Page 37 of Tempted By the Princess

“I didn’t handle things well with my parents,” she said softly.

I blinked, confused by the change in topic.

“I behaved like a spoiled kid, running away, hiding, knowing that they’d be worried even though I’d emailed my sister. I knew it at the time, but the truth is that once I was here with you, I wanted to hide away and be with you. Take the time to get to know you. I knew if I reconnected with my real life, my time here would end, and I wasn’t willing to let it end too soon. But it was selfish of me.”

I didn’t respond, waiting for whatever she wanted to say next.

“I understand that you seeing me act that way gave you the impression that I’m impetuous and flighty. I can also understand that you have concerns about the differences in our ages and about who I am. My being a princess would be a lot for anyone. But there’s one thing you haven’t learned about me yet.”

“What’s that?”

“When I want something, I’m tenacious. Single-minded. Focused. And I want you. Not just for now, but forever. I’ll do whatever it takes, wait as long as it takes, for you to believe me when I say that I love you and want us to be together forever.”

Ignoring the excitement coursing through my veins I made myself ask, “What if I don’t want you?”

“If you really don’t want me, I’ll have to accept that. It’ll kill me, but I’ll accept that. But I won’t accept it without you giving me a chance to prove to you that I mean what I say.”

“That means what, exactly?”

“The thing is Carrie, we did this all kind of backwards. I want us to start from the beginning. Pretend we met the normal way people meet. On an app. At a party. When we both reach for the same melon at the grocery store. We jumped into cohabitation. Now I want to date.”

“You want us to date?” I repeated. “What does that mean?”

“We go to the movies. Visit the Farmer’s Market. Have romantic dinners at Italian restaurants where they put candles in old wine bottles and let the wax drip all over the sides.”

“Are we going to eat off the same side of a piece of spaghetti until our lips meet too?” I joked.

I started to explain, thinking she didn’t understand the reference, but she did.

“I love Lady and the Tramp,” she said. “My sister and I used to watch that cartoon with Mom. We should watch it together sometime.”

“So we’re going to date?” I repeated, wondering if there was a punchline here.

“Yes. And one more thing.”

“What?”

“No sex until we have a commitment.”

Genevieve

If Carrie was a cartoon her eyes would pop right out of her head.

“But we’ve already had sex. Very good sex, as I recall.”

“Yes, but that was out of character for me. I usually only have sex with someone after we’ve been dating for a while and getting serious about each other. Besides, that way we won’t have the physical side of things obscuring our judgment.”

Carrie was looking at me like I was nuts, and maybe I was. It was all I could do not to pull her up on this kitchen table and make her come so many times she forgot her name. But I knew that she was worried we were caught up in the forced proximity fantasy, and this was a good way to prove that we weren’t.

If we could both survive. I had a feeling my vibrator was going to get a good workout over the next few weeks.

The dating plan had been Angie’s idea, and I had to admit it was a good one. Let Carrie get to know the real me, the way I moved through my Seattle life, and yes, she would get a glimpse of my wealth and my normal interactions with my family too, but that was the whole package. She needed to love all of me, not just the me who hid out in her van and tempted her into having a hot affair.

“So what happens next?” Carrie asked.

“Are you free tomorrow night?” I asked.

“Yes.”