by Cate Remy
“I kissed you.”
She placed her hands back at her sides. “I’m pretty certain I kissed you, too. I shouldn’t-”
“I liked it.”
“Me, too.” She pressed her fingertips together. “But-”
“We shouldn’t have,” he concluded. “I’m sorry for my part.” More noise came from outside. It went from murmurs to a loud talking. Donovan glanced at the door left partially ajar. “We’d better go in the ballroom. The guests are arriving.”
He got one foot near the door as a shout tore through the lobby. Donovan held his arm back to shield Shae.
She heard scuffling and then a loud buzz from a crowd of people. “Donovan, do you see what’s happening?”
He motioned no. “Stay right here.” He opened the door a little wider.
Shae saw Murphy running to the door. “Prince Donovan, who’s in there with you?”
“It’s just me and Shae. What’s all the shouting we hear?”
“Please, Your Highness. Open the door at once.”
Something was wrong. Shae never heard Murphy speak that way to Donovan. He may have said please, but his next statement was a command.
Donovan placed himself in front of Shae, blocking her view and whatever else was beyond the door besides his security guard. “Murphy, tell me what’s going on.”
“I need to see Miss Lawson. Right now.”
“Not with that tone, you don’t. Why do you want to see her?”
“A woman just tried to slip past police officers to get inside the ballroom. She’s drunk and had to be restrained.”
“What does that have to do with Shae?”
“She said she knows her. She said her name was Chelsea.”
Shae put her hand over her mouth. “Chelsea’s my roommate.” She shot forward, but Donovan blocked her from leaving.
“We don’t know if it’s safe.”
“Chelsea wouldn’t harm anyone. Let me go and talk to her.”
Murphy gave her a stern look. “She attempted to stalk the prince. She’s being put in a squad car to be taken down to the police station.”
“Ask them to let her go,” said Donovan. “I won’t press charges.”
Murphy didn’t block Donovan, but he didn’t give him more room to leave the office, either. “Your Highness, you can’t.”
“Murphy, you’re beginning to overstep your bounds.”
Giles joined his partner at the door. “There’s a roomful of people waiting for you, Your Highness. You can’t leave them.”
“They’re right, Donovan.” Shae spoke up. All three men looked to her. She addressed the prince. “This evening is what you worked for. Stay here with your guests. I’ll go down to the police station.”
“Shae,” he started.
She shook her head. “It’s way more important for you to be here than me. It’s probably better that I’m not in the ballroom. You don’t want this to take attention away from the event.”
His security guards were silent. She could tell they agreed with her.
Donovan exhaled. “I don’t like any of this. Giles, go with Shae to the police station. Pay for Chelsea’s bail.”
Shae was stunned. “Donovan, you don’t have to do that.”
“I want to. On condition that Chelsea goes home and sobers up. I won’t press charges if she does that.”
Giles exchanged a look with Murphy. Giles then turned to Shae and waited for her.
She passed by Donovan. “Thank you.”
He touched her arm. “Call me as soon as you and your roommate get home. If I can’t answer, leave a message.” He looked to Giles. “Make sure they get home safely.”
Giles nodded. Shae set out after him to head towards the police station.
Shae gripped the edge of the table while she stood waiting at the police station with Giles. Still in her evening gown, she tried in vain to ignore the stares from officers and the people who were being processed in.
Another minute went by before Chelsea was escorted to the front of the office. Wearing one of her night out dresses, she plodded along in spiked heels. Her hands resided behind her back. A female police officer walked her towards Shae. The officer reached for the keys at her belt and unlocked Chelsea’s handcuffs. “You’re free to go.”
Chelsea rubbed her wrists. “Let’s get out of here.” She stomped past Shae and Giles in a clear cut path towards the door.
“I’ll bring the car around.” Giles easily caught up and passed Chelsea as she tottered on. She moved like she was still inebriated.
Shae followed her roommate out in the cool night air. She rubbed her bare shoulders, wishing she hadn’t forgotten her wrap back at the hotel. “Giles is getting the car for us.”
“What took you so long?”
“Excuse me? I just bailed you out of jail.”
Her roommate simmered down. “Where’d you get the three grand, anyway?”
“Donovan. He was nice enough to put up the cash after you crashed his gala. What was going through your mind, Chelsea?”
“I wanted to see the prince up close.” She swayed a little. “Maybe if you had simply given your roommate an invitation or let me come as your guest, it wouldn’t have happened.”
Shae wasn’t about to take the blame for her roommate’s lousy choices. “No, you’re not going to make this my fault. It was an exclusive event, and I didn’t have authority to invite people not on the list. You could’ve gotten seriously hurt or worse tonight by showing up uninvited.”
“It was a one in a million chance, so I took it.”
Her roommate said some foolish things, but Shae was sure this was the alcohol talking. “And you didn’t even consider what it could cost me. Everything is just fun and games to you.”
Chelsea glared. “Why does everything have to be about you? Your job, what you have to risk. You act like you’re so perfect because you’re in business school and work all the time.”
“Just stop, Chelsea. You’re drunk.”
“Sometimes I think you believe you’re better than me.”
