I throw my hands up. “I thought I was getting a snack and no one would ever know I was roaming the castle like this. You were supposed to be back hours from now.”
“My business concluded early.”
“I noticed.”
He stares at me.
I back stare at him.
“What is that on your face?”
I lick my lips. “It’s a face mask. It’s supposed to make my skin softer. I’m going to wash it off when I get back to my room.”
The space between us, across the marble island, suddenly feels charged.
I clear my throat. Loudly.
He inhales again, sharper this time. His knuckles flex once, then go very still at his sides. “Go to bed, Hazel.”
His voice is barely human and also very commanding.
My eyes widen. Oh wow. “Right,” I respond and take a step back. “It was nice meeting you. Welcome home. Apologies for the—” I gesture at myself, the pajamas, the entire scene. “—everything.”
I keep my chin up as I swiftly walk out of the kitchen. I make it three feet past him, two feet, one foot, into the doorway?—
And I then hear him inhale again.
I don’t look back.
I make it ten more feet down the corridor before I break into a run, fuzzy slippers and all. I make it back through all the formal areas and take the stairs two at a time and then race down the last hallway. I shove open the door to my room, close it behind me, lock it, lean against it.
My heart is hammering so loud I can hear it. I press a hand to my chest.
What was that?
His eyes had gone darker. I’m sure of it. I press my hand harder against my chest, and I remind myself, very firmly, that having a fling with Lily’s father is an impossibility. I’m here to do a job. One year and I’ll be debt-free, my professional reputation rebuilt and Lily will be taken care of. A small Midwestern girl will get to say she once worked in the country of Krovenia, for a vampire prince. It will be an interesting story for my future grandkids.That’sthe plan. I am not here for anything else.
I am especially not here to entertain sexy thoughts about Lily’s father.
No, no, no. I need to focus on Lily, and that’s it.
The Bellamy Group would fire me if they found out I was flirting with him or doing anything at all inappropriate. Thecontract will void. And I can’t allow for Lily to have yet another nanny walking out on her.
Absolutely not.
I take a long, shaky breath in the dark.
I am here to do a job.
That’s it.
Chapter Two
Viktor
The scent of her lingers.
I stand alone in the kitchen and inhale slowly, deeply, like a male starved.
