Page 104 of The Princess Trap

That was bad; that was very, very bad.

“I…” For a moment, the confidence she wore like a second skin seemed to fade. But then, all at once, it returned. “I don’t really do that,” she said, looking away, fiddling briskly with her skirt’s waistband. “The dating thing, I mean.”

His heart leapt from his ribcage and landed on the floor with a splat. Of course she didn’t.

Look but don’t touch.

Well, he’d touched. And now she was looking at him with something like pity, and he couldn’t bear that.

Fix it.

“I didn’t mean it that way,” he said quickly.

She paused. Her expression cleared slightly. “You didn’t?”

Keep going.

“No. I meant like... like before. Like friends.”

Her look was assessing. After a long, painful pause she said, “Thing is, I don’t shag my friends.”

It took him a minute to grasp the implications of that statement. Rahul was smart, but around her, everything had to sink through a layer of mindless desire to reach his brain.

So that was his choice? Friendship or fucking?

The first thing that struck him was the thought that they might do this again. He should take that option. It would be glorious.

But then what? She’d get bored, probably. Move on to someone else. Which would be fine—itwould, he told himself firmly—only he’d probably never see her again. He’d just be some notch in her bedpost. How… undignified.

He wanted to see her again. Always. He tried not to think about why.

“Okay,” he said, steeling his spine.Making his choice. “I get that.”

She arched a brow. “Still want to be friends?”

“Yes.” It wasn’t a lie. Hedidwant to be friends. He also wanted to knock her up and tattoo her name on his forehead, but she hadn’t asked about that. And it was just a twisted, juvenile urge, the sort of infatuation that would fade soon enough.

“Alright,” she said finally, carefully. “Friends.”And then she smiled.

Rahul smiled back.

He liked her. Hereallyliked her. Friendship would be… fine.

Wouldn’t it?