Or…she could let him kiss her, and prove to both of them at once that the strong pull between them contained nothing of substance. Nothing she would miss when she went home to Balcovia. Nothing she would think about every second of every day while he was gone.
He rubbed the pad of his thumb against her bare skin.
Just once. Lightly. Reverently. As if savoring the soft warmth of her skin to take with him on the long, cold ride north. He tilted his head toward her.
She lifted her chin defiantly. Or perhaps raised her lips invitingly. It was a bit of a mix. She was certain he could improvise. Nothing seemed to stymie him. Not scaling a tall building with his bare hands, and clearly not the fear of starting something they could not finish. A kiss would only complicate matters. If they were wise, they would leave their flirtation at mere words.
Their mouths drew close.
Footsteps sounded. “Master Graham?”
They jumped apart before the butler reached the threshold. Either that, or the butler had already spied them almost kissing, retreated quietly, and then stomped back extra loudly to give them the opportunity to compose themselves before he officially interrupted.
“I’m going.” Graham lifted an eyebrow at Kuni. “Are you coming outside to see us off, Princess?”
“No,” she said. “I am very busy. I shall not even notice you’re gone.”
He grinned at her as if this tart speech was tantamount to a soppy declaration of love. Her heart thudded. He tipped his hat, then strode out the door and down the corridor without saying goodbye.
She rushed to the closest window and peeked through the curtains.
The carriage set in motion the moment Graham stepped from the house. With one hand holding his hat, he caught up easily and swung himself in through the door, his face alive with laughter.
Kuni touched her fingers to the cool glass, then yanked them back.
She was being ridiculous, and Royal Guardsmen were never ridiculous. Who cared if the last person she’d watched ride off to battle evil had never returned home? This wasn’t her home, and Graham wasn’t hers, either. Kuni was just passing through.
She was to keep her mind on her mission, not devilishly attractive men. Especially not one particular rogue she definitely was not going to miss.
When Elizabeth and Marjorie reentered the salon moments later, Kuni was well away from the windows and busy reviewing the notes she’d gathered thus far.
“The princess is too busy to wave goodbye to her hosts?” asked Elizabeth.
“I am not a princess,” Kuni replied instantly, then realized she hadn’t corrected Graham the last time. Perhaps she wanted him to think so highly of her. Or perhaps she liked having a pet name.
Or maybe what she wanted was the safe distance that being royal provided. Courtship between a commoner and a princess was laughable. It took the matter out of Kuni’s hands. This was the way the world worked. Princesses on one side of the wall and knights on the other.Shewasn’t rejecting Graham…or running away.
And if it just so happened that he could scale the wall between them…
“Don’t tell Graham you’re not a princess,” said Marjorie. “There’s nothing he adores more than royalty.”
Meaning he cared less about Kuni because she was not a real princess?
“Gossip,” Elizabeth said. “Graham might be addicted to gossip slightly more than royalty.”
“Royalgossip is his favorite,” Marjorie agreed. “His primary obsession.”
Elizabeth rubbed her hands. “Better yet, Graham adores appearing in the scandal columns…in royal gossip abouthimself.”
Marjorie wrinkled her nose. “That’s never happened.”
“But he wants it to,” Elizabeth shot back. “Why else has it been his life’s dream to rescue a princess? And now that it’s happened, no one even knows. How he must suffer.”
“I am not a princess,” Kuni said again. “And I would have got on just fine without him rescuing me.”
Mostly fine.
“It’s not just princesses,” Marjorie said. “He saves women to make up for…” She shut her mouth tight, then blurted out, “He can’t save everyone, but he’ll die trying.”
