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Derek looked wounded. “I’m not smooth. I’m charismatic. Wait until you meet Malik, Tristan, and T’s best friend Chad if you want to see smooth.”
“Oh, great. What have I gotten myself into?” She smiled, but she was growing more and more concerned. An innocent interaction with a little girl and she was already falling deeper for him, which she didn’t think was possible. How would she spend a week with him without making a fool of herself and declaring her love?
Love? She didn’t and couldn’t love a prince, even one as kind as Derek.
“I’ll keep you safe from my twin, the crown prince, and even suave Major Chad.” He winked and tilted his head back. “And so will they.”
One of the bodyguards actually gave her half a smile. She wasn’t worried about being safe physically—unless Hattie Ballard really was alive and showed up at the wedding to stab someone else.
No, she was worried about staying safe emotionally.
They made it past the crowd at the end of the aisle and through the checkout line with the poor checker stammering nervously every time Derek spoke to him.
Derek tried to tap his credit card on the screen, but she screamed out, “No!” so loud half the store turned to look at her.
Derek slid his credit card back in his wallet while she shoved hers in the machine, her face red. He didn’t appear upset at all.
“I am paying for dinner,” he said for only her to hear.
“Stubborn man,” she muttered.
He raised an eyebrow, and she flushed again. She was also stubborn, and too independent, and her only excuse was upbringing and survival.
They walked outside, and the police and the vehicles were still there. Ellery called in dinner orders to her favorite Indian restaurant, getting extra entrees for the bodyguards. She was tempted to pay over the phone but refrained. She could show that she wasn’t that stubborn. Plus, the hundred-and-eighty-dollar dinner tab wasn’t one she could afford to get stuck with.
They drove to the restaurant, and one of the bodyguards went in to pick up the food while they waited in the car.
“Is it weird, the bodyguard thing?”
“Kind of. I could probably defend myself, but General Ray is a very protective older brother. If it makes him and my dad more comfortable with me living here, and makes it so I can live my life rather than constantly looking over my shoulder, I think it’s worth it. Malik isn’t so agreeable to the idea. I’m pretty sure Ray has guards trailing him and Malik probably enjoys ditching them every chance he gets.”
General Ray was overprotective. Naomi had said something similar. Ellery wanted to spew all the information about the murderous Hattie Ballard, have Derek tell his general brother, and the issues would be solved. But if they all believed and loved Hattie, what would probably happen was the August family would have more ‘bad blood’ with Naomi’s family and the prime minister and Ellery would be uninvited to the wedding. She selfishly wanted this trip, this time, with him.
She glanced at him. “I’m glad you’re safe.”
“Thank you.” He reached for her hand and she secretly loved him touching her. “You know I could protect myself.” He tilted his chin up, all tough and manly.
She looked him over. He was as fit and impressive as any man she’d ever known. “I think you’re strong enough, but there are sneaky, awful criminals out there and you might not even see them coming.” She was referring to people like Hattie Ballard, but she doubted he had any idea.
“I’m a ninja,” he protested. “I have eyes on the bottoms of my feet.” He winked and squeezed her hand.
She laughed.
The guard walked out with the food. The drive to her apartment was far too quick as she quietly gave him directions. Derek didn’t release her hand and was as relaxed and confident as ever, even as her nerves ramped up. A prince was driving her in a five-million-dollar sports car to her rundown apartment.
Had he ever set foot in a place as dumpy as her home? She and her mom tried to keep it clean, but many stains and spots on the furniture, carpet, walls, counters, and laminate flooring would never come off. Sometimes when her mom was home alone all day, and especially if she wasn’t feeling well, the dishes piled up. Ellery hadn’t taken out the garbage this morning or had time to haul this week’s dirty laundry to the laundromat in the basement of their building. The apartment probably smelled like moldy workout clothes and rotten food. What had she been thinking, agreeing to him coming home with her tonight?
They pulled up to the front of the five-story building, and Ellery’s stomach squirmed. The brownstone never looked appealing, but it looked downright awful right now. Even the setting sun couldn’t paint where she’d been born and raised in a glowing light. Would he soon realize how huge the disparity was between their situations? Between them? She’d turned him down for lunch and dinner offers for months now, but suddenly she was terrified that he would turn her down and push her away and all the dreams she hadn’t allowed to develop in her mind would be crushed to the asphalt and he’d drive over those dreams in his beautiful car in his hurry to get away.
Derek released her hand and reached for his door handle.
“I’m not comfortable with you coming into my apartment tonight,” she blurted out.
He turned back to her, clearly confused. “Oh. Aren’t we having dinner with your mum?”
“She might not be feeling well, and the place might smell bad, and I’m exhausted. It’s been a very long week.” Her excuses were lame, and they both knew they were just that—excuses.
His blue eyes asked her to reconsider, but also revealed that he wouldn’t push her. Why was he so patient with her? Why was he still interested in her? Because of the challenge, like he’d said to Nash? Maybe it was simply that she wasn’t easy to get like all the women who pursued him. Naomi had said that people in their ‘economic sphere’ grew bored and engaged in distractions to feel something. Was Ellery just a distraction for Derek?
