Page 57 of The Prince Who Loved Me

Awareness prickled her senses.Why?

He asked me about business books.

Brandi’s legs weakened and she plopped on the bed. Sebastien. Bought her books. After she thought he had rejected the idea of her as a business owner. He had apologized, but so many of her boyfriends had after doing something that hurt her. They never meant it.

Sebastien did. Because he loved her. Like, really loved her. Not how she looked or her willingness to adjust, but all messed-up-insides her.

He needed her.

And even with the panic and fear, she needed him more than she didn’t.

Heart thudding so hard she felt she was trembling, she flew down the grand staircase to the guest floor and knocked on his door. Pounded, really.

The door swung open with alacrity and Loïc stepped out, his body tense and ready.

“Oh.” Brandi took a step back so he wouldn’t run her over.

His eyes scanned the hallway before resting on her. His features immediately softened. “He’s in the orchard.”

“Thank you.” She rushed to the first floor and out the door, running past the rec room and down the grassy hill.

She stopped when she spotted him, sitting on the ground and leaning against one of the stone benches that buffered the orchard. A sketch pad rested on this bent knees as he looked at the bare trees, then back to his pad.

Her throat was suddenly dry. She’d seen him millions of times before, but now it was like seeing someone new.Someone she was free to love. Someone who loved her with no expectations, no pressures, no demands.

She strode down the rest of the hill, and he raised his head from his papers. Unable to resist his pull, she ran, needing to tell him how she felt or she would explode.

He stood up, leaving his pad on the ground, and met her under the trees that hung over the orchard entrance. She sped into his arms. He caught her and spun her around.

While in the air, she held onto his shoulders and kissed him, her mouth molding to his, trying to show him how she felt. He loosened his grip until her feet tapped the ground, then cupped her face with his hands.

“Brandi.” It was all he said. It was all he needed to say.

“I didn’t understand anything before.” She stroked her hand down the side of his face, feeling the rough texture of his red-gold scruff. “I do now.”

Chapter 13

Fantasy in real life. If he had sketched the moment Brandi passionately threw herself into his arms without pretense or reservation, that’s what it would be called. He’d imagined this scenario often enough; her coming to him, not in need or nursing another broken heart, but in love and passion.

He didn’t want it to end.

“What changed your mind?” he asked, his accent thickening.

“You.” Brandi laced their fingers together and kissed the back of his hand. “You bought me books, Sebastien.”

“Hell, if that was all it took, I would have bought you a bookstore.” He studied her face, the unusual hue of her brown-green eyes, her pointed chin, her full, pink lips. “It’s not the first time I’ve bought you something.”

“Every time I thought it was a nice, friendly gesture. You got things for Wendy and Jordan, too. But these books, Sebastien.” Her voice rasped the words. “They’re special. They said you listened. That you believe in me. That you love me.”

“I do.” His heart tugged in response. “I always have.”

“Will you kiss me again?”

His body tightened at the question and he cupped her face in his hands, running his thumbs over her cheekbones, her jaw, her mouth, even the slightly chapped lips, memorizing the contours. He wanted to savor this moment, but she leaned forward and brushed her lips to his.

He coaxed her mouth open, though she eagerly complied. The deepened kiss rocked his soul. He skimmed his hands over her shirt, then slipped them under the hem and rested on the small of her back with the lightest of caresses. It was the first time he’d felt her bare skin like this and her small, contentmurmur filled him with raw, aching desire.

Too soon, she broke it off, her hand brushing her lips. He didn’t think she even noticed.