Verity:
The sight of him sitting there, broad and composed in the dim space of the car, made me feel trapped beside something dangerous.
Honestly, I took the advice.
Because he was right.
At this point, I was only embarrassing myself.
So I turned my face toward the window and stayed there.
After that, the rest of the drive passed in complete silence.
Then suddenly, something appeared in front of the car.
It was pitch-dark outside by now.
The driver slammed on the brakes so hard that my body flew forward instantly.
Since I had not bothered wearing a seatbelt, I nearly launched between the seats.
My eyes squeezed shut.
For a second, I genuinely thought my head was about to smash against the windshield.
But before that could happen, something strong caught me.
Everything blurred together after that.
A large arm shot across my chest, stopping me midair before shoving me firmly back into the seat.
The car finally came to a halt, and as my senses slowly returned, I realized Ragnar had been the one to stop me.
His hand was already gone.
But unfortunately, my brain had started replaying the feeling of it.
The hard flex of his muscles against me.
Goddess.
His biceps had been ridiculously firm against my breasts.
So much so that the pressure pressed my nipples in.
And then the worst realization hit me.
If I had felt that much pressure, then he definitely had too.
My breasts had practically been crushed against his hand when he caught me.
And when he had reached farther to grab my other arm, his thumb had almost certainly brushed against the side of my breast.
Curse my stupidly large boobs.
My full size breasts were not exactly easy to ignore, especially not pressed that close against someone.
The thought alone made my cheeks burn red.
The hotter my cheeks burned, the more terrified I became that Ragnar had noticed every bit of it too.
Slowly, I turned my head toward him.
But before our eyes could meet, he opened the door and stepped out of the car without a word.
For some reason, that made everything worse.
I remained frozen in the backseat, debating whether I should get out or stay inside.
The moment I stepped out there, I would have to face him again.
Before I could make up my mind, the driver opened my door.
"Ma’am, there seems to be a problem," he said apologetically.
Right.
So staying hidden inside the car was no longer an option.
Fantastic.
Now I had to stand there and look directly into Ragnar’s stupid gray eyes after everything that had just happened.
I climbed out slowly and lifted my gaze toward him for the first time.
And that asshole looked completely unaffected.
No awkwardness.
No reaction.
Nothing at all.
"How long before the car works again?" Ragnar asked evenly.
The calmness in his voice almost disturbed me more than the situation itself.
Even after hearing all that, he looked completely unbothered.
"I’m not sure, Your Highness," the driver replied, lowering his gaze immediately. "I’ll need to find someone to help."
Yep.
Even the driver seemed terrified of Ragnar.
"There’s a motel nearby," he continued nervously. "You should stay there for the night. It’s down that road."
Great, I have to stay the night at a motel.
He pointed toward the right side.
The opposite side was swallowed by endless woods.
Ragnar exhaled sharply, clearly irritated by the inconvenience, before heading toward the car to collect his bag.
I hurried after him to grab mine too.
I had brought two huge bags with me.
One was crammed with makeup, shoes, and accessories, while the other was overflowing with clothes.
On top of that, I had stuffed smaller bags inside both of them, which only made everything heavier.
Ragnar casually dropped his bag onto the road and dragged it behind him.
The rough wheels scraped loudly against the pavement in the middle of the night.
One of my suitcases rolled beside me, but the second bag dug painfully into my shoulder.
And with the heels I was wearing, there was no way I could keep walking like this for long.
I knew sooner or later I would have to get Ragnar’s attention somehow.
And honestly?
A small part of me had stupidly wondered whether that accidental touch against my breasts would finally make him acknowledge that I even existed.
I hated the thought but I needed his attention for my plan to work.

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