Page 83 of The Defiant Wife

He hasn't asked me why I wanted to come here.He hasn't asked why I was so quiet.He didn't question the tears I'd hurriedly wipe away before removing my helmet.He didn't even mention the way my voice cracked while ordering.

Most people mistake silence for indifference.Tonight, his silence feels different.

It feels . . . respectful.

Like he's giving me space instead of demanding explanations.

"Your kulfi is going to drip all over your hand if you keep staring at the traffic like you're guarding the border," I say quietly.

He finally looks down.

Without any hurry, he takes one neat bite, catching the melting edge before it falls.

"I'm watching the bike," he says simply. "Those boys have looked at it at least twelve times."

I glance toward them before looking back at him.

"They're looking at you, Your Highness."

His eyebrow lifts slightly.

"They're probably wondering why someone who lives in a palace is eating twenty-rupee kulfi beside the highway."

"Twenty-five."

I blink. "What?"

"It's twenty-five now."He takes another bite."The vendor increased the price."

I stare at him for a second before laughing.Actually laughing.The sound surprises me.It feels like the first real laugh I've had all day."There you go again," I say, shaking my head. "You take everything literally."

"I do not."

"You absolutely do."

I point my spoon at him."I make one dramatic statement and you correct the price."

"Because it was incorrect."

I laugh harder."You are unbelievable."

His shoulders rise in the smallest shrug."I've been told."

I watch him for another moment. "Do you ever relax?"

He turns toward me."What does that mean?"

"It means . . . " I gesture vaguely between us. " . . . do you ever stop thinking about responsibilities? About work? About everything?"

He thinks for a moment before answering."When you grow up in a family where everyone has responsibilities, you get used to it."

There's no self-pity in his voice.

Just a fact.

Something about that makes me curious.

"Did you always dream of working in the hospitality sector?" I ask. "Or did everyone just decide that's what the prince should do?"