Anna dipped her head to kiss him, her eyes shining again, as they drove each other to the brink of oblivious pleasure. A few more hard thrusts and then they were hanging on tight, shattering together. They stayed joined for a long time afterward, not wanting to let go, not wanting to leave behind the new connection they’d forged.
But later, when Eric was lying in bed with her in the dark, he couldn’t help but worry. Earlier, she’d talked about how he’d made things better and worse—given her something important, but heightening the stakes too. Being with her, falling for her, it was like that. She’d given him an incredible gift…but now he was more nervous than ever that somehow, it would all go wrong.
13
Anna was finishing up paperwork with a test subject—Mrs. Grady, an older woman who always showed them endless pictures of her grandchildren—when Eric arrived at the lab a few days later. The woman perked up immediately. Eric was a favorite among the patients.
“Morning, handsome!” Mrs. Grady called across the room.
“Morning, beautiful,” Eric replied, but his greeting was more subdued than usual.
“Someone piss in your cornflakes?” the woman asked with a grin, noticing as well.
Eric shrugged and smiled back. “Nah, just didn’t get much sleep.”
“In a good way, I hope?” She winked.
Anna narrowed her eyes. She hadn’t been with Eric last night. If he hadn’t gotten much sleep, it must’ve been because something was bothering him, not because anything fun was keeping him up.
Confirming her suspicions, he just shrugged again and wandered into Anna’s office.
Anna turned to her patient. “I apologize, but I think I need to speak to the prince.”
“You do that, hon. Don’t let that one get away, eh?”
Anna hesitated. “What do you mean?” she asked carefully.
“Oh, we all know you two are together now,” the woman answered. “It’s all over the tabloids—that sweet nerd date he took you on. Did he really rent a whole B&B for the night?” She sighed, overcome by the romance of it.
Anna stared at her, flustered. “Oh,” she managed, and then, “forgive me, I really need to go talk to Eric.”
She hurried to her office while trying not to look like she was hurrying, and quickly closed the door behind her. “Is it true?” she hissed at Eric. “Is our nerd date really in the tabloids?”
This was bad, so, so bad. What would her colleagues think? Would they believe he was the reason her research had gotten behind schedule? She’d been terrified all along something like this would happen—that he or his support would ruin her professional reputation.
“I don’t know,” Eric said, startled. “Why do you say that?”
“Mrs. Grady knew all about it, the B&B, everything!”
He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, agitated. “The B&B’s owner must’ve given the info to the press. I’m sorry, I didn’t know, I thought she was trustworthy.” He pulled a dossier from his bag. “But I’m afraid I have more bad news. The Queen Mother is pressuring me to throw another gala, one that celebrates the results of your study. I’m worried that it’ll enhance the appearance of me only being good for parties.”
So that was what had been bothering him. She started pacing. “That’s a terrible idea. We aren’t ready for anything like that yet. We can’t throw a party for successful results before the results are even in. What if something goes wrong at the last minute?”
“Does it look like that might be the case?”
“No,” she admitted. Everything was going wonderfully, if a bit behind schedule, and her gut told her the results would be as spectacular as they’d anticipated. But as a scientist, she couldn’t announce anything until it had been tested, finalized, and double-checked. “But still, it’s not a good idea. It could make my reputation look even worse than it does now. We should just go radio silent until everything is done.” When her results were published, the scientific community wouldn’t care about her nerd date or perceived unprofessionalism with Eric. Throwing a party too early, though, that could backfire spectacularly.
Eric shook his head. “I don’t know. This party could help rally support for the bill, get us those last few votes we need. I can take being labeled a party boy. I can’t take being a failure.”
Anna stopped pacing. “No, Eric, you can’t throw the party. It’s far too soon!”
He held up a hand. “You don’t have to be a part of it, though. You can go radio silent the way you wanted, stay out of the public eye from here on out. I can take over with the publicity campaign and you can just focus on the testing. Divide and conquer, right? And hopefully that’ll help you get the research done on time, too.” He slid the dossier back into his bag, mind made up.
Anna stared at him. The party was a bad idea, but ultimately it was his choice, and if he chose to throw it she couldn’t be a part of it. What he was offering was what she technically wanted—so why did it feel like a breakup? “Are you sure that’s what you want?” she asked, mouth dry.
Eric was not her boyfriend. Eric was a prince, with responsibilities, with a past and his own needs. And she was a professional—a scientist, who should be much more concerned about her research than a man. She needed to remember that. She shouldn’t be feeling like crying right now. Going their separate ways with the project didn’t necessarily mean they couldn’t pick up where things left off after the project was over, anyway. But somehow, this decision felt big. Inevitable. It felt like a turning point, and she was worried they might both have the wrong priorities.
“Yes,” Eric said, and her heart broke a little.