Page 25 of Royally Knocked Up
Her cheeks went pink. “Yeah, well, you are,” she said. “Why do you think I keep hanging out with you?”
“I thought it was my looks.” He waggled his eyebrows at her, and she laughed.
And Enzo thought,what the hell am I doing?
Time and again, he had told himself that things had to be controlled between himself and Hailey. But every time they were in each other’s presence, he seemed to forget about all that.
It was just so easy to talk to her. He didn’t feel the way he so often did at home — as if he had to impress everyone around him, as if he was being watched and evaluated. Even with his friends, he often had the sense that they were waiting for him to do or say something that would make them all laugh. Everyone had a role they expected him to fill.
Hailey didn’t. Whatever energy he brought to the table at any given moment, she seemed willing to meet it. He couldn’t help enjoying that. He couldn’t help feeling happy and at ease when he was in her company — he’d have defied anyone to feel any differently.
“We haven’t gotten any work done,” he pointed out. “You did say that you were coming over tonight so that we could work on the project for Isla.”
“I know.” She glanced at him. “I hope you’re not upset with me.”
“What? Why would I be upset with you?”
“I stopped you from going to Vista Grande.”
“Are you actually worried about that?”
“Well, I know you wanted to go.”
“You didn’t stop me from doing anything,” Enzo told her. “If I’d really wanted to be there, I would be there.”
She looked at him. Something in her eyes told Enzo that she didn’t quite believe it. It was as if she was putting more blame on herself for his choice than she needed to.
He leaned a little closer, across the armrests that separated the two chairs they had dragged out onto the patio. “If I’d wanted to go, I would have gone,” he told her. “You didn’t make me do anything.”
Bringing the chairs out here had felt — to him, at least — like a safety measure. It would be harder to kiss if they were sitting down. Having a chair to sit in established a physical boundary — this was his space, and that was hers. Crossing that boundary would have to be much more intentional, much more planned, than the kiss they had almost fallen into the last time they had been out here.
Except, here he was, leaning right across the boundary as if it didn’t even exist.
And even now, as he became aware of that fact, he didn’t pull away.
“I’m glad you’re not angry about it,” she said quietly.
“I’m responsible for my own choices,” he told her. “I decided not to go.”
She grinned. “Maybe you and I can go together sometime.”
“I would really like that,” Enzo said, and he meant it. “But also… you were right, some of what you said. Vista Grande isn’t really anything so special. This resort is a beautiful place, and I don’t know about you, but I’m having a good time right here.”
“I am too,” Hailey said quietly.
Enzo laughed.
“What’s funny?”
“Oh, it’s just— I was just remembering that my father sent me here as a punishment.”
Hailey laughed too. “Sent to a luxury resort as a punishment! Yeah, your life is tough.”
“Oh, take it easy.” He grinned. “I know this isn’t a real punishment. That’s what I was laughing at. I wonder how my father would feel if he knew what a good time I’ve been having here, that’s all. I’m willing to bet it would drive him crazy.”
Hailey hesitated for a moment. “Do you ever think maybe you’re being too hard on him?”
“Me being too hard on him? You know he kicked me out of my home city because he thought I was an embarrassment, right?”
