“And have I ever lied to you?”
She kept her gaze locked on his. “Not that I recall.”
“I never will, Rissa.” He used the childhood nickname he’d given her as he hesitantly reached up to stroke her cheek. Thankfully, she didn’t pull away. She seemed more relaxed now. He gradually began to feel as if things just might go his way. Perhaps he’d worried earlier about nothing. “Do you know what I miss about our younger days?”
“What?” Her voice was quiet.
“I miss talking. We shared a lot of secrets. We shared our troubles and problems, and we helped each other overcome them. Remember?”
Slowly, she nodded. “I do.”
“I miss that closeness. I haven’t been that way with anyone since. Have you?”
“No.” She moved away from him and to the window. “I was close with my cousin this past year, but it really wasn’t the same.” She parted the curtains and looked outside. The sun shone on the glass, making the window gleam. “We did have some good times together, but sometimes I didn’t feel like I could tell her everything.”
Once again, Ryder was taken aback with her mood swings. Now she appeared almost melancholy. He walked to her and stopped beside the window. Thankfully, the crisp air from outside emanating from the window helped to cool him down. “Rissa, you can tell me everything.”
“I can?” She looked at him over her shoulder.
“Youknowyou can tell me.” He’d do anything to get her to open up to him. He couldn’t lose her now. “I can sense something is wrong. Will you talk to me about it?”
Silence stretched between them, but he kept hope inside his chest. He must make her trust him like she had when they were in school. Her expression wavered. If only he could climb inside her head to know what she was really thinking.
She released an audible sigh. “Oh, Ryder. I’m so very confused.”
It broke his heart to see her this way. If he couldn’t help her, he feared she’d never rely on him ever again. Tenderly, he caressed her shoulder. “What about?”
“Why I’m feeling the way I am.”
“And which way is that?”
She turned and faced him. “It’s as if I’m two different people. Yesterday when I was with you, I felt so...jovial. So happy. The kiss we shared made me breathless. And yet—” The light disappeared from her eyes and she frowned. “When I met Prince Ormond, my thoughts changed to him. I don’t know why. Perhaps he is the man I’m supposed to be with after all.” She shrugged. “I wish I knew.”
It hurt Ryder to hear her words. He took her soft hand and rubbed the pad of his thumb across her knuckles. “I was hoping you would thinkIwas the man you were meant to be with.”
Her mouth stretched into a smile. “You were?”
“Yes.” He tugged lightly on her hand, hoping she would move closer to him. Thankfully, it worked and she took two steps forward. “You have been on my mind quite often lately, even before you returned from visiting your cousin. I think I was falling in love with you when we were still in school, but I worried that if I said anything, it would ruin our friendship. But after the kiss we had yesterday,” he closed the space between them, slipping an arm around her waist, “I had hoped you shared the feelings I’ve been harboring for years.”
Her gaze skimmed over his face, coming to rest on his mouth. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her, and yet, he mustn’t go with his urges this time. It was difficult. The charming part of him wanted to seduce her as a way to change her mind, but the part of him that cared about her as a friend convinced him to talk things out first.
“Oh, Ryder. Yesterday, I had shared them...until Prince Ormond came.”
Ryder held back a sigh. “I talked with your father this morning.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Really? About me?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“He wondered why you would feel such a bond with Prince Ormond, especially since when you first met him, you didn’t seem to feel a connection at all.”
She chuckled lightly. “Indeed. It wasn’t until he gave me the flowers that I saw him in a different light.”
Curiosity niggled on his conscience. Her father had mentioned this as well. “Flowers? What kind?”
She motioned her hand to the ones on the table. “They are called the Rapunzel flower. Are they not pretty?” Clarissa asked, turning and stepping closer to admire them.
