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“Of course.” My smile falters slightly as another strained silence settles between us.
While I’m grateful Creed took the initiative to stop by, I hate this uneasiness. Wish I could wave a magic wand and make it disappear, return us to the people we were before. Better yet, rewind the clocks to that fateful night so I can tell Adam not to take the route he did. Or take a less conspicuous vehicle.
But we can’t go back in time. We can only move forward.
“I heard what happened.”
“About?” I give him a quizzical look.
He steps toward me, stopping a respectful distance away. But he’s still close enough for me to pick up on the familiar scent of his body wash.
“Your last meeting with the royal household. How you stood up for yourself.”
He takes another step closer, then another, erasing the space between us until he’s mere inches away. But those inches may as well be miles with the distance in his gaze.
“I’m proud of you.”
“What can I say? A wise man smacked some sense into me. Told me I’d spent all of my life choosing other people and it was finally time to choose myself.”
His mouth lifts in the corners, and I’ve never been so grateful to see a smile. “Not sure I’d call your brother wise, but he does have his moments.”
“He certainly does.”
He licks his lips, eyes sweeping over my face in the way he always did right before kissing me. I can practically taste the need radiating off him.
Or maybe I’m still so addicted to him that I’m imagining it, the symptoms of withdrawal playing tricks on my mind.
When he inches toward me, I hold my breath, pulse kicking up, desperate to feel his mouth on me more than anything.
Suddenly, he abruptly pulls back, the spell broken.
“I wanted to offer my best wishes and say goodbye.”
I take a moment to collect myself, fixing an unaffected smile on my mouth.
“I assume this means you weren’t put on my protection team for Paris?” I feign indifference. Truthfully, a part of me hoped I’d arrive in Paris to learn Creed was assigned to my team.
After our not-so-secret tryst, I have a feeling he’ll never be assigned to me, though.
“I’ve been placed on your father’s advance team. I’d asked to stick around here as much as possible,” he responds. “That way, I can help Rory out when the baby arrives. Thankfully, they honored my request.”
My heart squeezes at the reminder that Rory’s mere weeks away from bringing Adam’s son into the world. But that’s comforted by the image of Creed Lawson holding a little baby.
“That’s really sweet of you.”
His smile wavers. “It’s the least I can do to honor Adam’s legacy. Make sure his son knows what a good man his father was.”
“And he was.”
“The best.”
“The best,” I quiver, my guilt for the role I played creeping back in. But I remind myself I didn’t light the match, not like the royal household wanted me to believe.
“Well then…” Creed clears his throat. “I’ll be off.” He bows. “Your Highness.”
“Captain.”
He turns, and I watch as he crosses the room.
