Leopold: Part Four (4 page)

S
omething
about this feels like a trap—and not a bit of it makes any sense. Not that I would expect it to—this is Leo, after all.

Watching him charm the people I’ve worked with for the past several months makes me remember how he won me over in the first place. But none of this is real—he’s the ultimate bullshit artist. I need to make sure I remember that tonight, if this
date
even happens.

I edge around him and head for the door without saying anything about the jet. There’s no way I’m going anywhere with him—it’s bad enough he showed up in my office at all. And the only reason I had agreed to any of this tonight was to get him to go on his merry way. If I know anything about Leo, it’s that he’s more stubborn than I am, and I know he won’t be leaving by choice until he gets what he wants.

One date
. I can do that—I can force myself to spend a few hours with him. It would be nice to have some closure on everything that’s happened between us, anyway. But I never said anything about getting on his fancy private plane with him. That is one part of his life I’ve never wanted anything to do with. I’m sure there are plenty of girls out there who would swoon over stuff like that. But it only makes me feel like I want to puke—it touches off something in the back of my mind that tells me I’m not worthy of someone like Leo. It’s a part of myself I’m actively trying to get to shut the hell up.

I walk through my office and head for the back door. I don’t even check to see if he’s following me—I just begin my walk back to the dormitory where I and the other temporary medical workers live in this small town.

He catches up to me a second later. “It’s bloody hot out here. I have a car with air conditioning, Elle. Matthias would be happy to drive you to your home—”

“It’s only a few blocks away. And it’s not as hot as it was in Rio de Campo. There’s almost zero humidity here.” I have to restrain myself to keep from looking over at him. I know I’ll only imagine how he looked the day we met at the clinic when his shirt was clinging to him. It was hard enough to keep myself from staring at him while we were at that party in the clinic a few minutes ago.

“Yes, but it’s not even summer.” He pulls at the collar of his long-sleeved dress shirt. “Too bloody hot when it is still technically spring.”

“We’re already almost there.” I motion toward the building in the distance. “It’s walking distance on purpose, so there’s no commute for the employees.”

“They provided a fine home for you, at least. I had my concerns when I found out where you were hiding—”

“That isn’t my home—it’s a dorm. Sort of like Owen’s hostel.” I glance over at him. “And I’m not
hiding
, Leo. This is a pretty common thing—working for a medical agency. There are five doctors here on contract right now and probably a dozen nurses. Paul is the only doctor who actually lives in this town.”

“Understandably. I can’t imagine why anyone would choose to live in the middle of the desert. I also can’t imagine why you would have chosen to come
here
when there were short-term positions within driving distance of your home.” He glances at me with a smile. “I know because I checked. You
chose
to come here.”

I stop on the sidewalk and turn to him. “Leo, I had my reasons for leaving.”

He stares at me for a moment. “You were running from our difficulties.”

I roll my eyes before I turn to start walking for the building again. “You can hardly blame me. The paparazzi never left, even after they knew you had fled. It wasn’t until a basketball player killed someone in a drunk driving accident that they finally decided I wasn’t interesting anymore. I sat in my house alone for five days.”

“And if you had taken a job in California, then—”

“Then
what
?” I stop and turn to him again. “If I had taken a job in California, then
what
? You might have come slinking back to me sooner? Yeah, I really missed the boat on that one, Leo.”

“Elle, I’ve already said leaving you that day was the biggest mistake of my life. I’ve paid the price—you have no idea how much I’ve regretted my actions of that day.”

“Hm.” I start walking again. I’d love to throw the tabloids in his face—ask him exactly how much of a price he had to pay considering how many different supermodels he’s slept with in the past three months. But I’m not going to—something about it feels almost stalkerish. Not that his being here at all isn’t
completely
stalkerish.

But I’m not about to allow him the satisfaction of knowing I care or that my gut twists with jealousy when I let myself think about how he’s been with other women. How I’ve been unable to stop myself from reading every fucking tabloid in the supermarket, searching for every single passing mention of him. I suppose his use of private investigators on me is basically the same thing—a much more expensive version of the same thing.

