YASMINE
Yasmine stood in the doorway for a moment, trying to get her mind around what just happened.
If she didn’t know any better, she would have thought the steely world leader had been about to kiss her.
But that couldn’t be right.
Could it?
She closed the door and leaned back against it to gather herself.
Whatever he had or hadn’t been about to do, he had dropped her like a hot potato and hightailed it out of her room the instant his comms went off.
She should count herself lucky he hadn’t thundered at her for almost letting the plant fall over in his spotless house.
Letting out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, Yasmine shook it off and turned back to explore her rooms, determined to forget this momentary insanity, deciding she was probably just tired from all the travel.
The bedroom really was beautiful. The walls were a pale lilac and huge windows let in the view of the endless green grounds melting into the forest beyond. The furniture was pretty, but it also looked comfortable.
She moved to check out what was behind the two doors on the far side wall.
One opened to a small sitting room flanked by massive closets with beautiful carved wood doors. Her one small bag of clothing was going to look pathetic on those shelves, but she couldn’t bring herself to mind.
The other door led to a sumptuous bathroom with a circular soaking tub. The same blue tile she had admired in the butler’s pantry adorned the floor and ceiling.
“Holy wow,” she whispered to herself.
She was going to be living like a princess in this palace. It was nice to see that Zanfredd had been wrong, at least about her living arrangements.
Though she really didn’t deserve them. She still couldn’t figure out exactly what she was doing here, or why anyone would choose her as a nanny.
She returned to the bedroom with a sigh, and placed her bag on the bed to start unpacking.
But the door slammed open before she could begin.
Someone small streaked into the room and dove under the bed.
Yasmine froze in place for a moment, completely thrown.
“Olympia?” she ventured after a moment.
“Shh,” the little one hissed.
There were footsteps in the hallway and a worried-looking Vystian man peered into the room, the tentacles on his head waving worriedly.
“Have you seen Olympia?” he asked.
She smiled and nodded toward the bed, so he would know the little girl was okay.
His tall form sagged slightly in relief.
“No,” Yasmine lied, in a voice loud enough to be sure the girl under the bed could hear her. “But if I see her, I will bring her to you right away.”
“Thank you,” he replied. “I’ll be in the music room.”
He walked on and Yasmine closed the door behind him, glad he had been willing to play along with her. He looked a bit older than she was, but still fairly young. Maybe that made him more sympathetic to his charge.
A moment later, a little face peeked out from under her bed.