Chapter 40
“I hope we can fix this need to want to tear each other apart over our next dates,”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.
Lance suggested.
“What? We have to keep meeting? I wasn’t aware,”
She let out.
‘You are still in Otano right? We should meet every day until you have to go back home, that way we will learn all things about each other, you said it also that we can’t get married as strangers,”
Lance reminded her.
“Yeah, sure, whatever you say,”
She replied. There was no getting through to her, she was just too stubborn.
“I will drop you off at your hotel,”
Lance invited as he stood up and she did too.
“You don’t have to do that, I have my people with me and I can find my way back to the hotel, let’s not pretend to be close when we are not,”
She responded.
“Yeah, my bad,”
He said and before he could say anything else, she just picked up her bag, and off she went. Before he came out of the restaurant, she was already gone.
“That’s one heck of a woman,”
He commented. He got into his car too and the driver took him back to the palace. The next day, he called her to meet him at the archery, he had been in a meeting all day so he couldn’t leave the palace, after they played a few times and talked, he invited her over for dinner and they managed to get through without much issues as compared to the other day, since his driver and guards went to pick her, they also went to drop after. Lance couldn’t say they connected more after the second date but it was better than the first and he hoped the next would be better.
Lance got dressed once again for a date with Roseline, over the last couple of days, they made out time to speak to each other and see each other even if it was for an hour, she was staying at one of the biggest hotels in the kingdom so it was easy for them to meet for dates. He would have liked for her to stay in the palace so that he doesn’t have to leave to go see her everything but she couldn’t sleep in the palace until after they were married as it was part of the kingdom’s belief, it made no sense to him but still, he let it be. He went for a more casual look today as they were only going to be having dinner at the hotel, she was leaving tomorrow which is why they were having the dinner.
“You are early today,”
Roseline commented when she walked in, over the last couple of dates, he had gotten used to her attitude, he couldn’t say he liked it but at least it was not as annoying to him as the first date. He still couldn’t see himself being married to her, it was just so hard to picture her as his wife without them quarreling or fighting over something each day. Like one would expect her to already learn how to greet him properly when they meet but nope, he always has to be the bigger person and do the right thing.
“It is good to see you too, Roseline,”
He said in response.
“Oh, right, good evening your majesty,”
She replied which would have been okay if it wasn’t dripping with so much sarcasm, he just couldn’t do anything right with her.
“Just sit down princess,”
He said.
“Of course, I don’t need you to tell me that, anyway, tell your assistant to stop calling me or I will have him arrested.”
She informed and it took him a moment before he realized it was Patrick that she was referring to.
“I have told you he is not my assistant, he is my special adviser,”
Lance corrected. He couldn’t remember asking Patrick to call her, in fact, they haven’t spoken so much in the last couple of days as Patrick had things to attend to outside the palace.
“Right, you mentioned, anyway, tell him to stop calling me,”
She said again.
“Why would he call you? What did he tell you?”
Lance asked.
“That’s the annoying part, he keeps calling to check up on me and ask how I am doing or if I need anything, like he is my older brother or something,”
She complained. Lance couldn’t believe she was already getting a dose of Patrick even though they were not together yet. The man was a pest when he chose to be.
“That’s the typical Patrick, expect more if we end up married,”
Lance commented.
“If we? Our wedding is literally like three weeks away, there is no if, we are getting married,”
She responded. She didn’t even sound convinced herself and he wasn’t even feeling as if his wedding was coming up, nothing at all, not even the dates could fix them. They had no chemistry and all they did was bicker, eat and talk about anything and everything except their marriage and when it is mentioned, it always leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. He couldn’t see himself marrying her. They ate, talked and it was time to leave.
“I will see you back to your room and you can’t say no,”
Lance told her as he stood up and reached out for her hand, she surprisingly took it without any word and he led her out.
“We truly are the worse combination because why don’t I feel anything holding your hands,”
She commented. He noticed but he decided not to say anything about it. Trust her to point it out.
“We mid as fuck, but let’s keep going,”
He responded and she started laughing, she had a nice laugh, and even though they didn’t like each other, he couldn’t deny that she could easily be someone he would hang out with, aside from marriage and relationship, they could hang out as friends. Maybe if he did call off the wedding, they can become annoying friends just like he and Patrick.
“Okay, we are here, I can’t say I had fun because half of the time, I wanted to throw my spoon at you but thank you,”
She told him when they got to her suite door.
“Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
He didn’t mean it but she nodded.
“Sure, come in if you want,”
She invited and he followed her into the big suite.
“Want a drink? I notice you don’t drink,”
She commented. He decided not to have a drink when she was around because he didn’t want her to know he had a drinking problem. Not like he was ashamed of it; he just didn’t want her to know.
“I am staying off alcohol for now, so no,”
“Okay, so what do you want to do? Why did you ask to come in if you aren’t going to drink?”
She asked.
“Hmm, there are other things a man and a woman who are supposed to be married can do you know,”
Lance suggested. Walking slowly towards her, she took a step back and he stopped.
“What are you planning on doing?”
She asked.
“Do you ever just shut up?”
He questioned as he closed the distance between them and cupped her face in his palms, he half expected her to pull away but she didn’t, he leaned closer and claimed her lips, he paused to see if she would pull away, she didn’t, neither did she make a move. He was so tempered to pull away and just let her be but he decided to just keep going, kissing her and asking for entrance into her mouth but she kept her lips closed, he gave up and pulled away.
“The fuck?”
He asked.
“What? Can’t I tease you?”
She asked before pulling him back for a kiss, this time she was in charge, he decided to pay her back by keeping his own mouth closed but she decided to play dirty and pinch him which caused him to open his mouth and her tongue diving into his mouth. Nothing, he felt nothing, he tried kissing her back, deepening the kiss and making it even more intense but still nothing. Instead, at that moment, his mind went back to Sophie and he wondered how kissing her had felt, maybe he should have given in to the thought earlier and actually find out what kissing her would taste like, he already knew even without doing it that he would have liked it. Just having her next to him was enough to make him feel comfortable, he was damn sure kissing her would make it even feel like he is in heaven.