Royal Chase (19 page)

“Philosophy.”

She looked so sad. “You seem to know a lot about him.”

I wanted to tell her why. It seemed unfair for her not to know. I kept thinking about what I wanted and how this all affected me, but what about Genesis? She really liked Dante. Should I step aside to give them a real shot? Was I confusing things for him by being there?

And how could I explain that I had found out his major the one time he visited me in Colorado, and after that was all over, I didn’t know if he’d ever speak to me again?

Graduation day, Brighton, Colorado. Nico and Kat had been engaged for a couple of weeks, and he had flown out to see her graduate. She hadn’t seen him since they got engaged, although they e-mailed, texted, and FaceTimed constantly, and she stood at our window in her red cap and gown, waiting for him. She offered to pick him up from the airport in my car, but he didn’t want her to have to deal with the paparazzi who waited for him. No one had told them Nico was coming into the country, but it was a safe and correct bet that he would come for our graduation.

Sterling was still at his hotel. We had just gotten engaged ourselves the night before, and he planned to pick me up a bit later to take me to the ceremony. A week earlier Nico had offered me the opportunity to represent his family and their public relations interests. It had never occurred to me to start my own company, but I absolutely loved the idea. I researched online what I needed to do, and talked to some of the professors from my department and some from the Anthony School of Business. I hired my own attorney and began the process of forming my very own corporation. It was so exciting. It felt like my life was finally on track, and everything I’d ever dreamed of was finally coming true.

I had the right man, the right career path, and I was graduating from college. Everything was perfect.

“He’s here!” Kat threw open the door and ran down the stairs to greet Nico. A line of paparazzi formed behind his car, and Nico’s security got out first to stop the photographers. Nico jumped out of the back of the limo to meet her halfway. He picked her up in his arms and swung her around, and then they kissed. That kiss ended up on the cover of about a dozen different magazines.

I watched them, so happy to be together. I was happy for them, happy for myself, just full of happy.

I closed the blinds when they got into his limo, and locked the front door. I went into the bathroom to touch up my makeup one last time. Sterling sent me a text saying he was on his way, but that there was some traffic. I figured Nico was probably to blame for that. I texted my parents to let them know that I might be a little bit late, and my mother responded to say that they were going straight to the ceremony at the Byrd Center on campus, and they would save Sterling a seat.

I heard a knock on the door and thought that Kat had locked herself out. It didn’t surprise me at all that she’d left everything behind when she’d caught sight of Nico. “Next time make sure you get your key . . .” I said, and then my mouth forgot how to talk.

Dante stood there in an expensive Armani suit, and he held out a bouquet of lemon lilies. I had forgotten how good he smelled, and how much I loved it when he smiled at me the way he smiled at me right then.

I hadn’t seen him since our blow-up at New Year’s Eve, and I didn’t understand why he was here. I didn’t think we had anything left to say to each other.

“May I come in?”

Chapter 19

Can I borrow a kiss? I promise I’ll give it right back.

I stepped aside and he entered the apartment. I closed the door behind him and just stared at him. He was literally the last person I expected to see. He handed me the flowers.

“I’ll go put these in water.” My brain finally remembered how to use words, and I hurried into our kitchen to pull myself together.

Why was Dante here? I grabbed a vase from under the sink and filled it up. I hadn’t seen him in nearly five months. He texted me almost every day, but I hardly ever answered him. I was trying to move on with my life, and thinking about him and about what had happened between us was not helping with that.

I had done my best not to encourage him, but here he was. I put the flowers on our tiny kitchen table, and he stood in our living room, waiting for me. “Thank you for the flowers. How did you know they were my favorite?”

“Knowing your commitment to your name, I took a wild guess,” he said, and I wondered if he really had, or if Kat had told him. “I like your outfit.”

I looked down at my red gown and felt my face flush. The color red reminded me of times and things I did not want to be reminded of.

“What are you doing here?”

“I graduated yesterday—Nico said he was coming here, and I thought I’d tag along.” He didn’t sound like himself. He sounded wary and unsure. It was weirding me out.

“What did you get your degree in?” Now I just sounded like the stereotypical blonde. I was in the midst of this highly charged situation, and I was asking him random things that didn’t really matter. I should have been focusing on the fact that he just got his bachelor’s degree. That he was too young for me. Instead I paid way too much attention to how his mouth moved.

