him. That was way outside her realm of remotely possible.
A soft moan of dismay rumbled low in her throat as she punched the button to go back to the roof. Her purse, her phone, her hotel keys…all of it was still upstairs. The elevator made a sound then shifted to go back up.
Stupid prince. He thought he was so damn clever, just waiting upstairs, knowing she was running away without her purse. Okay, this take cleverness , Katherine chided herself frantically. Something clever to say, something that wouldn’t diminish how thoroughly she’d just refused his “offer” by bolting.
Was it her imagination, or was the elevator going up so much faster than it had gone down? She needed a second to get her thoughts in order before she saw that smug look of triumph on Eric’s damn face. The doors dinged again as they opened, but Katherine was still in the corner of the elevator looking like a petrified mouse in the face of a tiger—no, a panther, Eric was definitely a panther. He was leaning against the wall next to the elevator, holding her purse and looking at her with an amused expression. The waiter was nowhere in sight.
She took a deep breath and pushed herself away from the wall, stepping back out onto the rooftop. Without saying a word, he offered her purse to her, then immediately reached around to send the elevator back to the ground floor. As though the damn machine was somehow programmed to obey his touch, the doors closed before she’d even had a chance to turn around.
“Hey!” she yelped, all cleverness abandoned in the face of her dismay and outrage. At the same time, she realized that her purse was noticeably lighter than it was supposed to be, and stared down into its contents. “Where the hell is my phone?”
“I had a feeling that you being in possession if it right at this moment will only impede things,” he replied simply, then pushed off of the wall. “Come, sit back down. We can talk in a more civilized manner, ma chérie.”
“I’m not talking about anything with you!” she cried, staring at him and hating how her voice came out in an embarrassing squeak. “If you’re serious about what you just said, you are out of your flipping mind! There’s no way I’m going to marry you!”
“Because you have so many better things to be doing,” he mused. “Clubbing and having sex with strangers, ignoring interesting tours, touching priceless museum pieces…” Katherine flushed, the color a combination of rage and embarrassment.
“I’m nineteen! It is not a crime to not know what you’re doing at nineteen!”
Eric’s eyes narrowed at her slightly. “Ah, but you do know what you’re doing, don’t you? You know exactly what you’re doing, you just lack the will to admit it to yourself. That’s fine—I do not particularly care.” He eased himself back into his chair, leaving her to stare at him. She had no idea where he’d hidden her phone. To a certain extent, it didn’t matter, because she was not going to be feeling him up to get it back.
She also didn’t answer him at first. Finally, she said, seething, “What you’re suggesting is pretty much kidnapping. You realize that, right? You’re trying to force me to stay here against my will and marry you , and… and for what?! What the hell do I have to gain from agreeing to any of this?”
“There are those who would say—”
“Marriage to a prince is not a good enough reason ,” she interrupted acidly, and he chuckled.
“Fair enough. But consider the fact that you have chosen to attend school in Pennsylvania simply to get away from your family in Arizona. Would it not make sense to go a step further and reside in a place they could not possibly reach you with any sort of ease? In addition, you have no idea what you wish to be doing with your life, as you have well admitted, and so you are wasting your time in college doing what amounts to nothing. Particularly, as I understand it, when it comes to applying yourself
A D Holland
Grif Stockley
D. W. Collins
Jane Rusbridge
Christine Warren
Lily Evans
Selene Chardou
Samantha Young
Gary D. Svee
Unknown