All the local kids are at school, so we have the place to ourselves, and we’re taking fulladvantage of it.
It’s immature. It’s childish. And it’s so much freaking fun. More fun than I’ve had in years.
We’ve bounced on the trampoline, slid down the slide into the ball pit, and then declared fully fledged war on one another with the aid of our bright yellow and red foam guns.
Being with Max brings out this side of me. Fun-loving, free-spirited, joyful.
If Judith Giovanni could see me now, she’d fire me before you could sayunresolved childhood issues.
I find a foam barrier on the upper level and crouch behind it, my heart hammering against my ribs like it's trying to escape. Through a gap in the padding, I spot Max moving stealthily along the lower walkway, and I have to hold my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing out loud.
I’m being stalked by a member of the royal family brandishing a foam gun and a grin the size of Ledonia, intent on making sure I have fun.
I take a mental note to write the following video caption:Prince Surprisingly Athletic in Foam Combat.
He catches my eye, and I retreat, my back against the barrier.
He’s seen me.Dang it!
“I know you're up there, Fontaine,” he calls out, confirming my worst fears. “Your royal correspondent instincts won't save you now.”
“We'll see about that, Your Royal Highness!” I call back as a foam bullet whizzes past my ear, close enough that I can feel it.
I let out a shriek before I take flight, dashing along the high bridge. With him hot on my heels, I’m aiming for the slide so I can whoosh down to the ground floor and take cover.
Through the mesh netting, I catch a glimpse of Max vaulting over a low barrier with the kind of athletic grace that makes me want to drop my gun and fall right into his arms.
But this is war. No time for that sort of carrying on.
“You think you’re so clever, Fontaine, but I’m onto you!”
I hide behind a soft pillar. I lean around the pillar, line him up, and fire three quick shots. “Oh, yeah? Take that, Canossa!”
To my astonishment, one actually hits his chest. He comes to a sudden stop, glancing down before looking back at me. His look of mock betrayal sends me into a fit of giggles that the Valentina of just last week would have been deeply mortified by.
But this is the new Valentina, the Valentina who’s shared more of herself with this man currently stalking her than she has with anyone before. The Valentina who understands the prince, who empathizes with him.
The Valentina who can finally admit she’s falling for him.
The feeling is both exhilarating and utterly terrifying.
This should never have happened. And I fought it.Really, I did. Tooth and nail. That initial attraction, mixed with distrust and dislike of the man I thought Max was, has transformed into something so much more. So much deeper.
And I want it. I wanthim.
He’s made his intentions toward me perfectly clear. He’s allowed himself to be vulnerable with me, to trust me wholeheartedly with who he is.
For my part, I’ve held myself back, frightened that I can’t be who I truly am with him.
But perhaps it’s time to put that to rest. Perhaps it’stime to give him my full story. Perhaps it’s time for me to allow myself to be totally real with this man, totally vulnerable, in a way I haven’t been with anyone in all these years.
He makes me want to stop hiding.
My heart is hammering in my chest, and it’s no longer just because of the game. I’ve been Fabiana Fontaine to the world for years, pretending to be this tough journalist so I can keep the lights on for Nona and me. In some ways, I’ve become her.
But I’m more than the journalist with the inside track.
I’m Valentina Romano, and I think it’s about time I let her shine.
