"Because it could lead to—"
Their eyes locked. Elara froze mid-sentence, as if something smacked her straight in the brain. Then, Reynand's laughter erupted, breaking the silence.
"I never knew my wife had such wild imagination for conceiving another child in the middle of a sunflower field."
His booming laughter made Elara press a hand over his mouth in horror.
"No, Your Grace! That's not what I meant, and could you not say it out loud?"
She could feel the heat searing her ears and cheeks from sheer embarrassment.
Her mind jolted as she realised she'd just covered his mouth like that. But before she could retreat, Reynand snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her into his lap.
He deliberately took her hand, placed a kiss on her knuckles, and murmured with a teasing glint in his eyes, "You're doing well handling your work as a merchant, so I thought that clever little head of yours could handle me too."
His arms tightened around her, their faces barely inches apart.
