“Every night except Saturday.”
“Then I’ll be here to walk you every night except Saturday.”
I raise one eyebrow and stare at him. “You’ll be here or you’ll send your ‘friends’?”
“Me,” he says. “Well, they’ll be there, too, I suppose.”
“Huh. That’s very kind of you, but I think it’s a little too big of a commitment, wouldn’t you say?”
“No, I wouldn’t.”
I narrow my eyes, trying to figure out his game. “Listen, I’m fine, I promise. We bumped into each other, you didn’t knock me over. I’m not going to sue you now that I know you’re rich. You had me taken care of and you really don’t owe me anything.”
“What if I want to walk you home?”
“What is this? A charity thing?”
Henry wrinkles his nose in confusion. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“I mean, I don’t know why you’d want to even talk to someone like me, let alone offer to walk me home, but whatever it is, you don’t have to do it. I’m a big girl with a long history of taking care of myself.”
“Is it so hard to believe that I’d want to spend some time with someone like you, as you put it?”
“Yes.”
“Well, believe it.” His gaze is so intense, I can’t stand to look at him.
“Believing things gets you hurt,” I say, going back to counting.
“Not with me.”
“With everyone.”
“What happened to you to make you so skeptical of the world?”
I sigh, not wanting to tell my life story to a freaking crown prince. “Let’s just say I wasn’t exactly born into royalty and my parents weren’t what you’d call reliable. So if you don’t mind, I’ll go back to not relying on anyone—including you.”
“I do mind, actually,” he says in a firm tone. “I’ll tell you what. You let me walk you home every night and I’ll show you that you can trust someone other than yourself in this world.”
“Sure,” I say, my tone sarcastic. “But for now, I’ll need you and your friends to leave so I can lock up. I’m not allowed to have anyone here while I do the cash out.?
??
“Fine. We’ll be outside waiting.”
***
Fifteen minutes later, I set the alarm, let myself out, then lock the door. The air has turned chilly now that it’s late but I’m not cold like I usually am. Instead, I feel flushed and my stomach feels like it’s filled with butterflies because Henry and his bodyguards are waiting, just like he said they’d be.
“All ready?” he asks with a charming smile.
Oh, that voice could melt a girl’s panties. No, Addison! Stop thinking like that. He’s not for you.
We start walking, Johan and Gabriel falling in line behind us. About a block from the café, I stop at the bank to make the night deposit. I take the key out of my coat pocket, and then pull the heavy bag out of my backpack. Unlocking the overnight deposit box, I toss the bag in, close it and pocket the key.
“So you actually walk to the bank with a bag of cash every night at midnight alone?” Henry asks.
“Yes. It’s a normal person thing to do.”