“Philosophy.”

Of course. “Underwater basket weaving was all full?”

He laughed, and he seemed more like Dante again.

“But why did you want to tag along?”

He walked over to me, and my pulse thundered as I scooted back, running into a wall.

“I wanted to see you.” His voice was low and turned my brain to mush. He took my cap off and tossed it on the table. I should have moved or run away screaming, but I just stood there while he got even closer, and let out a little sigh when he put his fingers in my hair. I absolutely should not have been letting him touch me, but it felt so good.

And it was all there, all the things I had deliberately forgotten—the
deep longing, that pull between us, so magnetic, so electric, so undeniable.

“I’ve missed you so much,” he said in a whisper just above my lips. Some
part of my brain turned back on and reminded me that I couldn’t let this happen.

“Wait,” I said, putting a hand on his chest. “I’m engaged.”

He went very still. “
Ma che
? What did you just say?”

I swallowed and repeated myself. “I’m engaged. We can’t . . .”

He dropped his hands from me, but he didn’t move. I had thought Nico or Kat might have mentioned it to him, but they obviously hadn’t. His gaze flicked to my left hand, still on his chest. “You’re not wearing a ring.”

“He wants us to choose one together.”

A look of disdain crossed his features, and I didn’t know if it was because of what I had just told him, or if he didn’t think much of a man who couldn’t pick out the perfect ring for his fiancée. I knew that if he were my fiancé, Dante would choose just the right one and I would love it. It had bothered me that Sterling had asked without a ring, but I wouldn’t let Dante know it.

Since I was engaged, I had to remember that it didn’t matter what Dante would or would not do. Things between us had ended disastrously, and he would not be in my future.

“You could have mentioned it,” he said, moving my hand off of his chest.

“It was sudden,” I said. “It just happened last night.”

“One day too late,” Dante said. He looked and sounded sad. Which didn’t make sense given that he just wanted to mess around.

“He’s coming to pick me up for graduation,” I whispered. “He’ll be here soon.”

I did not want Dante and Sterling in the same place at the same time. I wasn’t sure I could handle it.

“I should go.”

I didn’t want him to leave, but he was right. He should go.

He leaned in to kiss me good-bye, as he had so many times before, but just as he went to kiss my left cheek, I looked up because I wanted to say something to him, and our lips met.

Accidentally, torturously, wondrously, and it was just as I remembered it. Better. My lips felt like they had caught on fire.

He immediately pulled away, but he didn’t go far. Our lips hovered near each other, just a fraction apart. We were both breathing hard, shallow breaths.

I waited. I was so caught up in the moment I was sure he would kiss me again. I wanted him to kiss me again, make the world fall away and to have the only thing that mattered be the passion between us.

I bit my lower lip in anticipation, and his gaze darted to my mouth, and he sucked in a breath.

Still he didn’t move. Almost touching me, almost kissing me, but not.

The anticipation and want kept building inside me until I was absolutely desperate for him to make a move, do something.

Finally, not able to stand it and wanting him more than anything in the whole word, I broke all of my rules and leaned forward.

He stepped back just as quickly. Out of reach.

“Once is a mistake,” he said, his breathing still just as out of control as mine. “Twice is deliberate.”

Good heavens. I suddenly remembered myself. I was engaged and I had almost—I would have if Dante hadn’t stopped us. I should have been thanking him, but instead I wanted an explanation that would make the feelings go away.

“Why?” was all I could say, which was stupid because I very well knew why.

“You’re not a cheater,” he finally said with a sad smile. “And I won’t make you one.”

I could feel tears, hot and unshed, just behind my eyes, and my throat felt too tight. I’d been cheated on most of my adult life, and I had just nearly cheated on Sterling. I was a terrible person, and it was so awful that Dante had to be the one to remind me of my relationship and the promise that I had made to another man. That he had to be the honorable one while I was ready to betray my fiancé and myself.

How could I ever look Dante in the face again? He must have thought
I was the worst fiancée ever. I certainly did. I sat down in a chair at the table, my knees no longer able to support me.

My voice caught when I asked, “Where does that leave us then?”

“Friends. I will always be your friend.”

“And my client.” I still sounded wobbly and like tears would break out at any minute.

He smiled, but it wasn’t sincere. “Yes. That. I will see you in California in a couple of weeks.”

