“Lovely place.” Alex opened the door to the limo and held his hand out for me. His warm fingers wrapped around mine to help me before moving to the small of my back as we walked through the snow-covered grass. I knew it was a gentlemanly thing to do, to assist a woman walking through the snow, but it amused me. I didn’t need help walking through my own yard. In fact, I was the last person to cut the grass.
“It does look pretty cozy all covered in snow.” When we got to the front stoop I turned to look at Alex and smiled. I pulled the keys out of my purse and looked for the door key. “Thank you for making sure I got home safely.”
“Thank you for letting me keep my dignity.” Alex stepped closer and brushed some of the hair away from my face. My breath caught as he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to my cheek. “It’s been… an honor to meet you, Samantha.”
I looked at him sharply to see if he was joking, mocking what I had said when we first met, but it brought our faces nose-to-nose. There was an amused glint in his eyes, but underneath that was something much warmer. We stood there, neither moving, only our breaths tangling in the cold air between our lips. Part of me demanded to move closer, to press my hungry mouth to his, while another part of me screamed to run for the hills. He shifted closer and I tilted my head up as his hand moved to cup my cheek.
The front door was pulled open in a rush of warm air, and I almost stumbled off the top step. Alex’s warm fingers closed around my elbow to help steady me. I turned to look into Jess’s wide eyes and smiled weakly.
“Sorry, I thought you were having trouble with your key again.” Jess swung her gaze from Alex to me and back. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“You didn’t. Alex brought me home when my truck wouldn’t start.” I cleared my throat and turned to smile at the prince standing on my tiny front porch.
“My pleasure.” Alex winked at me before tipping his head to Jess. “You must be Jess.” Holding his hand out, I watched as my roommate looked at it like it was something unreal before slowly leaning out of the front door to shake it.
“Yes. Jess. I am. I mean, I am Jess. Um, nice to meet you.” Jess looked at me and then back at Alex. She yanked her hand away from him. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to hold your hand like some kind of crazy stalker. Boyfriend! Bert! My boyfriend is in the living room.”#p#分页标题#e#
My eyes grew wider with each word out of Jess’s mouth and I had to fight to not laugh out loud. I looked over Jess’s shoulder to see Bert staring at us with the same look of amusement.
“Right. This is my roommate, the not-stalker and that’s her boyfriend, Bert, back there.” Bert raised his hand in greeting.
“Nice to meet you both.” Alex looked back at me, and I could see the amusement rippling in the blues of his eyes. “I’ll be in touch, Samantha.”
“Sure.” I nodded my head, trying to make everything seem very businesslike. “I look forward to it.” My heart stopped. Had I really just added that? What was wrong with me?
“As do I.” His eyes held mine before he bowed his head and backed down the steps. I didn’t move as I watched him walk across the lawn and climb through the limo door, which the driver was holding open. Turning, I shooed Jess back into the house and closed the door behind me. I leaned against the heavy wood and kicked the heels off my feet.
Jess stood there staring at me, her eyes the size of saucers. I sighed and shrugged out of my coat. “Go ahead and get it out of your system.”
“Prince Yummy brought you home.” Jess pointed a finger at me like I was in trouble. This was going to be bad.
“His Royal Highness, Prince Alex, brought me home.” I frowned at her. “You have to stop calling him that. It was stuck in my head all night.”
“His Royal Highness, Prince Alex of the Yummy, brought you home. In a limo.” Jess took a deep breath. “And you were about to kiss him. Right there. On our porch!”
“What? No. No I wasn’t.” I shook my head and dropped my coat on the rack before walking to the kitchen.
“I’m not blind, Sam. You were, like, this far apart!” She held her finger and thumb up so I could see the sliver of space between them. “You were going to kiss him!”
“Don’t be ridiculous. He’s European. They kiss cheeks. That’s all.” I fixed a glass of water before hauling myself up onto the counter.
Bert followed us into the kitchen and leaned against the doorframe, his arms across his chest. I didn’t like the look in his eyes. Jess could jump to conclusions. She was brilliant, but I also knew that me being involved with Alex would be the stuff of her daydreams. Bert, however, was a practical guy with an eye for detail.