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CHAPTER TEN
EVENING HAD SNUCK UP on them.
It was nothing new for Grayson. There were many days that came and went without much notice by him as he pounded away on his keyboard. He couldn’t help it. He loved what he did for a living. In fact, he thrived on developing software. Watching a program he’d written from scratch come to life was a total rush.
Running a corporation, well, that was something that didn’t exactly excite him. There was a lot more paperwork and decisions that had nothing to do with his computer programs or the functioning of the cafés. And administrative issues seemed to crop up when he was right in the middle of a big breakthrough.
But squirreled away in the palace in this enormous library with just about every edition of the classics on the shelf, he found himself distracted. And it wasn’t the moonlight gleaming through the tall windows. Nor was it the priceless artwork on the walls or the artifacts on display. No, it was the beautiful woman sitting next to him.
Annabelle yawned and stretched.
“Getting tired?”
She shook her head. “No. I’m fine.
”
He didn’t believe her. It was getting late and they should call it a night.
“Okay, so it isn’t all of the capitalized letters,” Annabelle said. “And it’s not any of the other combinations we’ve tried. What else could it be?”
“Let me think.” He shoved his fingers through his hair. He’d run the note through a program he had on his computer and searched for different variables. Nothing came up...at least nothing that made the least bit of sense.
She sighed and leaned back in her chair. “Are you sure there’s something here?”
“You sound skeptical.”
“I am.”
“If you want, we can forget I ever said anything.”
She didn’t respond for a moment, as though she were weighing her options. “It won’t hurt to work on it some more.”
“There’s a message here. I know it. Those random capital letters must mean something.”
“I guess I should let you know that I already signed us up for some of the games at the heritage festival tomorrow—”
“You did what?” Grayson frowned at her. “You probably should have checked with me first. I’m not that sports oriented unless it’s on a digital screen.”
“Good.”
That certainly wasn’t the response he was expecting. “Why good?”
“Because then you can’t show me up at the games.”
He shook his head. “You’re something else.”
“I hope that’s good.” She smothered another yawn.
“Let’s just say you keep me guessing.”
Her eyes lit up. “Good. I never want to be accused of being boring. Now what should we try next?”
“We’re obviously spinning our wheels right now. Maybe if we take a break for the night something will come to one of us by morning.”
With Annabelle in agreement, they turned off the lights in the library and closed the door behind them. The palace was quiet at this hour. But then again, Grayson had noticed that for the most part the palace was quite tranquil. He didn’t know if that was due to the large size and the noise not carrying throughout or if it was a request of the king. It was a lot like living inside a library and every time Grayson went to speak, he felt as though he should whisper.
They stopped outside Annabelle’s suite. Grayson really didn’t want the night to end. All afternoon and evening, he’d envisioned running his fingers through her long, silky hair. And showering kisses over her lips, cheeks and down her neck.
