An American Cinderella:A Royal Love Story(28)

I lay in his arms, content and complete. If I closed my eyes, I could  pretend that nothing was wrong. That there was nothing waiting for me  outside my front door. That everything would turn out okay.

I squeezed my eyes shut harder, and pressed my cheek to his chest.

"Thank you," I whispered into his chest. "Thank you for taking care of me."

"Always," he whispered back. My heart skipped a beat, wanting to believe  him. I wanted to believe this was an always. I could imagine a future  with him that was bright and wonderful.

I opened one eye and looked up at him. He looked sexy as hell with wet  and wild hair and stubble from the day. I pressed my palm into his  cheek, feeling the rough hair on his jaw press into my skin. Just  looking at him made my body want more.

"Why are you so good to me?" I asked.

He frowned slightly, as if he didn't understand my question. "What do you mean?"

"Why are you so wonderful? You bring me dinner, you wash my hair, you  let me cry, you make me feel better." I ticked off fingers as I listed  the wonderful things he had done for me just this evening.

He kissed my cheek before smiling at me. "You have no idea the way you make me feel. You don't treat me like anyone else does."

It was my turn to frown. "I treat you just like I treat everyone," I said. "Although, not with the sex. That is special to you."

He chuckled, the sound reverberating through his chest and directly into mine. "And you have no idea how much I enjoy it."         

     



 

I just frowned more.

"There's something I need to tell you," he said. He licked his lips and for one second, the ever-present confidence faltered.

"You can tell me anything," I said softly. He smiled with his mouth but his jaw tightened.

"Aria..." He swallowed hard. "This is harder than I thought it would be."

I hated seeing him like this. Nervous wasn't his style. Besides, I was  so happy right now. I didn't want to know. The only things I could think  of that he would struggle to tell me would be bad things.

I had enough bad things for tonight.

"Are you married?" I asked. Apprehension filled my chest. Finding out  that he wasn't really mine and that I was the other woman was the worst  thing I could imagine. "Or engaged or anything like that?"

He shook his head, his blue eyes full of honesty. He smiled and touched my cheek. "No. You're the only one."

A flood of warmth entered my chest that I was his one. "I am?"

He smiled and kissed my forehead. "Yes." He lowered his chin, his eyes serious as he looked into my soul. "Am I yours?"

I nodded enthusiastically. "Very much so."

His smile lit my world. We were a couple.

"Will you say it?" I asked. "Say I'm your girlfriend."

"You're my girlfriend," he said, his grin for me only. His expression became protective. "And you are all mine."

"Good." I kissed him. "I don't want to be anyone else's. Just yours."

He held me to him, his strong arms wrapping around me. I closed my eyes  and let myself be enveloped by him. In his arms, I was safe. I was  wanted.

"Then you're all mine," he said, tucking his face into my shoulder and holding me to him.

For the first time all day, I felt like the world was going to be okay. With Henry by my side, I could get through this.

And with his arms keeping me safe, I drifted off to sleep.





Chapter 17





Henry was gone when I woke the next morning, but he'd made coffee and  left a heart on a piece of paper underneath an empty cup. It was a good  way to wake up and bode well for the rest of the day.

At work, I did everything in my power not to read a single document. I  knew it was futile, but it was the only thing I could do that didn't  give Audrey power over me.

I scanned and probably misfiled half the documents, but I didn't want to  know what was on them. If I knew, then I would have to tell my  stepmother. If I honestly had no idea, then I couldn't tell her.

It was a flimsy excuse, but at the moment it was all I had.

Guilt about everything clung to me, smothering like smoke.

"Hey you," Jaqui said, stepping into my office.

I dropped the stack of papers I was holding in surprise, sending a  flurry of paperwork to the floor. I was sure she was there to arrest me.  Or fire me. She had to suspect something. It didn't help how jumpy I  was around her lately.

"What's up?" I asked, my voice shaking as I bent over and quickly picked  up my papers. I waved Jaqui off when she tried to help me. I knew that  it was all in my head, but I couldn't shake the guilt hanging over me.

