Starlet - Book 2 - Mate Games

32. Lionel's Date

Tuesday, Collin and I spend the day relaxing alone. Wednesday, he has to work, so I turn into Evie and go to the village. I pick up the paper and the boy I swam with in Switzerland shows up.

"Hi, Eddie."

"Hey, Evie. What are you doing here?"

"I needed a break from the castle. What are you doing?"

He sits at the table with me. "I was seeing what was going on. Did not expect to see you. Want to get some ice cream?"

We get ice cream and then a pizza. We run all over the village. We end up back on the porch.

Then Collin comes up and sits beside me. "I've come to take you back to the castle."

"It is getting late. Have fun at work?"

"Not at all, but I made good money."

"That's always nice."

Eddie smirks. "You actually make good money there?"

Collin laughs. "Not as much as at the dance studio or art store I own, but it's decent."

"Different too." I smile at him. "You should advertise your shops on the pizza boxes."

"I doubt if they'd let me do that. Maybe I could put a flier on it."

"I need to get home. Have a good night, Evie."

"You too, Eddie."

Collin glares at him until he's gone. "Did he try to kiss you?"

I stare at him for a minute. "I forgot he was in the games. But no. No kissing. It was just fun. We went to the park and had ice cream. Ate some pizza. Shopped a little. He's not..."

"What, baby?"

"We're friends. Nothing more than that." I shrug my shoulders. "I don't like him as anything more than that."

"That's alright. That's what the game is about; finding a real connection."

"He's fun. I'm not throwing him out for being fun. I can use him when everyone else is boring."

He laughs. "Don't lead him too much, he might think he has a chance."

"Ok."

"What about Romeo? He just fun too?"

"I'm sorting that out. He has an amazing sister though. And before you ask, no kissing him either. I haven't kissed anyone but you."

"It seems like he cares about you."

"I think he wants a mate. Anyone could be in my shoes, and he'd care."

"What happened to his mate?"

"He hasn't found her."

"Yea, that's a risk. He could find her tomorrow."

"Or find someone with fewer issues than me. I don't see him staying much longer. His parents could let him take a potion with anyone. I don't know what he's doing."

"Yea, that's different. Bored, lonely, and seeing what's going on. He better not try to mess with your heart. I'll have to kick his ass too."

I chuckle. "There's a king that seems nice. He lost his mate."

"Anything going on with him?"

"I don't know. Tye says I like him because I have daddy issues. I don't know what that is. But I haven't seen him much anyway."

"Daddy issues mean he's stable. He has money and everything figured out. He's more in a position to take care of you."

"You take care of me." I laugh. "You're like my daddy."

"I'll be your daddy, woman." I put an eyebrow up. "I'll take care of you in bed. My housing isn't stable. Money, I'm still working on. I can take care of you in bed though. I bet I can make you scream for daddy." I see his pants pull.

"Do you like that idea, sir? Your eyes are dark, and you're getting hard."

"Sorry. I need to think about something else." He lays his head back. "Your boobs bouncing for me."

"I'm not sure if that's going to help. Let's go get naked. Have you eaten yet?"

"I can eat later, woman." He throws me over his shoulder and carries me in.

We barely make it to school on time the next day. After that, we take a nap.

"Time to wake up. We have to have you ready in an hour."

I blink at the servant. "Good morning."

"Good morning."

Collin rubs his face. "We're up. Thank you."

"My pleasure. We'll be in the sitting room."

I roll on Collin's chest and snuggle him.

"Sorry I kept you up so late last night, baby."

I giggle and kiss his marking spot. "I want daddy again."

"Tomorrow. I have the night off. I'll give you all you want." He grabs my ass. "I'm getting hard thinking about it."

"Oh, I can tell." I wiggle against it.

"DID YOU GO BACK TO SLEEP?"

"Ugh" I plop my head down. "I don't want to go."

"Go have dinner, baby. It's too late to cancel. If you don't have a connection with him, then it's time to cut that one. WE'RE AWAKE."

I give him a kiss and climb out of bed. "Ok."

The servants put me in a pretty dress for dinner. It has little sleeves and flows on bottom to just above my knees. Then I get some sandals.

I get up to Dipak's office pissed off. I glare at everyone and plop down.

Lionel smiles. "What's wrong?"

