Page 8 of Powerful Prince
“Right.” I stepped inside with her, without my security detail. Her room was a quarter of the size of mine, with the bed and the couch all visible together. I pressed my lips and said, “Just for a moment.”
The door locked behind me, then she crossed her arms and asked, “Okay, so why are you here?”
I saw a small studio set up on one side of the room, with cameras around it. Nicole was probably vain. I folded my hands in front of me and said, “I was rude to you earlier.”
One eyebrow shot up, but she didn’t otherwise move. “You were?”
Yeah, I’d ruffled her earlier. If Gio had shown me who she was before the meeting, maybe I’d not have behaved so stupidly this morning. Or last night. I stepped closer and said, “Yes, and I came to apologize.”
She didn’t budge, but she lowered her head. I swore she was trembling as she said, “I’m waiting.”
Funny. I’d not said my next words to anyone except my own mother, years ago. I took a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry.”
She lowered her arms and bounced on her feet as if she was considering what I’d said. But her lips curving up in a slight smile told me plenty.
“That’s good to hear,” she said, then she went to her bed and grabbed her phone. As she returned, she asked, “Tell you what, can we take a selfie right now, together?”
“Sure.” I wrapped my arms around her waist and, as she pressed herself to me for the photo, once again, she woke up parts of me I thought were dead. I had thought the spark of being with a new woman had dulled, but now I realized that, with Nicole, my cells were alive and aware of her. I smiled for her picture and I didn’t let her go right away as I said, “I was hoping you’d accompany me to dinner. I promise to behave.”
She put her phone back on the bed and then returned, filling the air with the scent of roses as she pressed her hand to her heart. “You want to have dinner, with me?”
I understood from the bat of her eyes that she wasn’t going to be easy. My own body tensed as I’d not had a challenge before, but I didn’t move.
Finally she offered her hand to shake and I said simply, “Yes.”
She played with a beaded bracelet on her arm and asked, “That’s why you’re here?”
Time to dare her. I reached out and cupped her hips. Glancing at her breasts, I said, “I did mention you were pretty earlier. That I’m not apologizing for.”
She laughed but didn’t pull away. She pressed her hands against my chest. “I don’t think we should.”
Her touch set me on fire. I’d bet money that it was mutual.
“We should what?” I asked softly.
She slid her hands down my chest and sucked on her bottom lip for a second. She made me hard as she asked, “Go out together?”
I lowered my head and ignored the heat in my body as our foreheads touched. “I don’t bite, unless you want me to.”
Her lips opened like she wanted me and her cheeks had a slight blush. “Are you here to seduce me and add another notch on your bedpost?”
The words were like ice cubes that ruined the perfect temperature of tea. I blinked and asked, “Excuse me?”
She tilted her head but didn’t pull away. “Are you here because you saw my blog and the problem about my virginity?”
Wait. My stomach twisted with a tingle. Was this an offer? I traced her back with my fingers and she stayed with me as I said, “I just want to talk about dinner, and perhaps a bottle of wine.”
She let out a soft sigh. “If there was one guy in the world who might make people stop calling me a hypocrite for choosing to remain a virgin, it’s you. Having dinner with you would be a PR coup.”
Now I stood taller and my cock went to attention. I knew she felt it, but I simply asked, “Why?”
She closed her eyes like she was taking a mental picture, or like she didn’t want to say the words. But then she said, “Because I don’t understand the impulses in my body when I’m near you. And since I’m used to being in complete control of and at ease with my body, I figure this might be a sign of physical attraction to someone I have a strictly professional relationship with. So I have a small dilemma. But that’s good. It shows authenticity if we work together.”
There he was. Big Ryder ached to toss her on that bed behind her.
Work was all she was thinking of, for now, but I needed to convince her to marry me. I combed my fingers through her soft hair and lowered my head. “You are forward.”
She licked her lips and closed her eyes. “No, I’m honest with myself and others.”
