He pursed his lips, and I could tell he was pretending to think about it. “I mean being stalked by a prince would be a huge ego boost.”
Inching forward, I noticed his friends slinking away. “Then consider yourself boosted.”
He chuckled. “I didn’t know the pottery museum was on your schedule.”
My brows rose. “Oh, it’s absolutely not. But it’s where you were, and I wanted to ask you a question.”
“Hmm…maybe exchanging numbers would make it easier for you to talk to me for such mundane things like questions.”
I hummed. “Yes, we’ll do that, but while I have you here—would you like to attend a state dinner with me this evening?”
His eyes widened. “State dinner, like with politicians and fancy people?”
“It’s more like a special dinner with more than a few people and yeah, some are politicians and whatnot, but it’s not super fancy. You can dress casual.”
“Uh…I don’t know. I mean, my friends?—”
“Will be fine!” the woman, Hannah, shouted from somewhere.
“I can pick you up at the Golden Rose at, say, six?”
“The…of course you know where I’m staying.”
I was silent. His brown eyes were anxious, and while I didn’t want him to be nervous and the right thing to do would be to tell him never mind, the selfish part of me craved him. I wanted him to be with me tonight even if he hated it.
“So?”
He sighed, scratched his head, and sighed some more. “I mean, I guess, sure.”
“Great. Then I shall see you at six, Wynn.”
I wanted to stay, but I was afraid if I did he’d change his mind, and I wasn’t sure how I’d react to that. I’d hate to hurt him before I even got to know what he tasted like. What a tragedy that would be.
I bade him farewell and begrudgingly continued with my tour stops for the rest of the day. Knowing I’d see Wynn later made everything else tolerable.
CHAPTER NINE
Wynn
“I look like an off-the-rack loser.”I turned left and right in the mirror. Fortunately, I’d packed two suits for the trip in case we ended up going to a high-class restaurant, but at no time had a state dinner been on the agenda.
“You look amazing, Wynn. It’s a crisp look that works perfectly.” Hannah pressed her hand against my lapel. “When he asked you to join him, I don’t think he was thinking about your fashion sense.”
“Han, I don’t want to embarrass him; he’s an honest-to-God prince!”
“Stop.” She held my face in her hands. “Julian has amazing taste because he chose you to accompany him tonight. Look past the polyester, Wynn.”
“He’s a prince.” My voice was a whisper, insecurity squeezed at my lungs, and my stomach was in knots. “I’m a freelance journalist with ADHD and a serious case of two left feet.”
“Enough. No more talking bad about my friend. Mark?” she called out.
He popped his head in the room from the balcony. “Yeah?”
“How does Wynn look?”
His eyes traveled the length of my body and once he stopped at my face, he grinned. “I think you’re gonna make him speechless.”
Mark wasn’t one for hyperbole, and he didn’t spare people’s feelings, so I truly believed him.
