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Grayson raked his fingers through his hair. “I knew that last night was a mistake. I didn’t mean to—”
“Stop.” Then realizing she’d raised her voice while the door to the hallway was standing wide open, she lowered her voice. “It wasn’t a mistake. You have nothing to feel bad about.” And she just couldn’t talk about it any longer. “And I have to go out. If you need anything just ask the staff.”
She started for the door, but Grayson was hot on her heels. She needed to shake him. She needed to get away from absolutely everyone. She needed some time alone in order to think clearly.
The only person she really wanted to talk to was the one person missing from her life—her mother.
Not needing protection while she was within the palace walls, her security detail was out of sight. That left Grayson, who was right behind her. She kept moving with no particular destination in mind.
“Annabelle, you can’t just walk away.”
“Watch me.”
“We need to talk.”
“No, we don’t.” She kept walking, wishing he’d give up. “There’s nothing to say.”
“I disagree.”
He refused to leave the subject alone. What did he want her to do? Say something to make it better? That wasn’t possible.
Annabelle went out the back door. When she spotted her little red convertible, she headed straight for it. There wasn’t anyone around, thankfully. She jumped inside and was relieved to find the keys waiting. The staff routinely left the keys in a strategic spot so that vehicles co
uld be readily available and moved to the front of the palace for their owners. After all, the palace was heavily guarded. No one was going to break in and steal a car. Not a chance.
The next thing she knew, Grayson was in the seat next to her. Just great.
“You need to get out because I really am leaving.”
“I’m not moving. You can’t just act like nothing happened last night.” He turned to her. “Annabelle, we have to talk.”
“So you keep telling me.” She put the car in gear. “Well, if you’re not getting out, then I guess that means you’re coming with me.”
Grayson put on his seat belt, crossed his arms and then settled back in his seat. She’d never witnessed him with a more determined look.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She accelerated toward the front gates.
It was then that she realized she didn’t have her security detail following her. She also knew the guards would stop her and ask about her lack of security. She had no clue what to say. When she neared the gate, she found them opening it for a delivery truck. Though the guards waved for her to stop, she kept moving.
“Annabelle, what are you doing?”
“Whatever I want.” She knew it was a childish answer, but she wasn’t much in the mood for a serious talk.
It wasn’t until they were on the main road that Grayson asked, “Would you at least tell me where we’re going?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
* * *
“Annabelle?” Grayson stared into the passenger side mirror.
“I told you, you’ll find out the destination soon.”
“No, that isn’t it.” He tapped on the window. “There’s no car behind us. Where’s your security detail?”
He stared at her, waiting for this information to sink in. Her face paled as her gaze flicked to her rearview mirror. He knew she hadn’t planned this little escapade. It’d been a spur-of-the-moment decision, which led him to believe she had been more upset this morning than she was willing to let on. He figured as much.
The thing was he wanted to talk to her. He wanted to tell her how much last night had meant to him, but she refused to give him a chance.
