Inheriting a SECRET (Corrigan & Co. #7)(57)

“I would never want your country to fight over me.”

“I know,” he says, reaching for my hand, which I readily give to him. “After talking to my uncle, who thought I should fight, I realized I had another option. I looked through the law books in the library to make sure I was right, and I was. The law says I can pass the throne to any living relative who I deem to be more worthy of it. My uncle will be a better ruler than I, and it didn’t take much to convince Parliament of that.”

“I still can’t believe you did it. I’m humbled, and in awe of you. Seriously.”

“You’re worth a throne, and more. It’s the more I need to take care of now. You know me as a playboy prince, but now I need to be a normal American man.”

“There’s no such thing as a ‘normal’ man,” I tell him with a laugh.

“Be that as it may, I want to prove to you that I can be just like your ‘boy next door’. I’ve come up with a series of tasks to master. Things I should know, and things that will hopefully impress you.”

“Do I get to reward you with a sexual favor for each one you complete?”

“That’s the thing, Cat. I can’t be with you until I’ve done all of them.”

“What? Um, no. This is definitely not going to work for me. What if you don’t master them?”

“See how little faith you have in me?”

“I have faith. I just don’t like the idea of you being here and not being with me. You really don’t have to do these things. Really.”

“I’m with you, even if I’m not with you. You’re not worried about that, right? You know I don’t want anyone else.”

“I know. How could I not know? And it is romantic, I guess.”

“I’ll get through them as quickly as possible. I promise. It’s just really important to me that I try and do these things.”

“Fine. How many are there?”

“Nine so far, but I asked Nate to help me come up with a few more. The internet is good, but I need a real guy’s perspective.”

I think of something else all of a sudden. “Wait, don’t you have to go back to officially pass on the crown to Steven or something?”

“He’ll have a proper coronation in two weeks’ time, yes.”

“So you’re still officially the king?”

“I am.”

“Does the king get to bring a date to the coronation?”

“If he doesn’t want to be drawn and quartered by his people, he had better bring the one they want.”

“They love me.”

“Not as much as I love you.”

“I love you, too Crown. Now go off and be American so I can have my way with you. I’ve got some shopping to do. Two coronations in a month? Not bad for a reformed cat burglar.”

Not bad at all. Now I just need to hope he can get through his tasks. It was hard enough to not rip his clothes off and have my way with him right there in my office. Seeing him every day is only going to make it worse. But it is really sweet and romantic. I may even swoon at some point.





Chapter 22


1. Give up the throne

2. Win a game of Call of Duty

Brayden

“You got this, man. We all own this game,” Nate tells me.

“I know you own it. We’re about to play.”

“He means we own it like it’s our bitch. You know, we can’t be beat,” Aiden explains.

“Oh okay. I’m going to own it, too,” I say with more confidence than I feel.

“Damn right you are,” Matt tells me.

Fifteen minutes—and three games—later, they’re singing a different tune,

“That did not just happen. How the f*ck did that happen? No one is that bad at COD. Who shoots their own men like that?” Nate asks in horror.

“Him,” Jake responds, looking shell-shocked. “He does. I almost want to bow down because it was so epic in its wrongness.”

“No. There’s no bowing. You may be a king, Brayden, but you just lost your man card. If you even had one. Did you have a man card?” Scott Griffin asks me.

“Fuck you all. I warned you that I sucked, and you promised to help.”

“We tried. How many times did I have to yell ‘shoot’ and ‘don’t shoot’? You have no skills. None. Do you even have a penis?”

“Yes I have a penis. I just can’t play this stupid game.”

“What does having a penis have to do with playing Call of Duty? Ainsley and Darcy can beat all of you. I bet they’d kick your butts if they heard you right now,” Ethan tells them, and they all freeze.

“We’re not going to tell them, E. There are some things your momma and her friends never need to know about,” Caleb says looking a little scared. Hell, they all look a little scared and I don’t blame them.

“Yeah. Your dad’s right. This is just man talk between us, buddy,” Matt says.

“Now who’s lost his man card?” I ask with a laugh.

“You’ve met my wife,” he says in way of an explanation.

“How’s the couch situation, by the way?” Aiden asks him with a smirk.

“I’m sleeping in the guest room, not on the couch, and it f*cking sucks. Now back to the matter at hand. There’s no way you’re going to win at this game. You need to replace that with something else.”