Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 122550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 613(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 409(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 613(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 409(@300wpm)
“Jilly, don’t move! You might be hurt.”
“I promise I can fix it! I can! A bit of glue will make it all better.”
“Will make what all better? Jilly, will you stop and let me check you over!” Regent ordered.
What had she been thinking? Why had she gotten on that hoverboard? She was an idiot.
Who’d just felt like doing something fun after feeling like she’d been trapped in this gorgeous house for nearly two weeks. Now, she’d wrecked what was probably a priceless heirloom.
“Jilly! You weren’t supposed to cry!” Ace said accusingly. “You promised.”
She picked up a piece of the vase. “Sorry, Ace. Guess I’m just a failure all the way around.”
“Jilly!” Regent snapped. “Put that down before you cut yourself. And you are not a failure.”
“What’s going on? Oh God, Ace, what did you do? Did you break that?” Thea called out.
Several voices joined hers. Great, her first family Sunday lunch and she’d completely humiliated herself.
“I can fix it,” she whimpered.
“Ace! You’re not supposed to ride your hoverboard inside,” Carrick said firmly.
“It wasn’t me! It was Jilly! And she broke the vase.”
Jilly burst into tears. Huge, sobbing tears. She attempted to calm herself, knowing she was going to be embarrassed later.
Not to mention that she’d promised Ace.
But she couldn’t seem to stop herself.
Everyone fell silent.
Regent suddenly picked her up. She didn’t fight him, just continued to hold the vase piece as he carried her away.
“Just some superglue,” she whispered. “That’s all it needs.”
“Jilly, hush up.”
She closed her mouth. Yeah, she guessed she’d done enough. Not only had she smashed the vase. But she’d embarrassed him in front of his family.
Regent would never let his emotions bleed out all over the place like she was doing.
God. What was wrong with her?
Would he finally realize that she was utterly unsuited for this life?
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
A door shut, and she glanced around through blurry eyes to see that they were in his office. Moving to the sofa in front of the open fireplace, he sat with her on his lap.
She tried to move away, but he held her still. “No.”
“My bottom hurts.”
“I’ll check it soon,” he stated. Although he turned her so she was kneeling over him, her legs straddling his thighs. “Tell me what’s going on.”
She swiped at her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Regent.”
“Why?”
“For . . . for breaking the vase. And for embarrassing you.”
Silence followed and she kept sniffling, wiping at her eyes and nose. God, she was such a mess.
“I really tried to . . . to be more like what you want. To not be so much like m-me. But I failed. And while your family was here. What must they think of me?”
“Jilly—”
“I have to tell you something,” she said, not caring that she was interrupting him. She had to get this out.
“All right. What is it?”
“I’m not sophisticated. Or classy. I’m not someone who can eat without spilling food all over myself. Or hold a conversation about what’s going on in politics. I don’t know what good art looks like. I’ve never listened to classical music. I’m not really all that smart. I spend my time with my mind in the clouds, dreaming about the stories I read.
“The truth is that I started reading to take me away from everything because I was so lonely growing up. I could go to a new world, a new place, have a different family in those stories. That’s what I love doing. Reading books. And not . . . not nonfiction or . . . or classical stories like the ones in the library here. I like romance. I like Happy-Ever-After. I miss those books! Also, I’m kind of clumsy and forgetful and I miss hugging people. And I like to hold hands. And kiss. And . . . and . . . I can’t be cool and classy. I’m sorry.”
There. Now. She’d said it.
And he was still silent.
Well, at least he now knew the truth. She was tired of trying to pretend to be something she wasn’t.
“Is that why you’ve been wearing these clothes?” He ran his finger over the silk shirt and then the black pants.
He didn’t like her clothes?
“I thought they were classy. I saw them online and they looked gorgeous on the model. But when I put them on, they seemed completely different.”
“And that’s why you’ve been so quiet? And you’ve been trying to read books from the library here?”
“I figured they must be the books you like reading since you own them.”
“Ahh.” He ran a finger over her pants. “And the reason you have stopped running to hug me when I come home, or insisting that I say goodbye, or coming and sitting on my lap whenever you feel like it is because . . . you think I don’t want that?”
“You’re not a touchy-feely person. Not in front of other people, at least. You always sort of froze when I did it. So, I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable with all my touchy-feely stuff.”