He brushed his thick fingers over his lips. “The other one.”
“What other one?” There was more? And I was only finding out about it now? Stupid fairy godmother. Elly needed to do better research before binding me to a princess for life.
“You know,” he said to me and then nodded Beauty’s way.
She rolled her eyes and yawned.
Under all that flannel and whining Beauty was quite . . . well, beautiful. Her long, curly hair shone like golden rays of sun and her eyes sparkled with either insanity or intelligence. I couldn’t quite tell which, but the effect was all the same. She wasn’t hard on the eyes by any means.
Heaving a heavy sigh, the king said as if admitting a state secret, “She’s annoying.”
“Oh. That.” I nodded. “Yeah, she’s pretty annoying. No offense.”
“None taken from a guy who smells faintly like my dinner,” Beauty replied with a sneer.
“I was talking to Pretty.”
“Oh.”
“But you’re mistaken, sir,” I said to the king. While she was annoying, she was also my annoying arm-floatie-wearing One . I wasn’t about to let her stepfather disparage her in front of a room full of people and cameras. That was a husband’s job.
I rose from my seat and came around the table until I was standing over my annoying almost bride. “A man will and does love her enough to marry her.” Hundreds of flashbulbs lit the restaurant. I pictured our photo in the front page of the New Never News and sighed, hoping they’d get my good side. Not that I had a bad side per se.
“Who? Who loves Beauty?” the king screeched, his eyes darting around the room, a frown on his once handsome, now grizzled face. His jowls sagged nearly to his chest, as did his bushy eyebrows.
“Me.” I jabbed my thumb into my chest and winced. “As long as there is breath in my body, I will not break our engagement. Ever.”
Leaning down to face my bride, I repeated my statement. Flashbulbs exploded again. Beauty drew in a harsh breath, her face turning a shade of lime I hadn’t seen since leaving the pond all those years ago. “Are you demented or just stupid?” she shouted in a harsh whisper.
With a deep breath and the whirl of camera shutters in my ears, I moved closer to my bride. I prayed she wouldn’t bite me before I’d made my point. Our lips touched, softly at first. Rather than smack me in the face as I expected, Beauty sat frozen under my kiss. My whole body began to tingle, and not in a normal lusty way.
The tingle grew bigger as a warning bell rang in my head. She’s the One . Denial was no longer a luxury. This was the girl from the pond. My soul mate.
The drool sealed it.
Did she remember me?
Remember our brief encounter?
Remember trying to eat me?!
Angrily, I pulled away to stare into Beauty’s grape eyes. Damn her. Damn this curse!
Beauty blinked, as if startled. Her mouth opened and closed. Then with a snort, she dropped headfirst into her half-eaten plate of frog legs and let out a small snore.
I sure had a way with the ladies.
Chapter 11
T wo hours later, I sat on the end of my luxurious hotel room bed with its twelve-hundred-dollar pillows and kicked off my highly polished loafers. Dinner had not gone as expected. But I was still engaged.
For the moment.
Karl’s voice whispered in the back of my head, “Tell Beauty the truth.” Generally, I ignored all advice given by any servant, especially the short, balding ones with a much-too-creepy interest in my sex life.
This time proved no exception.
Telling Beauty the truth would ruin my best-laid plans.
Since my plan included staying in shape, my human shape to be precise, as well as getting laid, telling Beauty anything, especially the truth, ranked up there with getting a magic bean enema by the sadistic chick from this afternoon.
Speaking of sadistic women, I rubbed at a small greasy frog-leg stain on my shirt left by my future wife after her face-plant into her dinner.
Luckily—or not so luckily, depending on
“What other one?” There was more? And I was only finding out about it now? Stupid fairy godmother. Elly needed to do better research before binding me to a princess for life.
“You know,” he said to me and then nodded Beauty’s way.
She rolled her eyes and yawned.
Under all that flannel and whining Beauty was quite . . . well, beautiful. Her long, curly hair shone like golden rays of sun and her eyes sparkled with either insanity or intelligence. I couldn’t quite tell which, but the effect was all the same. She wasn’t hard on the eyes by any means.
Heaving a heavy sigh, the king said as if admitting a state secret, “She’s annoying.”
“Oh. That.” I nodded. “Yeah, she’s pretty annoying. No offense.”
“None taken from a guy who smells faintly like my dinner,” Beauty replied with a sneer.
“I was talking to Pretty.”
“Oh.”
“But you’re mistaken, sir,” I said to the king. While she was annoying, she was also my annoying arm-floatie-wearing One . I wasn’t about to let her stepfather disparage her in front of a room full of people and cameras. That was a husband’s job.
I rose from my seat and came around the table until I was standing over my annoying almost bride. “A man will and does love her enough to marry her.” Hundreds of flashbulbs lit the restaurant. I pictured our photo in the front page of the New Never News and sighed, hoping they’d get my good side. Not that I had a bad side per se.
“Who? Who loves Beauty?” the king screeched, his eyes darting around the room, a frown on his once handsome, now grizzled face. His jowls sagged nearly to his chest, as did his bushy eyebrows.
“Me.” I jabbed my thumb into my chest and winced. “As long as there is breath in my body, I will not break our engagement. Ever.”
Leaning down to face my bride, I repeated my statement. Flashbulbs exploded again. Beauty drew in a harsh breath, her face turning a shade of lime I hadn’t seen since leaving the pond all those years ago. “Are you demented or just stupid?” she shouted in a harsh whisper.
With a deep breath and the whirl of camera shutters in my ears, I moved closer to my bride. I prayed she wouldn’t bite me before I’d made my point. Our lips touched, softly at first. Rather than smack me in the face as I expected, Beauty sat frozen under my kiss. My whole body began to tingle, and not in a normal lusty way.
The tingle grew bigger as a warning bell rang in my head. She’s the One . Denial was no longer a luxury. This was the girl from the pond. My soul mate.
The drool sealed it.
Did she remember me?
Remember our brief encounter?
Remember trying to eat me?!
Angrily, I pulled away to stare into Beauty’s grape eyes. Damn her. Damn this curse!
Beauty blinked, as if startled. Her mouth opened and closed. Then with a snort, she dropped headfirst into her half-eaten plate of frog legs and let out a small snore.
I sure had a way with the ladies.
Chapter 11
T wo hours later, I sat on the end of my luxurious hotel room bed with its twelve-hundred-dollar pillows and kicked off my highly polished loafers. Dinner had not gone as expected. But I was still engaged.
For the moment.
Karl’s voice whispered in the back of my head, “Tell Beauty the truth.” Generally, I ignored all advice given by any servant, especially the short, balding ones with a much-too-creepy interest in my sex life.
This time proved no exception.
Telling Beauty the truth would ruin my best-laid plans.
Since my plan included staying in shape, my human shape to be precise, as well as getting laid, telling Beauty anything, especially the truth, ranked up there with getting a magic bean enema by the sadistic chick from this afternoon.
Speaking of sadistic women, I rubbed at a small greasy frog-leg stain on my shirt left by my future wife after her face-plant into her dinner.
Luckily—or not so luckily, depending on
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