"I have a huge favor to ask of you," Jaqui said. She leaned against the door and bit her lip.

"What do you need?" I set my stack of papers down. At least she wasn't here to fire me.

"I need you to make trade folders and pamphlets for the upcoming  delegation next week. My assistant is out with the flu, and these are  needed now. I'm re-tasking you, if you'll accept it."

"You want me to make pamphlets?" I asked, not believing my luck.  "Instead of this?" I motioned to the boxes still covering the floor. It  seemed as though they appeared as quickly as I got through them.

"Yeah. If you don't want to, I get it. It would put you behind on the scans and delay you getting out of here, but-"

"No, I want to," I cut her off. I was being given a reprieve. It wasn't  my fault if I was being re-tasked. I knew my stepmother would have that  changed the moment she found out, but for now, I was safe. "I really  want to."

Jaqui looked at me a little strangely. "Wow. You're really excited about it. I didn't think scanning was that bad."

"I'm just bored with it," I tried to explain. "Making folders for you  will be a nice change of pace for a few days. It's actually just what I  need."

Jaqui smiled. "I'm just glad you're here and can do it. It really helps  me out. The scanning can wait a few days, but this conference won't."         

     



 

"I'm happy I can help," I told her. "Really, I can't tell you how glad I am to do it. Just tell me what you need me to do."

"It's still for the Paradisians," Jaqui explained. "They are throwing  this big ball next weekend in honor of trade negotiations wrapping up,  but that means that there's a big meeting where the head honchos need  pretty pamphlets and folders to discuss everything."

"This is for the Paradisians?" I asked. Somehow it felt a little less  like an escape. My stepmother would still find a way to make this work  for her.

"Yes, so that's why I can re-task you without too much paperwork," she  replied with a grin. "Hopefully, once this whole thing is done we can  get you back to the senate somehow. As much as I love having you here,  it's not where you belong. You're meant for bigger things than this."

My heart warmed at my friend's compliment. I didn't deserve it. "Thank you."

"No, thank you for switching tasks." Jaqui grinned. "Go ahead and finish  up what you've got open, and then come meet me in my office. I've got  everything set up in the copy room."

"Sounds great. I'll be done in just a minute," I said, feeling a  lightness in my chest. I had just won a lucky break. It wasn't much, but  it did give me a little more time to come up with a way to get out from  under my stepmother. I had a couple of ideas, but I needed to do some  legal research before I pursued any of them. This gave me the time to do  that without worrying as much.

I quickly stacked up my work and signed out of the laptop. It felt good  to turn it off. I looked around the room, pleased to be leaving, even if  it was only for a few days. I would miss this room only because of the  picnic with Henry, but now that we were an official couple, I hoped  there would be other picnics in other rooms.

I grabbed my things and headed to the copy room. I was ready to make  folders and anything else Jaqui wanted as long as I didn't have to go  back to scanning documents.



I made pamphlets until my eyes ached. Then, I stopped at the grocery  store and picked up groceries. I didn't usually have nearly this much  when I wasn't cooking. It felt strange to have bags of things to bring  up.

I arranged the items I'd gotten from the store on my kitchen counter.  I'd found most of the things he'd asked or, or at least what I hoped  where close to what he wanted. Panko crumbs were apparently some sort of  Japanese crunchy breadcrumb type thing. I'd had to ask someone to show  me where they were since they were not with the bread. They were in the  baking aisle where I never ventured.

I had no idea what in the heck we were making, but I was excited to try it. I was ready to try anything with him.

The knock on my door made me smile. He was finally here.

I smoothed the front of the dress I'd changed into and tried to walk  calmly to the door. I didn't make it two steps before I ran the rest of  the way. Luckily, it was a small space so I didn't have far to run. I  checked the peephole to see him standing in my hallway, wearing his  traditional baseball cap. He had a canvas bag with more groceries  resting on his shoulder.