Page 16 of Royal Pain

Chapter 6

Belinda

I’ve started getting used to these butterflies in my stomach. Tonight at dinner they were joined by fire-breathing dragons. And just hearing his deep voice on the phone brings them all to life again.

“I wanted to say good night. Are you in bed yet?”

I wrap one leg outside the covers. “Just now. You?”

“I’m on top of the bed. Laying here in the dark.”

The thought of Zan, the image he describes, renders me silent.

“I need to tell you something.” His voice softens. “Do you know how much I wanted you in my bed tonight?”

Of course I know. The sexual chemistry was palpable from minute one, yet he barely kissed me good night. Instead of saying too much, I temper my response.

“I wondered if I was alone in my feelings.”

A low chuckle escapes his lips. “No, Belinda. I was right there with you.”

“Why didn’t you act on it then?”

“Because I didn’t want our first time together to be about anything but passion. I don’t want any sadness to make its way in.”

I weigh my words. “I would have been one hundred percent present.”

“I wouldn’t have. Tonight was the first time I’ve told someone about my past, other than the therapists.”

His words settle in my heart and with them the sense we’ve just crossed some invisible and unspoken relationship border. This is foreign territory.

“You made the right choice. You’ll be gone in a few days anyway. Maybe we’re destined to be friends, Zan,” I say with no conviction.

“Friends? No, we’re not. I reject that completely. I’ll prove it to you tomorrow night. Pick you up at seven.”

There’s no question, just a statement of fact.

“You’re awfully bossy, Prince Charming.”

His low throaty chuckle is the last thing I hear before he disconnects.

* * *

Standing in my underwear and black heels, I wait while my best friend looks through my closet.

“Try this one.”

Soraya takes the sparkly golden slip dress from its hanger. Before being passed to me, she holds it up to look at herself in the full-length mirror.

“You look amazing, Soraya. You’ve lost the baby weight and more.”

“It took long enough. Lorenzo is fifteen months old.”

“How’s Chloe handling being a big sister?”

“Are you kidding? She’s obsessed with him. It’s adorable.”

As she stands on tiptoes, my eyes go to her tattoo. Tattoos actually. Inked on her foot is a feather and above that her husband’s name.