Page 36 of Tempted By the Princess

“Then reach out. Ask to see her when she gets back. Give her a chance. Give yourself a chance to see if what y’all are feeling is real.”

My sister’s words were replaying in my brain all the way home. I was thinking about Genny so much that I thought I was imagining it when I saw her sitting on my front steps. I pulled the car into the garage and by the time I got out of the car she was standing behind me, watching me carefully.

“Hey.”

“Hey. You’re back.”

My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears. Genny looked a little rumpled. Her hair was coming out of her ponytail and the white linen pants she was wearing were wrinkled. There were shadows under her eyes, like maybe she hadn’t been sleeping.

“I came here right from the airport.”

“SeaTac?” I asked inanely.

She shook her head. “My sister lent me the royal jet.”

“Oh. Sure. I guess princesses don’t fly commercial.”

Meanwhile I’d never even flown first class.

“I fly commercial sometimes,” she corrected. “But I didn’t come here to talk about my flight arrangements.”

“Why did you come here?” I asked.

“Because I missed you and didn’t want to wait another minute to see you.”

Something warm bloomed in my chest, but then my damned brain kicked in, reminding me why this was a bad idea.

“Maybe we should talk.”

“That sounds ominous,” she said lightly, her eyes searching and serious despite her tone.

“You want some coffee?”

“Sure.”

She followed me into the kitchen, both of us carefully maintaining our distance as I brewed some coffee and brought it to the table.

“How was your trip?” I asked politely.

“Are we really doing this?” Genny asked impatiently.

“Doing what?”

“Pretending like a few hours before I last left here we weren’t taking turns eating each other out.”

A series of dirty images flashed through my brain, but I carefully shut them down.

“Look Genny, I had fun with you when you were here, but that’s all it was. Fun.”

“Bullshit.”

The word came out loud and angry, making me flinch.

“I told you that I love you, and you said you loved me too,” she reminded me. “What’s this really about? Did you fall out of love with me already?”

I shook my head.

“I saw the press coverage of the coronation,” I said. “I saw the pictures of you and your family wearing crowns, dripping in jewels, surrounded by some of the wealthiest and most influential people in the world. Love isn’t enough. Feelings fade away and then you’re left with the essence of who you are. I don’t fit in your world, Genny, and we’re very different from each other. You’re still young, when you’re older you’ll realize that us not seeing each other is for the best.”