Page 41 of Tempted By the Princess

She got this adorable look on her face, partway between confused and a frown.

“If the oven was too high why didn’t the chicken cook on the inside?”

“Uh, did you happen to put it in the pan frozen?”

“Was I not supposed to?”

I shook my head. “You either need to defrost it before cooking or cook it longer to bring it up to the right temperature.”

“But it’s already burned on the outside,” she pointed out.

“Yeah, you’d need to cook it longer but at a much lower temperature so it could cook gradually.”

“Damn it, the cook didn’t tell me that part. Can we eat the rest?”

“We probably shouldn’t since the potatoes and broccoli were in contact with raw chicken juice during most of the cooking. But we can just eat the salad,” I hurried to add. “Where’s the dressing? In the fridge still?”

Her eyes widened and I realized then that there was no dressing.

For a second I thought she’d burst into tears but then she started laughing. Big, loud belly laughs. I stared at her for a second, then joined in, our laughter ringing through the room.

“Well I really messed up my first chicken dinner, didn’t I?” she asked when she finally caught her breath. “Maybe I should have stuck with eggs.”

“Cooking can be hard,” I said kindly.

She rolled her eyes. “Not for you. Oh well, so much for my grand plan to impress you with dinner. How would you feel about picking up Thai from the place across the street?”

“I feel really good about it.”

Thirty minutes later we were back at the table, the ruined food thrown in the dumpster when we went to pick up food. We shared some pad thai, coconut curry, and spring rolls, talking and laughing as we made our way through the bottle of wine. Then we worked together to rinse the dishes and put them into the dishwasher, a domestic scene that reminded me of the way we partnered up on things when she stayed at my place while hiding out.

When the dishwasher was loaded Genny turned to face me, a look on her face that also reminded me of our time at my house.

“We’ve been dating for a while now,” she said silkily. “I think it’s time to take things to the next level, don’t you?”

“God yes.”

“How about I show you how comfortable my bed is?”

She didn’t need to ask me twice. Without a word, I bent my knees and tossed her over my shoulder. She was smaller and lighter than me, and it didn’t take much for me to carry her down the hallway, shrieking with laughter the entire way.

Once we reached her bedroom I set her down, adopting a stern face. “Get undressed.”

I expected her to tease me back, tell me I should too, but instead she gave me a little strip tease, slowly removing her clothing to reveal a sexy lace bra and panties set that nearly made me swallow my tongue. She looked like the best present ever.

“I bought these special for tonight,” she said sweetly.

“God, I love you.”

The words burst out of my mouth without any input from my brain, but I wasn’t sorry about it. I meant every word. I’d meant it the first time I said it, the day she left me to go back to Saint Marenne, but I felt it even more strongly now.

This dating idea had been a good idea, I realized. It had made me fall deeper in love with her. I was in love with the woman I thought she was before, but now I was in love with the whole of Genny, not just the sunshiney little princess crashing at my house. I knew her on a deeper, more intimate level than before, and instead of fading, my feelings had only gotten stronger.

Any fears I had about her blowing me off or pulling some crazy stunt like she’d done with her parents had faded. I knew she’d worked things out with her family, and seeing her go to her job and move through the world like the grown up she was helped me see that she was much more grounded than I’d originally thought.

“I’m glad to hear you say that,” Genny said. “Because I love you too.”

I stalked closer and she laughingly took a step back, and then another, until her back collided with one of the thick corner posts of the bed. I slid my hands down her arms, grabbing her wrists and drawing them over her head.