Royally Kidnapped by the Prince novel Chapter 38

THAYER

Marry me. 

Those two words. Two powerful words echoed in my head. Yes, I’d planned on proposing to her over our dinner. 

Was I overwhelmed? Yes, because I loved her so much it hurt. But I was in my most vulnerable moment, and my plan just crumbled over my head. Maybe we were both in a euphoric state after all. 

“What?” Sucking in a sharp gasp, she pulled away from my arms, hit me on his chest, and frowned. “Aren’t you full of surprises? What else do you keep up your sleeve? You can’t tell me you love me and ask me to marry you at the same time. That’s ridiculous—” 

“Kennedy.” My tone was almost a beg.

“Wait. Are you serious? You can’t be. Oh, my God!” she started babbling. 

“Darling, I love you, and there’s nothing more I wanted in my life than to be with you. To be your husband.” I was about to be on my knee when she put that to an end.

“Stop! You’re not thinking straight. We just had our moments and—”

“You don’t believe in marriage?”

Her eyes widened. “Of course, I do, but this is wrong. This is all fucked up, Thayer.”

“You don’t believe that I love you enough that I want to marry you.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, pinching the bridge of her nose. “It’s not that.”

“Then what is it, Kennedy?” I tried to get closer to her, but she stepped back. 

With haunted eyes, she shook her head. Sorrow and worry line on her face.

My heart ached. Deep inside, I was dying. 

My stomach twisted. 

I swallowed down the clog in my throat. The room felt eerily quiet as we stared at each other. 

“I see.” My voice cracked. Tears in my eyes nearly rolled down. I nodded not in understanding but misery.

I found myself on the deck, recalling what had just happened. I gripped the handlebar, hoping it helped keep me on my feet. My chest squeezed tightly. It was my fault that I rushed everything. 

My stomach knotted further. How would I explain it to her? How would I make her understand?

“T?” 

I sighed deeply, raking my fingers through my hair before I turned to face Ash.

“Is everything okay?” He saw something on my features that made him sigh.

“I proposed to Kennedy.”

He blinked before his face split into a smile. “Congratulations!”

“She turned me down,” I added.

“What? Why? What happened?” He looked distraught.

I shook my head. “I don’t know. I think she doesn’t love me. That’s all I could think about. Or it’s too early. I just said I love her, and she didn’t say it back.” I blew out a breath. “But there’s something more to it that I couldn’t put my finger on. I swear the way she reacted. She seemed not too surprised that I would propose to her.”

“Talk to her. Make things right.”

“You two are fighting again?” 

I looked at Lud about to join us. “No. I think it’s the end of everything.”

“Hey. Don’t ever say something like that.” Ash gripped my shoulder. 

“I need a drink,” Lud announced, pouring us whiskey into glasses and offered us the liquid amber. 

I chugged down, ignoring the burning sensation running down my throat. I badly needed that. “More.”

“Tell me what happened.” 

I joined them in the lounge, and now I had to tell the worst part of the story. “After we had an amazing sex—”

“Man, TMI. Past forward.”

“Okay, so I told her I love her, and she launched into me and kissed me—”

“Without the kissing and sex part,” Ash interrupted me again. “Drink this. Your emotions are all over the air, making us hard to breathe.”

“Thanks for listening and for being here, or I might end up jumping off this yacht and drowned myself.”