Page 45 of Redemption of a Prince

Her arms wound around his neck and his went around her back, pulling her onto her toes and even closer to him.

Long before she wanted it to, but long after it probably should have, the kiss ended.

Zeke rested his forehead on hers as Nikki tried to catch her breath.

“I think we just proved we still have chemistry,” he whispered.

“I didn’t know there was a question about that,” she whispered back.

“It’s probably a good thing we both know members of the staff could walk in anytime.” He chuckled, but the statement fell over Nikki like a wet blanket.

She sunk down off her tiptoes and took a step back. “And that’s why this is a bad idea. The fact that you think we need the threat of interruption to stop us from going further is proof this isn’t going to work.”

He crossed his arms over his chest but didn’t move away from the counter. Just stared at her with that same intense look. “It’s called sarcasm, Nik. Or a joke. It was never going to go further than a kiss, even if it was a pretty intense one.”

She shook her head, tears threatening to spill over. “I can’t do this. I can’t be hurt like that again.”

Zeke rested his hands on her shoulders. “Look at me, Nikki.”

She obliged.

“Let’s say, for sake of discussion, you wound up pregnant again. We’re not teenagers anymore. We’re adults. With lives and careers.”

“But your parents...”

“Would support us, whatever decision we made. Whether it was another adoption, or, far more likely, marriage and raising a child together. We’re not sixteen. I would have married you then, if there was any way we would have worked. I would definitely marry you now.”

Tears spilled over at an increasing rate. “How do you know that? You don’t even know me anymore.”

“Then let me get to know you again.”

Nikki took a deep breath and another step away. “I’ll think about it, but I don’t know that us, together, is a good idea.”

With that she turned and walked quickly toward the bedroom she’d been using. She wanted to run, but didn’t dare.

She closed the door quietly behind her.

Then she let herself bolt for the bed, throw herself on it, and let the sobs overtake her.

He was offering her everything she’d ever wanted.

A life with him. A chance to know her daughter, though her daughter would never know who Nikki really was.

A chance to love the man the boy had become.

To redeem what their youthful mistakes had stolen.

And she’d walked away.

Why?

What was she so scared of?

She wasn’t scared. Nicolette Major wasn’t scared of anything.

She also wasn’t worthy of anything.

Nothing good anyway.