"My servants won't give me any jewelry for a boat ride. I'm surprised they curled my hair."

Kane smirks. "I'm happy they didn't give you high heels."

I cross my arms and pout. "This is not what I wanted to wear."

"You are beautiful anyway." Lionel reaches for me.

I take his hand and stand up. "Thank you, sir."

Kane makes us a door and, soon enough, we're on his boat. It's beautiful with a big deck. Kane and Marcus roam off with the advisors for a tour. The captain pulls us away from the dock and a couple of sails drop.

"This is beautiful. I didn't take you for a pirate though."

"Well, I'm not much of a pirate. I like being on the water. I find it relaxing."

"Yea, I can see that. I love the water too."

We sit at the front of the boat and point out stuff along the coast to each other. Then we go to a fancy dining room to eat. It has big windows, so we can still see the water.

"I wish I could have dressed up more."

"You're beautiful no matter what you wear." He pulls the chair out for me.

I wait for him to sit down. "Do you like me?"

"You are very sweet. I'm enjoying getting to know you. I think I do like you. Why do you ask?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I don't have much."

"Well, you do have servants that won't let you wear jewelry on a boat. That says a lot."

I laugh. "I guess it does."

The servant sets up food and smiles. "Dinner is served."

"Thank you."

She giggles. "Of course, sir."

That giggle sends a chill through me. I have no idea why. Even my dragon perks up. I see red for a second but don't lose consciousness. It's more like a flash.

"You're dismissed."

I watch her walk away. Then I look at him.

He's staring at me. "Do you have control of your dragon yet?"

"No. Not yet."

"So, what did you think about the elephant ride?"

"I loved it. I didn't know people could ride those. Can I buy an elephant?"

He chuckles. "I wouldn't suggest it. That would be expensive. He would need a place to live. You remember how big he was? How much do you think he will eat?"

"I probably couldn't afford to feed him."

We make small talk and finish dinner. Then another servant comes in with Marcus and Kane. "Sir, we have arrived."

"Thank you."

I perk up. "Where have we arrived?"

He checks my plate. "Eat the Brussels sprouts, and I'll take you to the zoo."

I do like the zoo, but I do not like these things.

"You can feed the giraffes."

I shove them in. They laugh and we go up to the deck. The captain has docked at a different town.

A carriage takes us to the zoo. It looks closed.

The 1 lady in the whole entry smiles. "Welcome sir."

"Thank you."

"Right this way and we'll start the tour."

We go in, and the place is closed. I jump up and down. "YOU OWN A ZOO?"

He laughs. "No. I rented a zoo. This way you can see all the animals."

The lady smiles at me. "I'm your tour guide, Amilia. I will show you the animals. Wherever possible, Mr. Lancaster has requested you be able to feed them as well."

"Like bears?"

"Not the bears. No."

The boys laugh and she starts the tour.

I point out so many animals to them. I get to feed a giraffe, a turtle, and ducks. I touch a penguin. A bird lands on my hand. Then we go into a building.

"This is our amphibian and reptile house. There are quite a few in here that are venomous. No reaching in the cages."

"LOOK AT THAT BLACK AND YELLOW FROG."

"That's the poison dart frog. They reside in tropical areas. You will not see them in the wild here."

I turn around and see a snake. It's watching me. "SNAKE." I climb right up the front of Lionel.

"It's ok. He's in his cage." He tries to put me down.

I lift my feet higher and point at another snake.

"That snake's name is Hannah. She is a king cobra. She is almost 11 feet long and very venomous. If she bites someone, they will die."

I wrap my arms around him and hold on so tight. I bury my eyes in his neck and shake my head.

He gives up and carries me through it.

I peek out as she talks sometimes. But I do not get down.

"And this is our iguana, Fred. He loves people. Would you like to touch him?"

Marcus rubs his eyes. "There's always a Fred."

She brings him over to me and I touch him slowly. "He's scaley."

"Very good. He does have scales. He also changes color. When he's cold, his skin darkens to absorb more sunlight. Isn't that neat?"

I nod and snuggle Lionel.

After that, we see the elephants. I smile and watch them.

Lionel holds me and rubs my back. "You're getting sleepy."

"Nope."

"Ok."

I fall asleep, 3 minutes later, watching some fish swim.