Would it be different now, she wondered. Could it feel better now that she was older and she had seen how good it could feel?
“You’re staring at me again, luv.”
Oh! She cringed, realizing he was right and she hadn’t even noticed the waiter leaving. “Sorry,” she stammered. “I was just—-”
“Admiring the view?”
Eager to seize any excuse, she said right away, “Absolutely.” Then she realized what she had admitted. “I mean, no.” When Grant looked hurt, she said quickly, “I mean, yes.” But then Fawn realized what that meant, and she half-wailed, “Stop confusing me!”
Chuckling, Grant reached for her across the table and, unmindful of the stares coming from other patrons, held Fawn’s face as he placed a sweet, lingering kiss on her lips.
Her toes curled and her breath hitched in her throat.
This was it.
She would feel the same thing.
And this time, if he wanted to make love to her, she wouldn’t refuse.
Fawn was about to kiss him back—-
But it was already over.
Oh.
Fawn didn’t know what to think as she watched Grant pull away. He had to know she was about to kiss him back...right?
Seemingly oblivious to the disappointment on her face, he asked her with a smile, “How’s work?”
And now he was changing the subject before she could ask him what was wrong, Fawn realized. She asked slowly, “Is everything alright?”
“Just business as usual,” Grant answered readily, “with playoffs coming up, and more work from the council, but other than that...” He shrugged.
She gazed at him searchingly, but she couldn’t find anything that indicated he was indeed reluctant to kiss her. I must have been imagining things, Fawn thought uncertainly.
“I’m more interested in you,” Grant was saying. “How are you doing at your job?”
Clearing her throat, she managed a smile as she said carefully, “It’s great.”
“Nothing too odd or something I should worry about?”
She thought about the security measures at the prince’s residence, like the twenty-foot walls and the biometric scanning employees had to go through before entering the premises. Then there was the parapet – an honest-to-goodness parapet! – built next to the security walls, its walkway patrolled by heavily armed guards round the clock.
But other than that?
“Nope,” she answered. “Everything’s perfect.”
“And the prince?” Grant rolled his eyes at the last word, which she pretended not to notice. “Is he okay as a boss?”
She suddenly remembered the prince, sucking on another girl’s breast—-
“Fawn?”
Clearing her throat, she lied, “He’s cool.”
“You’re sure?”
The women who hung around him thought so at least, she thought. Carefully averting her gaze from Grant, she mumbled, “He’s just like any other boss.”
“What about the parties?” Grant pressed with a frown. “I heard they can get pretty wild.”
Everything about the prince’s parties was beyond wild, but it wasn’t like she could tell Grant that. She said very firmly, “The rumors about his parties are quite exaggerated.” And right away, she added with an inner wince, I’m sorry, Grant. She had always been honest with him, but ever since she had come to work for the prince, she had found herself lying just about everything.
But that’s okay, she told herself. She didn’t have a choice. If Grant found out the truth about her job, he would demand that she quit, and she’d end up broke and, eventually, desperate enough to take another job sponsored by her fiancé’s family.
“What about his place? How does it look like? I read somewhere it looks like paradise or something?”
Finally, Fawn thought in relief. Something she could actually answer honestly! And so she revealed eagerly, “It’s even better, Grant. The driveway’s picturesque enough, but when you see the main house—-” She found herself smiling fondly as she recalled the prince’s sprawling mansion, which was reminiscent of antebellum plantations of the South. And then there was the infinity pool, encircled by swaying palm trees and imported, powder-fine sand.
“It’s just pure beauty.” And it was one of the things she loved most about working there.
Grant smiled. “I’m glad everything seems to be going well.”
About to smile back, she noticed something flicker in his gaze and asked worriedly, “What is it?”
With a reluctant sigh, Grant said, “I know I’m being paranoid, but I still can’t help worrying about you. There’s no smoke without fire, luv. You know that. So the rumors about the prince can’t be all lies.”
Touched by his concern, Fawn forced herself to overcome her shyness and inhibitions so she could reach for his hand. Squeezing it, she said, “Everything’s really going great—-”
“I know that. I just feel it’s better if you worked at our company—-”
Her smile faded. “You know how I feel about that.” All her life, she had felt indebted to the Bennetts. At least just this once, she wanted to be able to see if she could stand on her own.
When Fawn tried pulling her hand away, Grant tightened his hold on her instead. “I’m sorry,” he murmured under his breath. “I’m being overpossessive, and I’m sorry.”
“Oh, Grant.” Her heart melted at his admission, and Fawn could only shake her head, unable to believe that someone like Grant could feel so possessive about someone like her.
“Tell me you love me.”
“I do.”
“Say the words,” he teased.
“Grant!”
“Please?” He gave her a sweet, seductive look under his lashes.
She whispered shyly, “I love you.”
After, he drove her to her dorm and when he walked her to the door, he asked quietly, “Are you sure nothing’s wrong?”
She thought about how strangely she felt when she saw the prince and the girl making love. “N-nothing.”
And it was nothing, she told herself fiercely as she closed her eyes and accepted Grant’s sweet kiss.
“GOOD AFTERNOON, FAWN,” Noah called out from the watchtower when he spied Fawn walking past the gates, which automatically slid closed behind her.
Fawn waved back at the prince’s head of security. “Afternoon, Noah.” It had been exactly one month since she had started working here, and now the sight of men holding AKs and Steyr Augs no longer fazed her.
The driveway leading to the main