Shae put a hand on her hip and looked up at the full moon in the sky. Maybe that was the reason for all this lunacy tonight. “I should’ve let you sit in jail and cool off until morning. You’re saying crazy things you don’t mean.”
The car pulled up to the front of the police station. It couldn’t get there fast enough. Chelsea marched to the car and flung open the door. “I’m not signing another lease with you. I’m moving out at the end of the week. How’s that for crazy?”
Shae got into the car with Chelsea. The two sat silent while Giles took them home.
First Shae engaged in an inappropriate kiss with Donovan tonight, jeopardizing her job and principles. Now her roommate was moving out. She wanted to get home as fast as possible before the night had another chance to throw cold water in her face.
Chapter Thirteen
Chelsea didn’t lie. By the end of the week, she had all her things completely moved out of the apartment and turned in her key to the rental office, leaving Shae with a half-empty space and no money for her share of the rent. Shae went to talk to the landlord to see if she could work out an arrangement.
“I just need a little time to find another roommate.”
“Sorry,” the clerk stated. “Full rent is due every first of the month. We let your roommate go late on her half for October.”
Shae forked over the rest of the rent money. She had to dip into her remaining savings to cover Chelsea’s cost. “I can’t move out of the apartment immediately.”
“You have until the end of the month. Then your lease is up. You can renew or move out.”
Shae left the office discouraged and in a hard place. Soon she was going to get kicked out of her apartment. She couldn’t put in any more extra hours at work to earn money. She already worked multiple twelve hour days at the hotel, anyway. She couldn’t drop her fall semester classes without her grades suffering. The term paper she wrote over the summer w
as just enough to bump up her grades. Plus, the deadline to withdraw had passed. It wasn’t like putting school on hold would immediately free up cash to pay the rent.
She thought about her family in DC. Her parents were struggling enough as it was to make ends meet. She couldn’t ask them. There were no other options.
She trudged to her apartment from the rental office to get dressed for work. Donovan had one more week in Atlanta before returning home to Severn, and he wanted to meet with her to tie up loose ends. A unique pain gnawed at her from the inside when she thought about it. She couldn’t describe it. Her mind whirled from having to switch from one issue to the other. Was the long-term stress of juggling work and school finally getting to her? Combined with the hotel project and the falling out with her former roommate, she had a potent concoction for a first-class meltdown.
Shae willed herself to hold it together until the end of the day when she could go home to her empty apartment and crash in bed over the weekend. That is, if nothing else presented itself to make demands on her time.
Mr. Hightower greeted her as soon as she had her foot in the door of the employee break room. “Shae, meet me in my office in a minute. This is important.”
She rubbed her temples. Please, please, don’t let this be about Chelsea’s appearance at the gala. She couldn’t lose her job. Not now. “Will do. Let me grab a cup of coffee.” She headed over to the coffee maker, hoping in advance for the brew to be strong enough to fortify her for whatever she was going to hear.
Mr. Hightower engaged in a conversation with one of the hotel guests in the hall. “I’ll be there in a second, Shae.”
Coffee and coat in hand, Shae passed them to get to his office. She pushed open the door to reveal Donovan sitting in front of the desk. He stood when she entered.
“Shae, you look like you’re going to fall down any second. Have a seat.” Without waiting for her to agree or refuse, he took her gently by the shoulders and steered her into the chair from which he just arose. He bent down so he could meet her at eye level. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t say it’s nothing when I know better. Please tell me what’s on your mind.”
She swallowed her pride at having her professional cover blown. “It’s been a rough week. My roommate moved out.”
He looked surprised for a moment. “Is it because of the gala incident?”
She nodded. “It’s over, so I don’t need to talk about it.”
Mr. Hightower walked in and closed the door. Donovan stood over Shae’s chair. She looked at the two of them, suspicious. “If this is about what happened at the gala, I’m so sorry.”
“What are you talking about?” asked the hotel manager. “Everyone who came to the gala said they enjoyed it.”
“You saw all the positive things the society magazines and bloggers had to write about it.” Donovan seconded him. “I wanted to speak to you in front of Mr. Hightower because I want you to come with me to Severn next week.”
Shae set her paper coffee cup on the floor by the chair. “Severn?”
“Let me explain. My family has seen you in all the photographs from Harper and watched the news conference. They want to meet you so they can learn who helped me make this happen.”
“Donovan asked me if the hotel could do without you for a couple weeks.” Mr. Hightower added, with a joking lilt in his voice. “I told him we might be able to hold it together while you had an audience with a king and queen.”
She almost kicked the coffee cup by accident. She picked it up and clutched it in both hands while staring, incredulous, at Donovan. “Your family wants to meet me?”
“I know it’s sudden. You’d be gone for a week. You’ll be paid for your time since it’s work-related, plus a bonus for travel expenses.”
Shae was still stuck on the news he wanted to take her to his country to meet his family. She was intrigued from what he told her about them, although the whole venture sounded intimidating. She got a passport last year, but never traveled outside the country. He did mention she’d be compensated for her time, including a bonus. She needed whatever funds she could get her hands on at the moment. “After I come back from Severn, I’ll go to my regular job as concierge?”
