Page 93 of The Thing About My Prince

“Christ, I have zero idea what the future holds.”

I look up at him and into the face that smiles down at mine and tugs at my heart. If only it came in a non-royal package. And if only we’d met with completely different timing and under completely different circumstances.

“Then make something up that will sound good,” I tell him.

“Now you’re sounding more like the journalists I’m used to.”

He crouches beside me, resting a hand on my thigh that sends sparks skittering up my leg and settling in the danger zone.

“When I say I have no idea what the future holds,” he says, “I mean that I need to sort my life out. This book and the documentary series will buy me some time to figure that out. So not knowing yet doesn’t mean I’m an aimless loser who’s going to waste the rest of his life. It simply means I need to find my thing.”

I place my fingers back on the keyboard. “Oh, that was good. Let me get that down. Did you say ‘aimless loser’?”

“Lexi, stop.” He takes my hands off the computer and holds them in my lap. “That wasn’t for the book. That was foryou.”

My heart cracks open and bursts like a dam at someone like him caring so much about what someone like me thinks of him. He doesn’t need to do that at all. He could do whatever the hell he wants.

All the feelings for Oliver I’ve stashed inside and tried to ignore pour out, rushing into my chest, flooding it with light and warmth like the sunshine we sat in by the waterfall.

But I can’t let this happen. I can’t get involved withsomeone right before I leave the country. And I can’t get involved with a British prince at any time.

“Oh, um—” I have no idea how to end that sentence. My hands shake in his. In fact, my whole body is trembling. Why does he have to be the person who makes me feel like this? And why does it have to be happening now? It’s all so goddamned inconvenient.

“I know what you’re going to say.” Oliver lifts my hand and uses it to tip my chin until I’m looking at him. “You’re going to say that we were wrong to cross the line from business to, well, pleasure. You’re going to say that you hate everything my family stands for and that makes me all wrong for you. You’re going to say that once you’ve written this book you’ll be moving thousands of miles away to do a risky job that will consume your every waking moment, and that means you have no time for anyone in your life.”

He pauses to kiss the back of my hand. “Those are all the things you’re going to say, right?”

Jesus, on top of everything else, this man gets me. He checks way too many boxes to be a real person who’s crouched in front of me holding my hands.

I bite my lip and nod.

“And you know what I say to all that?” His voice is soft, full of affection.

I have no freaking clue. But that’s another thing that’s great about him. I’d always thought I’d hate to be around someone this unpredictable. But it turns out that it’s pretty damn thrilling. He keeps me on my toes.

I shake my head.

“Fuck it,” he says.

A laugh flies out of me. Yeah, I wasn’t expecting that.

“That’s what I say. Fuck it. We have the here and now, right?” He squeezes my hands tight in my lap. “We know we have this time before your new job starts. So, how about we make the most of what we have?”

Is that the perfect solution? If you go into something knowing it’s temporary, you can’t get hurt at the end, right? Particularly if you’re fully, painfully aware the other person is all wrong for you—even if he is right for you in all ways other than the family he was born into.

“These cogs are turning, eh?” He draws slow circles on my temple and shifts from crouching to drop to his knees, rising until his face is level with mine. “Might this help them figure things out?”

Then he cups his warm, strong hands on my cheeks and lowers his lips to mine.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

OLIVER

It’s impossible to imagine ever not wanting my mouth to be on Lexi’s. The softness of her full lips, the spark of her tongue against mine, the vanilla scent of her body wash that I’ve seen in the shower sweetening my every inhale.

I never thought I’d be lucky enough to have such surety deep inside me that I’m with the right person—the person who is meant for me. I’d given up on the idea that there even was a right person anywhere on the planet for me.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Her voice is hushed as she strokes her fingers down my arms, bringing a teasing shiver to my skin. “Because I will be leaving. There’s no hope for us.”