My steps quicken as we walk up to the threshold of the building. I turn to him at the entry. “Wait here. I need to change my clothes—I’ll just be a minute.”

He grins. “I’m happy to assist if you’d like.”

“Not a chance, Leo. Not a single chance in hell.” I smile. “I’ll be back in a second.”

His smile falls, and he gives me a single nod.

I rush in, tearing down the hall to my room. I still haven’t packed much of anything—I’m supposed to leave tomorrow, but my things are all still scattered around my room. I choose a sundress from my closet—one of the few articles of clothing I have that isn’t for work—and I pull it on, tossing the clothes I wore today into a box near the dresser.

He isn’t going to come into this room. I
will not
let things get that far tonight.
I won’t. I can’t. Being with Leo might have been the best sex of my life, but it was only really one day. Nothing about that day I spent with him at my house meant anything about the rest of my life.

And that’s what tonight is going to be. One date—a few hours to gain some closure. He obviously needs it as much as I do.

But there’s a niggling little thought in the back of my head that
maybe…
Maybe I can let myself have one more night with him. If I go into it
knowing
it will be only one night, I might be able to let myself just enjoy it for what it is. A fling. A one-night stand. The best sex of my life.

I’m getting ahead of myself, though. He invited me on a date.
On his jet
. Leo must want more than just two hours of talking, too.

Of course he wants more
. This
is
Prince Leopold we’re talking about.

I shake my head to myself as I gather my things from the floor and throw them into the box. I’m making way too much of this. Overthinking things, as usual. I do believe I can do this date, though. As long as I keep things on
my
terms, I’ll be fine. I can shield my heart and not allow myself to be hurt again.

I walk back out to the porch to see Leo sitting on the small wooden bench near the door. He’s unbuttoned his collar and has rolled up his sleeves to his elbows.

He stands as soon as he sees me, grinning. His eyes roam over my body, and he lifts a brow. “I must say this change in clothing is rather lovely.”

It’s difficult to cover my smile. “Thanks.” I let out a long breath. “Look, I thought about your offer. And I’m willing to accept on one condition—”

“Anything.” He extends his elbow to me. “I’ll call Matthias to bring the car—the airstrip is rather close. We can be—”

“No.” I fold my arms over my chest instead of taking his elbow. “The
date
…it needs to happen here.”

“
Here
?” He looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. After a moment, the silly grin returns to his lips. “In your dormitory? I can definitely be amenable to that—”

“No,
not
in my dormitory. The walls are pretty thin in there, Leo, so don’t get any ideas—”

“If memory serves, dear Elle, it is not
I
who would need to keep quiet should our date occur in your bed. Though I’d be more than happy to help you remember—”

“Hilarious. You really missed your calling as a stand-up comedian, Leo.” I feign a glare in his direction. “I said I’d go on a
proper date
with you, and I will. But it has to be
here
. And by
here…
” I motion with my hand down the street. “I mean in this town.
Not
in my bed.”

“Not yet, at any rate.”

I roll my eyes and try again to hide my grin. “We have two choices as far as restaurants are concerned. I assume by a
proper date,
you mean dinner?”

“I did mean dinner, but I definitely did
not
mean for you to have but two choices in the matter, Elle. If you would just allow me to take you—”

“No.” I shake my head, pressing my lips in a line. “The date is
here
or it isn’t happening. And you need to get it through your head that the date ends after dinner. Then
you
can get yourself back on your plane and fly back to wherever it is you came from.”

“Montovia.” He smiles. “Though I’ll admit I made a few stops before coming here.”

I let out a sound of exasperation before I edge around him and head back to the sidewalk, turning to walk back into town.

He’s at my side a moment later. “You didn’t tell me what my choices are.”

I glance up at him. “We can go to the pub where my coworkers went after the party or we can go to the Chinese restaurant across the street. Otherwise, we can get stuff for peanut butter sandwiches at the store and go to the park for a picnic.”

