Page 121 of The Bad Boy Prince in Love

“Of course you would,” Hallie teased.“How do you know I didn’t mean ‘wow, that was terrible?’”

“I just know,” he said.

“Looks like you’re overconfident as ever.”Hallie kept walking, inviting him to follow her with a glance.

She wanted their relationship to be fun, just like it had been.At the same time she wanted to proceed as carefully as if she was walking on the edge of a pit full of lava.

She didn’t know if the kiss was a mistake, but to make sure her heart survived this, she was going to take things with Luke slower than ever before.

“So, I’ve got a promising candidate for my new assistant,” Luke said, smiling with one corner of his mouth as he seemed to take the cue and rejoined her on the walk.

“Oh, who is it?”

“You may be surprised to know she’s a middle-aged woman, very happily married.I made sure to ask.”

Hallie was glad to hear that news.“Isn’t that an illegal question to ask at a job interview?”

“Yes, but I had to be certain we wouldn’t have another Miss Santer on our hands.I told her I didn’t want my assistant to fall madly in love with me, and she was a good sport about it.”

“Sounds like a promising assistant,” Hallie said.

She was in a happily woozy state, and it was nice not to have to talk about what their relationship was or where they were going.

They walked on, enjoying the day and talking about random topics.

As evening fell, she didn’t regret retreating alone into her little tent.She could still fantasize about Luke as she heard him settling down into his sleeping bag just a few feet away.

Pretty soon the rustling noise ceased, and she could only imagine climbing out of her tent and going into his.He would only be too happy if she climbed on top of him and continued where they left off.

It took everything she had to resist the temptation.This was probably Luke’s plan all along, and she couldn’t play by his rules.

***

THEY SPENT THE NEXTmorning on a leisurely ride and then headed back to the ranch, their mission of catching the wild horse accomplished.

As always, Hallie’s parents greeted them with great fanfare, so pleased to have Luke come back for a visit.

They were just making lunch, and Luke went upstairs to change into fresh clothes for the meal.

Hallie realized she had a few messages on her phone, one of them from Jessica:

*Call me!I heard about Andy’s cousin.*

Hallie had dreaded this, but she decided to get the call over with.She shut her bedroom door so no one could hear the conversation.

“I’m calling you like you asked,” she began, “but I don’t want to talk about how awful Luke is.”

“Please don’t tell me you’re still seeing him through rose-colored glasses,” Jessica said.“Can you believe how he treated that poor woman?Seriously, you need to stay away from that Luke.He’s bad news.”

Now was definitely not the time to confess that she had actually kissed him.

“Don’t you think maybe Andy’s cousin overreacted?”Hallie asked.

“No, I think Luke led her on like he always does, and he broke her heart.”

“That’s very dramatic.”

“You’re starting to sound like him,” Jessica accused.