Page 74 of Tabloid Princess

“Why?”

He paused thoughtfully, staring into his wine. “I don’t know a huge amount about dating.”

I snorted the loudest laugh I’d ever produced. “Oh please. You are always being pictured with a new woman, always up to something; something headline grabbing.”

“No. I’m always pictured as I walk out of places, or into them, while someone usually manages to stand by my side and grab themselves a headline.”

“Hold on.” I held up my hand. “No way. I’ve seen pictures of you holding hands coming out of restaurants.” I looked for my bag. “Let’s get my phone and Google.”

He placed his hand over mine, stopping my words with the sheer warmth of his skin. “Trust me.”

My laughter died on my tongue. I shouldn’t trust him. If the papers were to be believed he was a player. I’d read the headlines which had suggested his wedding had been cancelled because he’d been caught cheating… But, regardless, I did believe him.

Stupid brain.

“There were dates.” He lifted his shoulders. “Not as many as some would have people believe.” He reached for his glass and I watched his lips cling to it as he took a sip. “And you?”

“Me what?”

“Dates?” He rolled his hand in a ‘Give me more’ fashion.

“Oh. Uh. No.”

“No?”

“Um. Dating hasn’t been my thing.”

“Why?”

I stared into my drink recalling the moment Daisy had been placed in my hands. That pink face, the pursed lips. “Life I guess.”

I didn’t want to talk about this. I wanted to be on safe ground like asking did he have gold-lined toilet paper, but as I looked up, he shifted towards me.

I held my breath as his hand slid over mine, his firm fingers running between mine like water over rocks. His thumb rubbed delicately against the edge of my palm.

I wanted to implode, and all because he was touching my hand. Warmth licked up my arm, my legs becoming heavy, more than a simple touch warranted.

“Leia,” he breathed my name and I shivered down to my toes.

Unable to focus, my head woozy from holding my breath, I blinked up at him. “I don’t think I should be here.” The loud thrumming of my heart, loud and fast made talking impossible. It hurt.

“I’m sorry.” He dropped his head until his forehead rested against mine. “I shouldn’t say it. I should let you go and live your life, but—”

“No,” I gasped. The stabbing sensation I’d experienced for the last three days intensified in my chest, ripping tiny holes in my careful existence. “Oliver.” His name tripped dangerously from my tender lips. “I’m not a good person for a prince to be with.”

He pulled back, but instead of dropping contact, his hands lifted to my shoulders, his thumb slipping into the groove of my collarbone. “No?”

“No. I don’t believe in fairy tales or dream of being rescued by a knight in shining armour. I have to protect what I have for myself.” I groaned, wishing he would drop his hold on me, all the while not having the strength to extricate myself from his grasp. “I know it doesn’t make sense to you.”

“And I can’t be seen with you. Anyone. I’ll never be able to stand outside your office with a bouquet of flowers, just because I want to. I’ll never be able to do a weekly food shop or nip to Waitrose or stroll hand in hand in the park. I can’t do any of that. Normal isn’t a word my family or my lifestyle allows for.”

We stared at one another. Hard and ruthless. All the while our words spun around us.

“But I know when you leave here, I’ll be the lesser for it. I don’t know what it means, Leia. I’ve never been in this situation before.”

“What situation?” My legs wobbled but I held myself up straight.

“Unprecedented.” That one word speared me in the depths of my stomach. He leant closer until I could almost taste him, his word ticking over the sensitive skin of my lips. “Won’t you stay a while longer?”