First thing in the box was a card, sitting atop glittery gold tissue paper.
It was an invitation to go out to a romantic dinner with Nolan the next night. I smiled.
He could’ve just asked me tonight. But the formal invite, written out in beautiful cursive, was a nice touch.
I lifted a sheet of gold paper and found an elegant black dress folded neatly underneath. I lifted it up and Rafaela went, “Ooh.” She took it from me and hung it on one of my dressmaking dummies.
There was something else in the box, too. I pulled out one more layer of gold tissue paper, just as the deaconess was walking back over for a peek.
I lifted the garment by its thin, silky straps. And discovered it was a transparent black lace negligee.
It was super sexy.
Rafaela looked upon it in silent horror.
I folded it neatly back into its box. I had to look away from Rafaela to keep myself from laughing at her reaction. She mumbled something I cou
NOLAN Nolan’s secretary was blowing up his phone on the drive home. Just more scheduling problems. Work problems. He turned his phone off and gave it to Yena to put in her purse. Then he told her to scoot closer to him. She slid over. He reached in through the slit in the skirt. His rough fingertips caught on her delicate nylon stockings. They were thigh-high and had a little band of lace at the top. Nolan’s fingers reached the top of the stocking and made contact with her skin. He pushed his hand carefully between her thighs. Yena closed her eyes and shivered. With his other hand, Nolan moved her face
I was in my studio in the next afternoon, sitting in the middle of a pile of fabric samples. I had them all spread out on the floor under the window.The sun had come out, and I wanted to look at everything under the natural light before it slipped back behind the clouds.I heard a distinct knock on the door that told me Nolan was here.I stood and saw him waiting in the doorway, holding a little gold box in his hand.“Please come in, sir,” I said with mock formality.We met halfway across the room and he handed me the box.“What’s this?”“Just a little something.”I lifted the lid off the flat, square box. Inside was a gold necklace.“Oh my Goddess,” I said, “it’s gorgeous.”“Would you like to try it on?”I nodded and led him over to the trifold mirror.I faced the mirror and he stood behind me with the necklace. I h
YENA I woke to the sounds of Nolan moving around. It was still pitch dark like the middle of the night, but I checked my phone and saw it was almost five in the morning.He was in his walk-in closet, getting dressed. Trying to be quiet. Half-asleep still, I closed my eyes. He walked back into the bedroom and I smelled his scent. It was like sandalwood and salty sea air. It drove me crazy, the smell of him. Made me feel like I was slipping back into a dream. Nolan thought I was asleep. He approached my bedside quietly. I felt his presence and relished it. Listened to the slow pattern of his breathing. When he finally reached out and stroked my cheek, I rolled onto my back and let his thumb fall into my open mouth. I sucked on it sleepily. Nolan dug his fingers into my cheek, squeezing my face. A very quiet growl came from deep in his throat. I took his hand and moved it down my chest. He pulled it away. Then he bro
YENA Luna was late to her own dinner. Or maybe she just wanted to make an entrance. Nolan and I were seated in her dining room when she arrived. Dinner was served and steaming on the table. But the attendants waited to pour the wine until Luna came in several minutes after us, gliding into the room wearing a gorgeous, silky, copper colored gown. To my surprise, she greeted us with a big smile. Nolan and I got up from the table and bowed as she approached. Luna told us to stand. Then as I started to turn back to the table, she put her hand on my shoulder to stop me. Her hand lingered there, lightly, as she looked my body up and down with narrowed eyes. Finally, she looked me square in the eyes and said, “You look good.” It wasn’t so much a compliment as an evaluation. I thanked the queen quietly and looked at Nolan. He was in prince mode, not betraying any emotion on his face. We sat and Nolan offered a toast to his mother.
NOLAN His mother ended their dinner quickly after Yena’s unexpected announcement. It might have come as just as much of a shock to Nolan as it did to Luna, when Yena said what she said. Yes, she had brought up the possibility of her wanting to study abroad… but just the one time.Since then, Nolan had been bracing himself for the next time the princess might circle back to the awful idea. He did not expect that time to come up in front of his mother. Sometimes Yena was… clueless.Nolan looked around to be sure no one was in earshot, and let out a sort of half-sigh, half-growl of frustration. He met his mother’s secretary in her office and learned that he would not be seeing the queen again tonight. She was now otherwise occupied. There was no doubt that Nolan’s mother expected him to rush back to speak with her after the icy look she shot him on his way out of her dining room. And her secretary would report he had done so. But it also did not
I left Nolan panting in bed and took another, very quick shower to rinse off all the sweat once we were done with our workout. I put on a comfy nightgown and was brushing my teeth when he came in behind me, looking cheerful. He kissed the top of my head before heading back into the shower himself. Our bed was a mess. The satin sheets were half off the mattress already, so it was easy to pull them aside. Not quite so easy was the task of putting new sheets on, but I got it done. Nolan was still in the bathroom when I slid under the covers a few minutes later. I closed my eyes for just a second, then remembered my phone was still in my purse. I got back up and went to get it. Nolan’s phone was in there too. I took it over to his side of the bed and plugged it in to charge. I was just settling back into bed when Nolan’s phone started going crazy. It turned itself back on when it got enough power, I guess, and all the notifications were now going
YENALucy called me in the morning and asked if I wanted to hang out. Nolan was busy so I invited her over to spend the day with me. We had brunch in the dining room, complete with mimosas and chocolate pastries.I didn’t really mean to, but I started spilling my guts to Lucy. It started with the Gina thing. It felt really good to see her reaction when I told her about the texts, because she was appalled.“So you don’t think I’m overreacting?” I asked.“Not at all,” Lucy said. “I don’t understand why he would be talking to her. Do you think you can… confront him?”She grimaced, like she knew how unpleasant that would be. She wasn’t really recommending I do it.“I wish he would bring it up to me,” I admitted. “If I do it, I come across sounding jealous and desperate, or like I tried to spy on him. If there’s really nothing going on with her, I feel like he could just tell me whatever else it’s really about.”Maybe it was the drinks, the stress of the night before, or both. I told her e
ADAN “Let me take you somewhere special,” Adan said. He smiled and stole a glance at Lucy before returning his eyes to the road. She beamed, making her pink lipgloss shimmer in the sunlight.Lucy had her right arm extended out the passenger window. It was cold out, but dry and sunny. Pretty much as pleasant as weather got in this small college town under the shadow of the mountain. “Did you have somewhere specific in mind?” she asked. Adan shrugged playfully. “Maybe. It’s a surprise.” He shifted his weight so he could drive with his left hand and slip the other one over onto Lucy’s thigh. She looked over at him and he knew that she was smiling. He didn’t offer her the satisfaction of eye contact. Just gave a quick squeeze on her leg, making her laugh and squirm. When they got to his place, he opened Lucy’s door to let her out of the car and walked arm in arm with her to the door. They had a catered meal and a couple bottles of Lu