“I don’t know if I should answer that. You already have enough reasons not to like me.”
Before I can insist, the pilot announces we’re landing, but I can’t stop replaying the way her face flushed at my question.
We return to our seats, and sitting across from me, she closes her eyes and leans back into the chair.
I, on the other hand, can’t look away, even though I should.
“I don’t know how you can spend the week in London when you have this paradise at your disposal,” she says, staring out the window as the driver takes us through my lands.
“I thought you liked big cities. You chose a major metropolis to study in, after all.”
She turns to face me. “I wanted to go anywhere I could feel free. I picked London randomly. Could’ve been Germany too.”
“Maybe not so randomly. Maybe you unconsciously chose the farthest place from Rheadur.”
She gives me a half smile and, impossibly, looks even more beautiful. “Could be. Truth is, I want to experience life before . . .”
“Before what?”
“I’ll eventually have to marry to form a political alliance for my country. Like you said, I’m a princess. I have obligations.”
“Your father or brother would never force you to marry against your will.”
“Kaled would give me the option to choose from among certain candidates. But don’t fool yourself into thinking I can remain single.”
“Is that what you want?”
“Right now? No. I can’t think of anyone for the role. Besides, I’d like to try a few kisses before making a decision.”
I don’t know if she realizes she does it, but she says that looking straight at my mouth.
“With anyone?”
“Of course not! I have to at least be interested in the guy,” she snaps, offended.
“So what’s your plan?‘Hey, I’m a princess and I’ll have to get married whether I want to or not. Before that, I’d like to try kissing around. Volunteers?’”
She glares, but my mood is circling hell’s kitchen too. Imagining her kissing random guys just to “experience life” sparks a level of madness I didn’t know I was capable of.
“You’re mocking me!”
“No. I just think your plan is ridiculous. You can’t go around asking people to kiss you.”
The driver parks in front of my castle, but she’s so furious I doubt she even noticed we’ve arrived.
“I’m not going around asking people for kisses. I’m not stupid. I know the man has to want it too. I’m not ugly; there must be someone willing to just kiss without wanting . . .”
“Without wanting what?”
“Intimacy.”
Not a chance. No man would kiss her and stop there. Impossible.
“You’re gorgeous. Any western man is almost never going to stop at just a kiss.”
The driver opens the door, but before stepping out, she challenges, “Even you?”
“What?”