“Absolutely, if you want to,” said Donovan. “I know you mentioned graduation in December.”
Graduation or no graduation, she couldn’t afford to leave her job now at all. “I still would like to maintain my position with the hotel.”
“When you get back, we need to discuss your pay,” said Mr. Hightower. “The hotel is seeing increased revenue, and with your educational background, you’d be a good candidate for manager.”
Shae blinked. “Manager? Are you leaving?”
Mr. Hightower touched a picture frame on his desk. “I want to take time off to be with my family. My wife works in the tech field. Her maternity leave is ending soon. I figured it would be a great time for me to be a stay-at-home dad.”
“There will be plenty of time for you to think about the new position,” said Donovan. “Will you come to Severn with me?”
The manager was leaving. Donovan was headed to Severn. So many changes taking place. Shae didn’t know whether to be excited, sad, nervous, or everything all at once. She played with the coffee cup. “What’s the weather like in Severn this time of year?”
Her response brought a grin to the prince’s face. “Chilly. You should stock up on scarves and fuzzy socks.”
The phone on Mr. Hightower’s desk chirped. “That would be the front desk telling me the new Christmas decorations are here. Excuse me.” He left Shae and Donovan in his office.
Shae proceeded to stand. “Guess I’d better ask my mom to dig out my sweaters and send them.”
The prince helped her up. “You don’t have time. Go to the store after work and put it on your expense account.”
“As you command.”
Donovan shook his head, chuckling. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound bossy or commanding. I’m very happy you agreed to go to Severn with me.” He patted her arm before breaking contact.
She smiled, still feeling the contact even though he took his hand away. “I’m looking forward to it, too.”
Who knows? Maybe this would be the start of things turning out for the better.
Shae took Donovan’s advice and headed to the store after work to buy cool weather attire in preparation for the trip. She felt out of place, telling the stores to charge her purchases to an expense account. Usually, she did the shopping for other people as part of her concierge work.
She spent her limited free time after work packing for the trip. Before bed one night, she called her parents to tell them the news. “I’m leaving the country for a week. Prince Donovan’s family wants to congratulate me for working on the Kleghorn hotels.”
“What an honor. Hold on, Shae. Let me get your daddy on the phone.” Her mother was so happy for her she yelled for her father to leave the living room, where he watched Thursday night football with his friends.
“Gladys, we’re neck and neck in the fourth quarter.” Shae heard him grumble. She giggled while she fluffed her pillow.
“Your daughter has something important to tell you.” She heard rustling as her mother handed over the phone.
“Uh-oh.” Her father’s voice came over the phone loud and clear. “Those Georgia boys aren’t giving you any trouble down there, are they, honey?”
“No, Daddy.”
“Good, because I don’t want to have to come down there and scare them off. Your mother said you have news.”
She repeated to him what she told her mother. “I’m flying out next Monday. It’s only for a week, but I’ll get to meet the king and queen of Severn.”
“That’s fantastic. My little princess is going to meet other royalty. Now, didn’t you once say how you didn’t understand why people got so excited about blue bloods?”
“Daddy.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s for work.”<
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She heard her parents laugh. “Have fun, Shae,” said her father. “Be careful, and take lots of pictures.”
“I will. Love you both.” When she got off the phone, Shae couldn’t deny to herself how excited she was. So maybe her father may be a little right about her getting bitten by the royal bug. It was only because of her proximity to Donovan, not an unrealistic obsession with them.
Her mind circled back to the kiss Donovan gave her before the gala, followed by Chelsea’s shocking appearance at the hotel. Both events replayed in her mind, sharp and clear as any high-definition movie. If she closed her eyes, she could still recall the touch of Donovan’s lips.
Shae was jolted awake by her six AM alarm. She fell asleep with her cell phone still in her hand. She got up and pushed the remaining fuzzy vestiges of her kiss with Donovan out of her mind. She decided to put the past behind. What was done was done. This was her chance to see another country and maybe even get a few days to relax.
She wasn’t going to let her sadness over the broken friendship with Chelsea or her momentary lapse in judgment with Donovan keep her from moving forward. Once the prince returned to Severn, their work together would be essentially over. He’d forget about her and the illicit kiss they shared at the gala. She might as well do herself a favor and forget about it now before it had a chance to get stuck on permanent replay in her head.
She couldn’t have romantic feelings for Donovan. She just couldn’t.
On Monday, Shae and the hotel staff threw a goodbye party for Donovan. Shae went home mid-morning to change out of her uniform and into comfortable clothes for the flight. Donovan picked her up from her apartment and drove her to the airport.
At the ATL, she boarded a commercial jet, Severn’s own line, with him. They were ushered into a relatively empty first class.
“I wanted to fly when there weren’t a lot of people on board,” he told her.
Shae had never flown first class, least of all to another country. She glanced across the aisle at Giles and Murphy, both seated and wearing tinted glasses. She wondered if they wore them to shut out the light so they could sleep or to fool everyone else that they weren’t alert and on guard. She shrugged and adjusted her headrest for comfort.
