Mated to the Alpha: Sold to the King novel Chapter 74

Chapter 74: 0074

Lorelei POV

"Okay," he finally muttered, and my eyes widened in disbelief.

"Yay!" The little girl clapped her paint-stained hands together and bounced on her heels. "Now, you have to sit right beside this pretty miss!"

With a low, almost imperceptible sigh, he moved to sit on the grass beside me. Even then, he made sure to leave a very noticeable, awkward gap of several inches between us.

The little girl didn’t seem to approve of that arrangement at all. She planted her hands on her hips, her brows furrowing into a stern line.

"Closer," she instructed.

He shifted an inch closer.

"Closer," she demanded, tapping her foot impatiently.

Another inch.

"Closer!"

He moved again, slowly, until his shoulder was nearly touching mine.

"Closer again!"

This time, Kaelen closed the distance completely until his shoulder pressed firmly against mine.

The sudden contact sent a jolt through my entire system. I could feel the heat radiating from his body through the thin fabric of my shirt, and my breath caught in my throat. I stared straight ahead, trying to maintain my still-life model posture, but inside, my thoughts were spiraling.

At this point, we were practically glued together, which I assumed would finally satisfy our demanding little artist. But just as she was about to return to her painting, she paused and tilted her head, studying us carefully.

Then she shook her head in disapproval.

"Something is still wrong," she announced.

I practically stopped breathing.

My fingers twisted together in my lap as the tension between Kaelen and me stretched tighter and tighter.

"You guys need to be boyfriend and girlfriend," she declared matter-of-factly, as if she were simply pointing out a mistake in her drawing.

The words hit me like a slap.

Panic flared instantly in my chest as I already knew what was going to happen.

Kaelen would refuse.

I mean, he was already being forced to sit beside me against his will, and he’d spent the last month actively avoiding me. There was no way he was going to go along with this.

Before he could reject the idea, before he could pull away and humiliate me in front of everyone, I decided I needed to take control of the situation.

I would refuse first.

But just as I opened my mouth, ready to apologize to the little girl and pull away, Kaelen moved.

His large arm suddenly came around my shoulders, wrapping firmly around me as he pulled me securely against his side. The sheer heat and solid weight of his body surrounded me completely. Without looking at me, he kept his gaze fixed on the little girl, his expression unreadable as he spoke in a low, gravelly voice.

"Is this okay?"

My heart stopped.

My entire brain short-circuited beneath the weight of his arm around my shoulders.

The little girl’s face lit up, her earlier frustration disappearing instantly. "Perfect!"

With that, she finally started painting. I couldn’t see what she was creating from where I sat, but her little brush moved with intense focus while the tip of her tongue peeked out from the corner of her mouth in concentration.

My breathing turned uneven as I sat there, fighting with everything in me not to look up at the man beside me.

I was painfully aware of every slight shift of his body, and I didn’t miss the way his grip would absentmindedly tighten around my shoulders every now and then, pulling me just a little closer.

I was sure at least thirty minutes had passed with us sitting like this, the heavy silence stretching between us like a taut wire.

"Smile," the little girl suddenly said, her arms and shirt now covered in colorful streaks of paint.

I forced a small, awkward smile, my cheeks aching from how tense I was.

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