Three hours later, the interview—complete with a tour of non-public areas of the palace—is over and I’m cruising toward 269 rue de Toulouse. Toward Savvy.
I thought about calling first—since that is the less stalkerish thing to do—but after the way she ran away at the gala, I don’t want to give her the chance to tell me not to come.
And while I respect any woman’s right to say no, I know we connected that night. I could feel it in the way she smiled at me, the way she gave as good as she got. The way she kissed me.
If she says no again today, I’ll walk away and never bother her again. But I want to see her face when she does it, want her to see mine.
I wind my way down the highway that runs along Wildemar’s coast. Savvy’s cottage isn’t waterfront—the real estate is too high-end for anyone but millionaires to afford—but her neighborhood is only a few miles from the Mediterranean, a small little alcove on the southern edge of downtown.
Traffic is light, so the drive only takes about twenty minutes. As I pull over to the curb in front of her house, I do my best to ignore the SUV pulling in behind me—loaded with Lucas, Niall and my newest bodyguard, Avery. Nothing like trying to woo a woman with a gun-toting entourage in tow.
While I’ve never had trouble closing the deal before, I’m pretty sure Savvy is different. She never would have walked away last night if she wasn’t.
Reaching into the backseat, I grab the large bouquet of wildflowers I picked up on the way. Usually I’d go for roses, but usually I don’t pay enough attention to a woman to try to figure out what might impress her. Savvy definitely didn’t seem like the champagne and roses type, despite how we first met.
Niall is on the sidewalk in front of my car before I even get the door open. “We need to go inside first, check the place out.”
“On the off chance an assassin is waiting for me in the house of a woman I barely know who has no idea that I’m coming?” I brush past him. “I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen.”
“We need to be sure,” he insists.
“I am sure,” I tell him. And maybe I’m being a douche about this—we’re all on edge after what happened to Garrett. But I actually like this woman and the last thing I want is to have the small chance I’m trying to carve out with her go up in smoke beca
use I invade her home with my cavalcade of guards.
“I’m certain that you are,” Avery says, face grim and voice all business. “But we aren’t. And it’s our job to ensure your safety.”
“Which you can do from right here. I promise to keep my phone on me at all times.” I point to the two open windows at the front of the house. “And I promise to yell really loudly if someone attacks me.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but that’s not good enough.”
“It’s going to have to be,” I tell him, with a clap on the back.
I start toward the house, my faithful detail at my heels. When I’m two steps away from the front door, I turn and give Lucas a beseeching look. He’s been my guard the longest and knows—despite my reputation—that I don’t play fast and loose with my detail. He also knows that I rarely (and by rarely, I mean never) go through this much effort for a woman.
“What if I promise to stay in view of the windows the whole time?” I tell them. “I’ll park myself right there in front of that one and you can make sure I’m safe.”
Lucas looks like he wants to argue, but I cut him off before he can even start. “Come on, man. You’ve got to give me something. I like this woman.”
He sighs, but in the end—above the very vocal protests of the very serious Avery—he nods. “In sight the whole time,” he orders and for a moment I feel like a junior high kid on his first date.
But beggars can’t be choosers and I know, better than most, what a disaster it would be if something happened to the spare three months after the heir disappeared. Wildemar would be in absolute chaos. There’s no way I’d put my country through that, girl or no girl.
“I promise. And if I disappear from sight for more than five seconds, you have my permission to come crashing in after me.”
“I think you’re forgetting,” Niall says with a narrow-eyed look, “we don’t need your permission.”
“Geez. Way to be a killjoy.”
“Yeah, well, someone in this relationship has to be.”
“Aww, Niall.” I slap his ass with my free hand on my way by. “Don’t you know it’s more fun when everyone’s having a good time?”
Lucas snorts and Avery sounds like he’s strangling on his own tongue. I can’t help grinning as I make my way to Savvy’s front door. Maybe it won’t take as long to break in my new bodyguard as I was afraid of.
I can hear music through the open windows, Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie,” and I can’t help thinking about the way Savvy’s hips looked in her black work pants. Can’t help wondering about what she’s wearing now—and whether or not she’ll let me get another good look at her luscious, heart-shaped ass.
At least she’s home, I tell myself as I knock. While I knew she wasn’t scheduled to work, I was afraid she might be running errands or something.