“Hm.” He chuckles. “While I do have
quite
a fond memory of us at a park, I think I’d prefer that on
this
date, we refrain from peanut butter sandwiches. The dates we’ve shared where those have been the main course…” His voice trails off and he grins down at me, lifting an eyebrow.

“Agreed.” I have to force myself not to smile. At least we can both see the humor in what’s happened between us before.

“So that leaves us the choice between spending the evening with your coworkers and with what I’m sincerely doubting is authentic Chinese food.” He pauses for a moment. “You know, Elle, if you’d like, we can get on my jet and I can take you to one of the finest Cantonese restaurants in the world—”

“I already told you, I’m not getting on that plane, Leo.” Though I have to admit, he’s probably right about the restaurant. I haven’t eaten there myself, but I’ve heard stories in the short time I’ve been here.

“Then Chinese it is.” He pulls my hand into his as we continue to walk. “Though, I think you’d prefer—”

“Leo, you’re pushing your luck.” After the bolt of electricity from his touch is done racing up my arm, I think about pulling my hand away. But I don’t. There’s something else there—something warm I don’t remember feeling when I touched him before. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s nice.

He chuckles, curling his fingers more tightly around my hand. “You know, Elle, if you don’t push on occasion, you’ll never know how far things might be able to go.”

I look up at him, but he’s staring straight ahead.

I’m reading too much into his words, as usual. There’s no way he wants anything more than to end up in my bed. And I’m okay with that, as long as I remind myself that’s all it is—a one-night stand.

We finally reach the restaurant. It’s empty, like it seems to always be.

The waiter seats us at one of the booths, and Leo waits for me to sit.

I can tell he wants me to scoot myself to the wall so he can sit next to me, but I stay at the edge, forcing him to sit across from me instead.

No need to put myself in a situation where I can’t say no to him. Not in a restaurant
.

He takes the seat across from me, frowning for a moment before he plasters a phony smile on his lips. He pulls a menu toward him, and after he glances at it, the frown returns to his face. “Elle, the offerings here are questionable—”

I shake my head. “Peanut butter is still an option, Leo.”

He almost winces as he turns his attention back to the menu. He rolls his eyes after a minute and sets the menu down. “I think the only thing that might not cause an unbearable case of indigestion would be the barbecue pork, but I doubt—”

I almost slam my menu down in front of me. My brow furrows and I look up into his eyes. “Why are you here?”

He frowns deeply. “I told you in your office, Elle. I needed to see you again.” He tilts his head, his blue eyes blazing into mine. “I haven’t been able to get you out of my head. I decided that I needed one more time—”

“One more time.” My voice is flat as I repeat his words. I force a smile. “To what end?”

“Humor me, Elle.” He reaches out and takes my hand in his. His finger trails across the back of my hand before he curls his fingers around mine. “Please? For one night?”

He lifts my hand to his lips. He closes his eyes for a moment while he kisses my fingers before he meets my gaze again. “One night. And if you have any hesitations after tonight, I’ll leave without question. That is my promise to you.”

I hate how my breath has caught in my chest at the touch of his lips on my skin. I hate that he still has this power over me—that he can make my heart beat so wildly I can’t seem to feel anything else.

Something tells me I’m about to have my heart trampled on again. But I can’t stop myself. I’m somehow sure the runaway train that is our relationship is about to crash and burn again, and I can’t find the will to stop it.

One night
. I can do this for one night.

The waiter returns to our table and I don’t even get my mouth open to give him my order before Leo interrupts.

“We’ll start with a bottle of your best champagne.”

The man holds his pen and small pad in front of him, blinking at Leo.

Leo stares back. “You
do
have champagne, do you not?”

The man gives him a small shake of his head.

“Your finest wine, then. Surely you have a merlot?”

The man shakes his head again.

“A Chardonnay?”

The waiter blinks at him but doesn’t even shake his head this time.