But the public restrooms weren’t in the elevator's direction.
“Hmm.” I raised my eyebrow at him. “You have a little secret, don’t you?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.” Henry reached for the dial, but I gently pushed his hand away.
“Wait, what’s that?” My breath caught as I noticed Henry’s hands on the monitor. “It was you.”
Chapter 7
HenryandIsatalone together in the security room. It was one of the few places Dan couldn't be spying on us. There weren’t even any cameras watching, so we were truly alone. My heart rate picked up as I stared, stunned, at the screens. The clues came together, and it made perfect sense.
Henry sent me the love letters.
“I wanted to tell you,” he said. “I just couldn’t get the words out.”
"You?" On the screen, I could clearly see a cream-colored envelope secured with a mulberry ribbon in his hand. The butterflies returned in full force, and my heart rate skyrocketed. “I wish I’d known. Those letters enthralled me and I'll admit they provoked my imagination more than they ought. Now, knowing they were real, and I didn't just dream them into existence…it doesn’t seem fair to have kept me in the dark. Especially not if they were from you."
“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, Georgiana. Maybe I should leave you on your own.” His stormy gray-blue eyes locked on mine, like he was asking for permission. Permission to do what, though, I was unsure.
I reached for his hand, and he willingly accepted mine. “I’ve loved them.”
“You have?” A hopeful note touched his voice, and the corner of his mouth turned up. His eyes were like the ocean during a storm. I could’ve stared into them for hours. “Sorry if this puts you in an awkward position. It’s just there’s no one else like you, Georgiana. You’re like an impossible dream.”
I was utterly stunned. He saw me as an impossible dream? “I don’t understand why you didn’t just tell me, though. I mean, Henry, you were everyone’s crush at school.”
"But not yours." His voice softened, and he shook his head. “Georgiana, you’re literally a fae princess, the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met, and I’ve loved you since I was eleven. I’m not even fae. You haven’t letall of this wealth and abundance around you dampen your soul. Instead, you’re empathetic, passionate, and...”
Those awful butterflies. “I’m just a girl like any other.”
He nodded, his eyes softening. “Not exactly like any other. I’m not the only guy who feels this way about you. You could literally have had anyone you wanted. The notes were just my way of dealing with my feelings, I guess.”
“I was afraid to find out who’d written them, in case they didn’t live up to my imagination.” My cheeks had to be tomato red at that point. "But, you."
“I understand.”
I couldn’t take it any longer and leaned over to his chair and kissed his cheek. “No. You don’t understand. Ireallyloved the letters, especially since they were from you. It’s even better than I thought.”
His gaze focused on my mouth. “You…?”
But he stopped talking, smiled, and shook his head. Then he cupped his hands on my cheeks and gave me the sweetest kiss the angels had ever seen.
I kissed him back, and warmth spread from my head to my toes. The pure bliss of the moment overruled my thoughts, and I wondered why I was so worried aboutsolving the murder when I’d had Henry in front of me this whole time. The police would come tomorrow and figure it out. Right?
But Henry pulled back. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."
"Why would you be sorry?" I asked him, and my voice softened. "I had no objection.”
He shook his head, then shrugged. “You are a princess and I've no right. I shouldn't have been sending you the letters.”
“Isn't that up to me? You have just as much right as anyone. I’ve been getting notes since September. Were those all from you?” I asked, bewildered.
“Probably.” He nodded. “Unless some of them looked different. I mailed most of them, and I had a little help from someone who works here. They delivered them to your room or to a butler for me.”
“Oh?” I raised a brow, expecting an answer.
He shook his head. “Maybe I’ll tell you who later. I don’t want to embarrass anyone.”
I wanted to insist, but my gut told me to trust him. “You’revery mysterious.”
