A moment later, she walked out with her debit card in hand and stared into the brown eyes with the green specks of PrinceAntonio.
"You didn't tell me that the prince was..."Reneesaid.
"What?" Kristin vaguely heard her friend's voice, but she was mesmerized, again. Antonio was real and he was in herapartment.
"...coming." Renee finished and the last word wasclear.
Electric bulbs sparked on at the same time in her chest. She couldn't move, so she averted her gaze in hopes to regain her sanity. "Your Highness, what are youdoinghere?"
He stepped closer to her and it felt like her body might melt. "Kristin, I hope I'm notintruding."
Renee's voice interrupted, "I'll give you a few minutes and head tomyroom."
Kristin understood she should tell her friend not to go because without Renee here, she'd be completely under the spell of Antonio. "No.Wait."
But she was too late. Renee’s bedroom door clicked closed. Her pulse zipped just because she was alone with him. She licked her lips and stared at his mouth. Earlier his kiss had been out of this world. She lowered her lashes. "YourHighness..."
"Antonio." He took another stepcloser.
All she had to do was reach out and she could feel the strength of his arm, his jaw. Her fingers ached to do what she wanted, but she instead held her elbow under her chest. "I don't feel comfortable calling you by yourfirstname."
He traced his finger down her arm. "I thought all Americans liked calling everyone by their firstnames."
She glanced up at his strong, chiseled chin. "Not you. You're aprince."
His voice was deep and the vibration of his tone dug into her skin. "I wasn't always aprince."
Nothing about them was alike. She had read all about him months ago when she’d applied for the secretarial job and then every so often because he was fun to read about. To dream about. "Growing up exiled with all your family's money in a secure Swiss bank account and attending various prestigious British institutions is not exactlyroughingit."
Her parents had expected her to make her own mac and cheese from the box when she’d come home from school. He’d probably never eaten anything out ofabox.
His lips tightened as if he was surprised at how she surmised his childhood. He massaged her shoulders. "Are you upset aboutsomething?"
No. Yes. She swallowed. What bothered her was how much she wanted to take him to her bedroom. She was never this wanton, but she kept that thought to herself. She glanced at him and pretended her body didn't hum. "I thought you were going to give me twenty-four hours and that we'd meettomorrow."
"I couldn't wait that long." His deep voice was a merewhisper.
In her mind she imagined shutting the door to her room and slowly disrobing, one article of clothes at a time. Would he like that? Would he do the same? She lowered her lashes. "I don't think weshould..."
"My father is ill. I have to get back to Avcerightaway."
Oh, he wasn’t thinking about seduction at all. A cold shower every three minutes near him might remind her to be herself. She ignored the zips and zaps that coursed through her and squeezed his hand. "I understand. I'msorry."
He placed her hand on his heart. "I was hoping you might accompany me. I'll give you a tour, take you to my favorite restaurant to get dinner. Show you mycountry."
"Can I come?" Renee's voice echoed through theapartment.
She hadn't heard her best friend openthedoor.
Neither of them moved, but Kristin called over his shoulder. "Renee, I thought you were giving us someprivacy?"
Renee’s voice came down the hall, then she peeked into the kitchen and pointed to the counter. "I was looking for myheadphones."
Ohh. Antonio dropped her hand from his heart and her skin ached to touch him again. She tugged on her ear and neck, wishing she’d worn her mother’s necklace today. The gold locket reminded her that she wasn’talone.
Renee walked into the foyer area and grabbed her bag. "Your Highness, my friend Kristin gets scared of good things happening in her life. Her parents taught her to always look for security first. It robs her of spontaneitysometimes."
Wait. What? Kristin blinked. "No Idon't."
