Oh, oh, oh.
This was so...bad.
Her body was in agony, the prince’s proximity making her crave—-
What?
The prince bent his head, and before she could guess what he was about to do, he whispered into her ear, “The job is yours, parthena mou.”
Aaaaah.
How can mere words make her world suddenly spin faster?
The prince watched her step back from him, her light brown eyes clouded with confusion and alarm. Her gaze pleaded with him. What’s happening to me?
Ah, parthena mou, that’s a question I won’t answer.
The brain tended to focus on what it could not understand, and with Fawn Cornwall, he wanted her so damn messed up over him that she would not think about anything else – not even Grant Bennett – nothing except him.
WITH JUST A FEW DAYS before the Christmas holidays started, Fawn did all she could do to earn extra cash, and that included working overtime for the Prince of Darkness. Since she had morning classes to attend, she normally stayed only until dinner was served in the prince’s parties. Nowadays, however, Fawn had signed up to work until midnight, knowing that she would be paid double the amount per hour with overtime.
But today, any chance of earning overtime was nil.
“I don’t understand why I can’t help out with tonight’s party,” Fawn muttered ungraciously. “It’s like being grounded when the prince isn’t even my dad.” At six o’clock, her shift had officially ended, and she had been about to start with the next one when Igor told her that the prince had not approved her request for an extra shift.
“It is not for a servant to understand the hows and whys,” Igor reminded her gently.
“But only to be concerned with the whats, whens, and wheres,” she finished. “I know that, Igor, and I get it, but I really need tonight’s overtime.” She had found the perfect gift for Grant, and based on her calculations, any day where she skipped overtime would make her unable to afford the gift before they left for their hometown.
In response, Igor gave her another gentle reminder. “What the master wants—-”
“The servant should obtain to the best of his or her capabilities,” she finished heavily. Igor had his own set of rules that he wanted her to master, and that was #1 for the prince’s right-hand man. She asked very seriously, “But won’t that make him a spoiled brat?”
Igor only looked at her.
“I know you’ve known him since his diaper days, but Igor, you have to realize that’s going to make the prince—-”
“Going to make me what?” The prince suddenly appeared by the kitchen’s doorway, dressed to kill in a black tux, and causing minor chaos as a result.
The kitchen staff, unused to seeing the prince in their workplace, tried to look busy for a few minutes, realized they couldn’t move a finger with the prince’s green gaze trained on them, and simply gave up.
Bowing, they slowly slinked out through the back door.
Emery, the prince’s in-house chef, shook his head. He had to toughen up those kids just a bit more.
Meanwhile, Fawn was doing her best to come up with an excuse—-
And failing.
“I...I...”
The prince raised a brow. “Yes?”
“The party’s going to make you—-” Fawn paused in a panic. It was so hard to lie under pressure!
The prince waved a negligent hand, murmuring silkily, “Go on.”
Giving up on logic and rationality, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “The party’s going to make you the subject of rumors again.” She mentally sighed in relief. That had turned out more plausible than she expected.
Turning to the prince, she said firmly, “I’m just concerned, prince. Seriously.”
The prince drawled, “How touching.” What an adorablly inept liar she was, seriously.
Warming up to the subject, Fawn continued, “And because I’d like to protect you from these rumors, I thought it would be a good idea if I work overtime—-”
“A nice idea—-”
She brightened.
“Unfortunately, I have to refuse.”
Frustration had her bursting out, “But that’s so unfair. You’re letting Paula stay, and she’s younger than I am. Then there—-”
The prince said very pleasantly, “Fawn.”
Holy sweet crap. Her courage disappeared in a flash. Whenever he used that coldly charming Prince of Darkness tone with her, the one that promised ecstasy even while he slit her throat with the sharpest blade—-
It. Was. Not. Good.
She whispered, “Yes, prince?”
“Do I pay you to give me your opinion about who should and shouldn’t work for me?”
Fawn gulped. “No, prince.”
“Then?”
She smiled weakly and flashed him a peace sign, saying, “Rock on, prince. It’s time to par—-” Seeing the prince’s face hadn’t even cracked with the slightest smile, she finished lamely, “—-tay.”
The prince said coolly, “Do we have an understanding?”
“Yes, prince.”
“Which means you will now—-”
“Leave, prince.”
“I’m glad you understood.” The prince left then, and Igor, after excusing himself, followed after his charge.
As Fawn collapsed in her seat, Emery patted her head sympathetically. “You were very brave.”
“Very brave,” Noah agreed. “But also very stupid.”
“I didn’t mean to antagonize the prince,” she mumbled defensively. “I just sometimes speak before I think.”
“There, there, we all have our moments.” Of bravery and stupidity, Noah finished in his mind.
“I don’t think the prince likes me.” It was a hard admission to make, but more and more she was beginning to believe it. These days, the prince seemed to live to catch her off guard, showing up out of the blue to do something outrageous like suddenly whispering in her ear—-
She repressed a quick shudder at the memory.
Oh, how often he did it, and there was even one time he had accidentally licked her ear—-
Fawn covered her face.
It was like the prince was deliberately toying with her, and all to see her mess up at work.
“Do you guys think the same?”
Silence.
She looked up. “This is the part you’re supposed to convince me otherwise, guys.”
Emery chuckled. “For the record, I do think you’re imagining things. The prince has no reason to hate you.”
“But I truly think he does. I’ve seen how he is with other girls, and he’s so much nicer—-”
“So
