I’m so lost in thought, speculating on this mysterious prince, that I don’t remember to knock on the door before I enter into the next room. We’re meant to knock before entering everywhere, but I’ve gotten a little lazy lately. These rooms are always empty, and I’ve never had an issue before.
So I just barge right in, not thinking about it. I head through the sitting room and living quarters before walking right into the bedroom, intending to start in the bathroom that’s attached to the bedroom before working my way outwards.
Except what I see in that bedroom makes me realize how stupid it can be to make assumptions.
I push open the door and stop dead in my tracks. Standing in the middle of the room, wearing nothing but a pair of boxer briefs, is one of the most attractive men I’ve ever seen in my entire life.
He must be in his early thirties. His skin is tan and his body is lean but muscular. He has deep blue eyes and perfect, straight teeth. My eyes roam down his cut chest, his ripped abs, and I can’t help but notice the substantial bulge between his legs. My eyes quickly flick up away from that, and I can feel red creeping into my cheeks.
He smirks as soon as he notices me, and doesn’t seem upset at all that I just walked in on him getting changed. He stands up and looks at me, cocking his head to one side. It’s almost like he’s challenging me to stare at his package some more.
He says something in Polovian, but it’s too fast to follow.
“Sorry,” I say in German. “My Polovian is very bad.”
He frowns for a second. “English?” he asks.
“Yes,” I say, grateful.
“Can I ask you something?” His English is very good, with only a slight hint of a British accent. He must have learned it from someone in the UK.
“Uh, okay,” I say.
“Are you going to just stand there and stare at me, or are you going to let me finish getting changed?”
I must turn absolutely scarlet, because he bursts out laughing.
“I’m so sorry!” I say, and I quickly get the hell out of there.
I slam the door behind me, feeling like a freaking idiot. I can’t believe I just did that. I was staring at him like a starving dog, and I just totally embarrassed myself.
But who the hell is that? I didn’t know anybody was going to be staying in this room. I thought this whole wing was just an abandoned ghost town. I’m so, so stupid for not following protocol. I should have knocked before entering, and knocked again on the bedroom door. I should have realized that something wasn’t right as soon as I saw that the door was shut.
I’m so embarrassed. I want to jump off a freaking cliff. I hurry toward the door, intending to run the heck out of there, but the man appears from the bedroom. He’s wearing a pair of dark jogging sweats, tapered to show off his muscular legs, but still doesn’t have a shirt on.
“Hold up,” he says. “Wait a second.”
I stop, inwardly cringing and kicking myself for not running faster.
“What’s your name?” The man steps toward me, a little smile on his face.
“Hazel,” I say. “And uh, you’re still not wearing a shirt.”
“Hazel,” he says. “Pretty name. You’re American.”
“Yes,” I say. He clearly doesn’t mind that I’m staring at his bare chest, and for good reason. The man is absolutely gorgeous.
“Interesting,” he says. “Not many Americans work here. How’d you get the job?”
“Uh, Britta Vanderclamp,” I say. “She helped me.”
“Ah,” he says, smiling. “Vanderclamp. I know that name.”
“She says her family has been working here for a long time.”
“Yes, well, that’s not uncommon in a place like this. Relationships matter for more than they should here.” He cocks his head again and smiles, and I can’t help but notice that gesture. It must be something he does unconsciously.
“I’m so sorry for barging in on you,” I say. “I’ll leave you alone.”
“You don’t know who I am, do you?”
I hesitate, not sure what to say. “No,” I admit. I hope he’s not some noble lord that gets insulted or something, but I don’t want to lie to him.
He just laughs and waves. “Go ahead, get back to work, Hazel.” He grins at me.
I don’t like the way he so casually dismisses me. “Yes, my lord,” I say, as sarcastic as possible. I expect him to get annoyed, but he just grins some more.
“Knock next time,” he calls out as I head out of the room.
I catch a glimpse of him watching me as the door slowly shuts. Once in the hall, I hurry around the corner before leaning up against the wall to catch my breath.