Page 17 of Royal Valentine

Because I wanted more than just this one night.

I wanted to see him again.

And I wouldn’t let anything serious happen under false pretenses. It wasn’t fair to either one of us. I came up with a quick scheme of how I would tell him the truth—I needed a gentle way to do it so that it wouldn’t feel like such a shock.

“Should we go?” he asked.

“Yes. There’s something I want to show you.”

“I am happy to see anything you’d like to show me,” he said with a wolfish grin that made me laugh.

And I realized that had been his intent. To help me relax and take the edge off the explosive interaction that had just occurred between us. Like he was plugging my brain backin so that my legs would work. He helped me back into the apartment to say our goodbyes and I grabbed my purse.

Lucia’s aunt handed me leftovers, insisting that I take them. I thanked her for having us over and kissed the cheeks of everyone that Lucia shared DNA with as we tried to make our exit.

The family was teasing Callum, clapping him on the back, and he grinned while also thanking our hosts. It took longer to leave than either one of us would have liked, but finally we were outside and heading away from the apartment with our hands linked.

“What is it you want to show me?” he asked.

“You’ll see.” My plan probably wasn’t the best, but to be fair, I’d come up with it while my brain was still addled from his kisses. I was going to take him to my hotel. I thought if I could show him where I was staying, it would be easier to believe my explanation about being a princess.

Not because a part of me was hoping I might persuade him to come upstairs with me after I told him the truth.

Okay, maybe I was planning on that a little.

Callum made sure that it was more than a little because he couldn’t seem to keep his hands to himself. We lost the leftovers in the first two minutes after we left Lucia’s family because he kept ducking into alleyways to kiss me senseless, making me ache with a blinding need for him.

“I feel like I should apologize,” he said. “I usually have more self-control than this. But there is something about you. You’re irresistible. Do you feel it?”

“Yes.”

I felt so connected to him already.

It should have scared me. I’d sworn off dating. I didn’t want to mess up his life when we inevitably made headlines.

But when he had me pushed up against a brick wall, his mouth hot on my throat, I decided he could make that choice for himself.

“We should go,” I told him weakly, barely able to stay upright. If he kept kissing me like this, I was going to lose all of my resolve to be honest with him. We were only a couple of blocks away from the hotel.

“If you insist.” He said the words against my skin, and I had to force my eyes to not roll back in my head.

“I do. Insist.” Although it would take very little from him to get me to change my mind.

I felt a bit like I’d been bewitched, totally under his spell.

Callum took a step back and offered me his hand. I was grateful for it because it took me a couple of minutes to regain control of my limbs and regulate my breathing.

“What do you like best about your job?” he asked as we strolled together along the empty sidewalk.

“We want to find a cure for every kind of cancer, and the scientists that we fund are doing really excellent work. I also enjoy visiting sick people in the hospital. Especially the children.”

He let out a little laugh.

“What?” I asked, nudging him with my elbow.

“The universe is entirely unfair. How can you be this beautiful, this smart, this cultured, and this kind?”

“How can you be this romantic, intelligent, gorgeous, fun, and talented?” I asked back, and he came to a stop, turning toward me.

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