Page 45 of Penny & Royce

“Second… this whole family fight thing you have with my cousins…” That adorable furrow found her brows as she trailed off.

“What about it?” Royce watched her carefully.

The furrow intensified, and she drew in her lower lip to chew on it. “I need to know what we’re walking into. Not some vague ‘they won’t like it’ answer. I need the real version.”

“I can do that.” He rubbed his thumb lightly over her hand. “And we’ll figure it out, together. And for what it’s worth, it’s not like you’re a Taylor.”

Her eyes cut up to meet his. “Not technically, no. But ever since my father passed, it feels like my uncle has been taking us under his wing. I’ve been avoiding going out to the farm because I’ve been trying to deal with everything in my own way, but he’s reached out a couple times to make sure everything is okay.”

“And he should. He’s family.” Royce paused, choosing his words with more care than he would have yesterday. “What I meant is that my family might try to tell themselves it’s different because you’re a Klein. But that doesn’t mean they’ll be happy. My brothers know you’re connected to the Taylors, and they warned me away from that whole side of the family.”

Penny’s brows lifted.

“I ignored them,” he added.

“I’m shocked.”

A smile tugged at his mouth despite everything. “No, you’re not.”

“No,” she admitted. “I’m not.”

His amusement faded. “Will they be happy? No. But they don’t get to decide who I care about.”

“So, you have a plan then?”

He tilted his head. “A plan?”

“Yeah. What are you going to tell them? Or have you already told them?”

“Ah.” He winced. “No. I haven’t told them anything.”

Penny waited.

Royce rubbed the back of his neck again. “I’m more of a ‘break the rules and ask forgiveness later’ kind of guy.”

She laughed quietly, and it was the most beautiful sound in the world. “Yeah, I’m starting to realize that.”

The temptation to get closer to her, to touch her face, got too strong. He pulled one hand free from her grasp and curled her hair behind her ear, then traced his thumb across her cheekbone.

“You really are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met,” he whispered.

Her expression softened for half a second before practicality returned. “Your feelings aren’t going to be enough when it comes to convincing our families to let us live our own lives. Not even you are that naïve.”

“True.” His voice remained low. “But my feelings for you are strong enough to make me willing to face whatever comes. We’ll figure this out. If we were simply dating, they might try to sabotage our relationship or threaten to cut me off if I didn’t break up with you. But after we’re married? I don’t know. It changes things.”

“You don’t think they’d demand an annulment?”

He canted his head for a moment.

A divorce? Not likely. But an annulment?

Penny made an excellent point. Lincoln probably wasn’t above making threats. He probably wouldn’t mind making Royce’s life miserable if he found out how far things had gone.

He hummed thoughtfully, then nodded. “Yeah, they might bring that up.”

Penny’s mouth tightened.

“Which doesn’t mean they get a vote,” he added quickly. “But it does mean we need to be smart about how we tell them.”