Then he left, closing the door quietly behind him, and I tried to keep the tears from falling since I didn’t want to explain to Sterling why I had been crying, or to let him know the kind of person I really was.

Everybody else had their hometown visits, and finally it was my turn. I was actually excited to have my parents meet Dante. I got to speak briefly with my mother before I left, and she was frantic. The show had brought twenty people to set up the house and prep them, and they were planning on being there for eight hours, even though Dante and I were only scheduled to be filmed for two or three.

My parents knew the truth of our situation, so hopefully there wouldn’t be any embarrassing questions and we could all just enjoy our time together.

They didn’t let my daddy pick me up from the airport, and just had one of the PAs drive me instead. A wave of homesickness hit me hard, and I couldn’t believe how much I had missed being home.

Both my mother and father were waiting for me on the porch, and as soon as the car stopped, I ran to them. “My little Lemonade!” my daddy said as he hugged me tight. “I missed you so!”

“Welcome home, darlin’,” my momma added, when I embraced her next. “Where’s that prince of yours?”

“He should be here soon,” I said. I’d brought an overnight bag, and the PA handed it up to me. I thanked him and he went to join the rest of the crew.

“Like an infestation of termites,” my mother sniffed. “They have taken over every part of the house.” Other parents might have been excited or thrilled to be on television. Not mine. They’d never understood why I liked movies or TV shows, as they thought an evening should be spent entertaining their friends or reading a good book.

Another way I was their black sheep.

Dropping out of beauty pageants my sophomore year had been the first strike against me. It was right after Sterling had broken up with me, I’d lost ballet, and I didn’t want to do pageants anymore. They seemed shallow and heartless and I wanted to do something more meaningful. Or, at least, something I would enjoy. I knew my mother loved bragging to her friends about how well I did. She never said anything to me
about it, just got tight-lipped and changed the subject if I brought it up.

Then there was the fact that I hadn’t gone to the University of Georgia, and every generation of my family had matriculated there since it opened its doors in 1801. I went to Brighton University instead, and did not become a Bulldog like everyone expected me to. I still remembered the stricken look on my father’s face when I told him about my college plans.

Then there was the work thing. We all kept trying to win each other over to our points of view, but it wasn’t happening.

The one thing I’d done in the last ten years that had thrilled them was getting engaged to Sterling, which was one of the main reasons I had a hard time imagining calling it off. I didn’t want to disappoint them again.

We went inside, letting the screen door shut behind us. I took my
bag
up to my childhood room and put it on the bed. I looked around at
all the memorabilia, the trophies, the pictures on my bulletin board. What
would the sixteen-year-old version of myself have thought of all this?
Would she have liked Dante? Would she have wanted me to choose him?

I didn’t know, but I was pretty sure she would have been furious with me for getting engaged to Sterling after the way he broke our heart.

Since I was planning on staying here overnight, once Dante left, I could see my fiancé. That would probably help me get my head on straight and make the decisions that I needed to make. I picked up my old princess phone and dialed his cell.

“Brown.”

“Sterling! I’m in town and I wanted to see you. They’re filming at my parents’ house until about ten o’clock, and then I’m free the rest of the night if you want to come by.” Maybe we could even stay up all night talking the way we had after our first date a few months ago.

He let out a long sigh. “I would love to, but we have a deadline for our complaint tomorrow morning, and I’ll be up all night working on it with some of the other associates.”

Strangely, I didn’t feel as disappointed as I thought I would. My ego was a bit bruised, because shouldn’t he want to spend time with me? But I would live.

“I would love to see you, but you’ll be back soon and we’ll be married and then I’ll be able to see you all the time.”

“But . . .”

He didn’t let me finish. “I have to go. Talk to you soon.” He hung up.

Not even an “I love you” that time. I didn’t know what to make of that.

I ran a brush through my hair, put some more lipstick on, and went downstairs to wait for Dante’s arrival. The show had offered to cater the dinner for us, but my mother wasn’t having it. If there was entertaining to be done, she would make the phone calls herself. “Yankees wouldn’t even know who to call,” she mumbled under her breath as she called Dave’s Barbecue to place an order. I was going to remind her that she was wearing a microphone and they could hear everything she was saying, but it wouldn’t have made a difference. She would have complained out loud either way.

She was usually the picture of politeness, but not when she felt like her home was being invaded.