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She stood up and checked her phone. It still had that blasted flashing red checkmark on the screen that let her know it was charging, but it wasn’t ready to be used, just yet. And so she left it behind.
Thankfully she was good with directions because the palace was full of small staircases tucked discreetly in walls at the most unexpected places. When she reached the knight wearing the palace’s coat of arms, she turned and headed up the carpeted steps. They were modest a
nd absolutely nothing like the grand staircase in the front of the palace. If you didn’t know about the steps, you might very well miss them.
At the top of the steps, she turned to the left. The prince’s apartment was at the end of the hallway. It was very private. In fact, as she glanced around, she realized it was the only doorway. And considering Bianca hadn’t passed anyone on her way here, she assumed not many people were welcome in this part of the palace. The fact that she’d been invited into this part of the prince’s world made her feel special. A smile pulled at her lips.
She paused outside the apartment door. It was the first time she’d allowed herself to imagine how this evening might go. She envisioned another candlelight dinner with the prince flirting with her. Would it be proper to flirt back? Oh, who cared about proper? This was a fantasy.
Part of her said that she needed to stay focused on business, but the womanly part of her said that she was crazy to pass up a moment in Leo’s arms. After all, what were the chances that another handsome prince would cross her path?
She halted her thoughts. She couldn’t believe she was having this debate. It wasn’t like the kiss would happen again. It was a fluke. A one-time thing.
With the internal conflict resolved, she leveled her shoulders and lifted her chin. It was time to do business. She inhaled a deep breath, hoping to slow her heartbeat. She raised her hand and knocked.
No response.
Perhaps she hadn’t knocked loud enough. She tried again.
Still nothing.
She turned and retraced her steps. At the bottom of the steps, she came across Oscar.
“Good evening, ma’am.”
“Hi. Would you happen to know where the prince might be?”
“I just passed him heading into the gardens. But he—”
“Thank you. I’m late.” She rushed off.
The gardens were down another floor. But when she got to the window, she saw Leo was already outside. Had he planned on having dinner in the gardens? The thought of such a beautiful romantic setting set her heart aflutter.
She started moving again, anxious to catch up with him. But when she reached the main floor and made her way out to the patio area, Leo was nowhere in sight. She set off down one of the paths but the shrubs and trees acted as walls, making the gardens more like a maze.
And then she spotted Leo just up ahead. She was about to call out to him when she noticed he wasn’t alone. Bianca moved forward just enough to catch sight of a young woman smiling up at him. From that distance, Bianca couldn’t make out what he was saying but whatever it was had his female companion thoroughly enthralled.
But then again, with his deep, rich voice he could be reading the information on the back of a medicine bottle and make it sound engaging. An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of her stomach.
Bianca took a step back. She didn’t want them to see her lurking. Her foot landed on a fallen twig. The sound of cracking wood was much louder than she would have expected. Knowing it would draw attention, she jumped behind a bush. Her white heels sunk in the freshly watered dirt.
Tears stung the backs of her eyes. She told herself it was her being upset over ruining her cloth pumps and not the fact that Leo had gone from kissing her like she was the only woman in the world to romancing some other woman in the gardens instead of having dinner with her.
The murmur of voices faded away. They must have moved on. It was then that Bianca glanced around the bush, praying no one was around to witness her most embarrassing moment. To her relief, she was alone.
She stepped back upon the stone walkway. In the waning sunlight, she glanced down at her shoes. They were ruined—along with her daydream that the prince thought she was special. She was just another woman in his long list of admirers.
Avoiding the palace staff, she made her way back to her office where she retrieved her phone and a stack of work. She headed to her bedroom, skipping dinner altogether. She had no appetite.
Once in her room with the door closed, she looked at her phone. Now, it was charged and there were a couple of text messages. The first was from Sylvie. The second was from Leo, cancelling their dinner plans. And that was it. No explanation. No nothing.
She wanted to be angry with him, but she knew that wasn’t logical. It wasn’t like they were seeing each other. The kiss had been a mistake. They had a business relationship. Nothing more.
She would do well to remember that.
She needed to focus on her work. It was the only thing she could count on—the only thing in her life that she felt as though she had any control over.
CHAPTER TWELVE
