Sighing, I give my head a gentle shake. “Not if you don’t want it to.”
The elevator slows. He brushes off his tux. “We raised several million krone for my homeless youth outreach program. I am pleased, to say the least.”
The surprise must be evident on my face, because he looks at me with a chuckle. “Oh, come now. If there’s one thing the royal family is good at, it’s fundraising for charities.”
The doors roll open to a little lobby. Stepping out, I see a luxurious restaurant to the right, people in their evening attire chatting and drinking, waiters circling with refills. I start to walk that way but Stellan stops me with a hand on my inner elbow.
“No, no.” He pulls me the other way. “Come on.”
He walks to a stairwell and opens the door for me. I head where he directs, up the stairs to where the stairwell dead ends at a dark metal door. When I look back at him, he jerks his head to the door.
“Open it.”
I push the door open and step out into a little area no bigger than a closet. To my surprise I’m greeted by the night sky full of stars overhead. I move forward just a little to a railing. Looking down, I can’t keep from gaping.
“You can see the entire city from here!” I gasp. I look back at Stellan, who grins at my reaction. “I can see the palace from here. Oh! And thePolitikenoffices are right over there… which means…” I consider the cityscape, then point. “I think Pippa’s apartments are that direction.”
He steps forward, pressing himself against the balcony railing. “I think her apartment is over that way, actually.”
I shoot him a puzzled look. “Why would you know?”
He grins at me, his eyes dancing. “Because I know. Pippa’s been friends with our family for years. Does that soothe the jealous monster within?”
Yes, a little. I stick out my tongue at him. “I’m not jealous, Jealousy is for the rich. Me? I’m just trying to figure out how I’m going to scrape by.”
He smirks, running his gaze up and down my body. “You’re doing all right, if I had to guess. Except that your top half seems to want to be free of your ballgown…”
My mouth opens. A little sound of displeasure comes out as I quickly adjust the top of my ballgown. “It’s a rented gown, okay? My boobs don’t stand a chance of actually fitting in this thing.” I scowl at the grin that spreads across his face. “Quit looking at my tits!”
He leans a little closer, biting his lip. Only now do I realize that he’s almost close enough to touch me. My pulse starts speeding up as I look up into his face.
“And what if I don’t want to stop looking?” he taunts.
My mouth goes dry. I’m suddenly aware of my hands. What should I do with them? I slip them in my pockets as my gaze slips down from his ice blue eyes to his perfect, soft-looking lips.
He breathes a little harder than usual. When I look back up to his eyes, I can tell his pupils have dilated a bit.
He wants me. I can feel it. There is something in the air, something occupying the space between us.
Say something. Tell him you want him, I think.
“I— “
The moment is shattered by his phone ringing. His eyes widen and he straightens, giving himself a shake. Hereaches into his pocket and looks at the screen, then shrugs one shoulder.
“I should take this. I’ll see you later, maybe.”
Stellan whirls and puts the phone to his ear, pulling the door open. “Hej ja ja - nej du forstyrre ikk.”
I sigh, looking back out over the amazing cityscape, wonderingwhat if?
Chapter Sixteen
Stellan
After a record number of photo ops, meet and greets, and charity galas, I find myself fucking exhausted. Not just exhausted, actually… I feel like I’m on the verge of getting sick. I’ve done too much over too small of a window of time.
It’s time to retreat from sight.
