“You don’t really think he’d be happy being with you if he knew that you have slept with his brother.”
“I’m not going to tell him,” I whispered.
“Do you like him?” he growled, and his face was suddenly next to mine. “Do you want to be with him?”
“No.” I pushed him away from me. “I don’t want to be with him, and I don’t want to be with you either.”
“Liar,” he whispered next to my ear. He grabbed my hand and placed it on the front of his pants. “You feel this,” he whispered as he pressed my hand into his hardness. My fingers squeezed gently, and he groaned as he grew harder in my hand. “You want me as badly as I want you.”
“I don’t want to be with a jerk.” I shook my head. “Just because we slept together once doesn’t mean anything. You’re such an ass**le.” I walked away from him and put my hand in my pocket. It felt empty without him filling my palm.
“Where are you going now?”
“To lunch.”
“I will take you.”
“I don’t want you to take me.”
“Why do you always resist me, Lola?”
“Why don’t you get the hint?”
“You’re trying to make me pay for that first night, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about?”
“The money was a joke.”
“Sure.” I rolled my eyes.
“It was in poor taste.” His eyes searched mine. “Can we not start over?”
“I don’t think we can.”
“You’re a hard woman to please.”
“I think most women would be hard to please after you’ve called them a slut and warned them to stay away from your brother.”
He changed the subject. “How old are you, Lola?”
“I’m twenty-one.”
“Of course,” he groaned.
“How old are you?”
“I’m twenty-eight.”
“Can I go now?”
He grabbed my hands. “Stop flirting with my brother!”
“Why?” I looked into his eyes with my heart all aflutter.
“He will never marry you. He’s betrothed to someone else.”
“Betrothed?” I repeated dumbly.
“As a prince in Romerius, he has certain expectations.”
“He’s a prince?” My jaw dropped and then my eyes narrowed. “So wait ... Are you a prince as well?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“And you’re betrothed as well?” My heart stopped for a second.
“I’m never getting married.” He laughed. “Not anytime soon.”
“I see.” I looked away from him.
“They call me the playboy prince.”
“Hence your weekends of fun.” I nodded in understanding.
“Exactly. One weekend, no strings.” His fingers ran to my face. “Though sometimes I make exceptions.”
“Exceptions?” I looked at him then as his finger ran along my lower lip.
“Sometimes I give certain women a second weekend.” He pushed his finger into my mouth. I bit down on it softly, sucking it instinctively. Our eyes stayed connected as I sucked, and then I realized where I was and who I was with and bit down hard. “What the—” he exclaimed and pulled his finger out of my mouth.
“Next time, I’d be more careful who you chose to proposition.” I tilted my head up at him. “You never know when it’s going to turn rough.”
“I wouldn’t mind it being rough with you.” He leaned towards me. “I can be very rough.”
“What?” My cheeks warmed up as he licked my lips.
“I can be so, so rough that I’ll have you crying and begging me for more at the same time.”
“You’re a pervert.” I caught his tongue between my lips and sucked on it for a few seconds.
“It turns you on, doesn’t it?” he whispered against my lips. “You want me to take you right now.”
I gazed up into his eyes and wanted to scream out, “Yes! Yes, I want you to take me!” but I didn’t. The part of me that was still offended and upset by his words was having none of it.
“No.” I took a step back. “It doesn’t.”
“Liar,” he whispered.
“Can I go now?” I turned around so he couldn’t see how much he was affecting me.
“We’re going to the museum, remember?” His tone changed. “You’ll enjoy it.”
“I’d rather go by myself.”
“But there’s no joy in going by yourself. I have to take you. I have to show you all the pieces you would miss.”
“You don’t know what I would miss,” I muttered, annoyed at how excited I felt at spending the afternoon with him.
“Come now, Lola. Let us call a truce for the afternoon.” He pulled me towards him again. “Can we not spend an afternoon together as two friends enjoying art?”
“Fine,” I sighed. “But if you call me a prostitute or warn me away from Sebastian again—”
“Let’s go.” He grabbed my hand. “No more idle talk.”
“You’re the one who ...” I started but closed my mouth as I realized there was no point in my going on about it. I was only going to make myself angry again, and frankly, I didn’t want to think about how rude he was.
I wanted to spend the afternoon learning about art from someone who knew a lot about the subject. It didn’t hurt that I still had the hots for him. I groaned inside as I realized that I still really liked him. I knew it was a mistake to go with him. I couldn’t see this going well for me. I was no match for Prince Xavier Van Romerius.
***
His View
Lola had more spunk than I thought, and she was smarter than most of the girls I normally dated. First, the narcissist comment had surprised me and impressed me. It wasn’t every day that someone was able to teach me something, especially when it came to art.
However, I’d been even more surprised when she’d told me I didn’t intimidate her. She was stronger and braver than I’d thought she was. She was going to make the chase a lot more interesting and a lot more fun. I hadn’t been lying when I’d told her that was making me mad. I was barely able to think about anything other than touching her. It aggravated me that she was making it so hard. Normally, women were all over me. Lola was different. I knew she wanted me, but she was also standoffish. However, she couldn’t fake her reactions when I touched her and kissed her. The way her body trembled against mine told me that she craved me as much as I craved her. Her body’s reaction to me told me all her secrets.