his hand. “Stop it, Royal.”

“Okay, okay. Don’t panic. Just know that I like your hair.”

“Okay. You like my hair,” she said. “Noted.” She glanced over at Gianna and Ramsey.

Royal also looked in their direction as they danced for a moment, then he returned his attention back to Gemma, his eyes tracing her nose. Outlining her lips. He licked his lips, then asked, “Do you think she’s happy?”

Gemma turned her focus back to Royal. “You mean Gianna?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, God yeah.” She laughed a little. “She’s over the moon. Do you think Ramsey’s happy?”

Royal nodded. “I haven’t seen him this happy in a long time.” Royal released Gemma’s hands to position his hands at her waist again while staring into her eyes, feeling her body tremble beneath his touch. Why was she so nervous all of a sudden? She wasn’t nervous when he had his hands on her butt or was it the combination of staring into her eyes that had her shook? Nah, he quickly decided. They’d spent so many days together, she had no reason to be uneasy around him. Just last night he was with her for a few hours watching a movie and eating dinner. Now she was nervous?

“Hey, I was thinking…you should probably let Ram and Gianna have the house to themselves tonight,” he told her. Gemma had been living with Ramsey and Gianna since the couple married.

“And where am I supposed to stay?” she asked.

“With me,” he offered up casually like it hadn’t been on his mind the whole time.

Gemma furrowed a brow. “So, I’m supposed to stay in your bachelor pad?”

“Yeah. Why not? You’ve been to my place before.”

“Yeah, only twice and I’ve never spent the night.”

Royal watched a jet boat breeze past them then said, “There’s a first time for everything right?”

“Right.”

“Besides, I need to talk to you about something.”

“Must be important. You’ve got that serious look on your face.”

He softened his features. Smiled at her. “It’s something close to me. And, yes, I’ll tell you all about it when we get home.”

When we get home...

She wondered if he heard what he said and if perhaps he meant to say when you get to my condo or when we leave here. Instead, he said, when we get home like he considered his home to be her home as well. The place where she was supposed to be. Or maybe she was reading too much into it, but something told her she wasn’t. She’d noticed that Royal seemed to be getting more and more comfortable touching her lately, but especially so this evening. And she’d caught him several times staring at her with the same intensity that Ramsey had been staring at Gianna for most of the party.

“Why are you so quiet, Gemma?” he asked.

She glanced at the hair beneath his bottom lip when she responded, “No reason. I’m just enjoying this—the wind brushing against my cheeks and being out here with the family. The love in the air feels so electrifying.”

You have no idea, he thought.

“This is my first time on a boat,” she told him.

“I know.”

“And I’ve never danced with a prince before,” she quipped.

He chuckled. “Well, this is my first time dancing with a princess.” My princess.

Gemma cackled. “Oh please, Royal. I see some beautiful woman checking you out whenever we’re together. I know you’ve dated some princesses in your day.”

“Just because a woman is beautiful doesn’t make her a princess. It’s about class. The way she carries herself. The way she treats others.”

Gemma nodded, appreciating the fact that a man actually looked beyond the outer layer of a woman to see what she was really made of. She was glad that he was that kind of good-hearted, common sense person. “Hey, I just thought about something. I can’t stay with you tonight.”

“Why not?” he asked failing at an attempt to hide a frown because he wanted her to stay with him more than anything.

“I don’t have any clothes.”

“Nice try, but we’re still in Lake Norman. We can swing by Ramsey’s and pack an overnight bag for you.”

“Oh. Okay, then. Problem solved, I guess.”

Royal squeezed her waist again. Licked his lips again, finding it a challenge to take his eyes off of her lips.

“Hey, you know the music just stopped, right?” she asked, looking at him instantly feeling the heat of his eyes on her lips. She moistened them. “Royal?”

“Yes?” he asked, connecting his gaze to hers.

“The music stopped.”

“I know.”

She chuckled uncomfortably. “Then why are you still cinching my waist?”

He offered up a half shrug. “No reason.”

Gemma’s cheeks reddened before she wrapped her hands around his wrists moving his hands away from her body for the second time this evening. Feeling like they needed a break because she definitely needed time to maintain a steady heartbeat again, she said, “I’ll be back. I’ma go holla at Gianna for a second.”

“Okay. Hurry back so I can do some more grabbing.”

Gemma stuck her tongue out at him and he pretended to grab it and toss it inside of his mouth, making fake chewing movements. She laughed, then continued walking over to where Gianna was standing.

All the while, Royal watched every single step she took, eyeing her fit, little body down and secretly rejoicing that he’d have her all to himself tonight. At his crib. In his arms. He could hardly wait.

“Man,” Romulus said, stepping up to Royal. “If you stare at her any longer, you’ll be able to read her thoughts.”

Royal chuckled. “You should know, huh? You’ve been reading Siderra’s for how long now?”

Romulus grinned. “Nah. Me and Derra are just friends. But you—you got a thing for this girl.”

Royal looked at the brother that could be considered his twin and said, “You’re just now figuring that out, Rom? Me and Gemma have practically spent every day together for the last two-and-a-half months. Yes, I have a thing for her.”

“And you haven’t made a move yet?” Romulus asked, sliding his hands into his pockets, catching a glimpse of Siderra staring at him and when he caught her gaze, she quickly looked away.

“Nah. Not yet.”

“You’re losing your touch. You usually move quicker than that don’t you, bro?”

“Usually, but not with her. She’s different.”

“Oh shoot. That’s the same nonsense Ramsey was talking when he met Gianna, and they’re married.”

“Funny how that works, isn’t it?” A smile settled in the corner of Royal’s mouth.

“Tell me—what is it that makes Gemma so different?” Romulus asked.

Royal glanced over at Gemma again before he responded, “She just is.”