"You’re the Prince of England, Drew. She’s not part of our world. You should have your mum request that Haddish pair you with someone in our league.”
“Eliza is a beautiful girl. I’m not interested in her place in society. She's in this school to get an education so that she can have a better life.”
I wanted Clayton to see her as I did. Besides, I had never known him to make fun of others who had less than we had. This was a side of him that was strange to me. I didn't like it.
“I guess,” he said. “I just wanted you to know that she might be after your money. You'd better watch her closely.”
"I doubt it, man. I’ve only met her. Thanks for looking out though. I’ll see ya later.” We bumped fists, and I went to my car and he went to see his girlfriend, Antonia.
Antonia was gorgeous. Tall, thin, long dark hair and the bluest eyes I'd ever seen on a human being. She had been modeling before enrolling in university. Antonia was one of those students that Eliza had talked about when she said they got in on daddy's name and not on academic merit. Antonia was heir to a yacht manufacturing family. She was set for life. She didn't have to go to school. She did it because it made for good social media posts. She had over two million followers on Instagram, and she loved being in the spotlight. Antonia was also a huge snob. She would never be friends with someone like Eliza.
I didn't care what they thought about Eliza Noble. I liked her, and I was going to stop at nothing until she liked me in return.
“Hey,” I said to Eliza as she walked into Haddish's class two days later.
“Hello,” she returned with a smile.
“I was hoping I would hear from you,” I told her.
She smiled, and her face seemed to light up. “Well, that was impossible. I didn't have your number, silly boy.”
The sound of her voice as she teased me sent a shiver up my spine. I was definitely attracted to this girl, no matter what her background was.
“Well, I can take care of that for you.”
I pulled out a pen and wrote my cell number on the back of her notebook. “Now, there's no excuse to not call me,” I said as I smiled at her and turned to find a seat.
I was shocked when she sat next to me. Class was so much more enjoyable today. Eliza seemed more open to me. We whispered back and forth a little about things Haddish had said.
“Alright, class,” Professor Haddish said in his deep tone. “When we meet for the next class, I want you all to turn in the topic of your project and a one page paper summary.”
I was so happy to hear him say that. It meant that Eliza and I would have to meet up this week to summarize the project. That would give me the opportunity to get to know her better.
“Well, I guess it's you and me. Tonight, maybe?” she said easily as she gathered her books.
“Yes, your place or mine?” I asked with a slight smile.
“Mine!” She laughed as she touched me on the chest. My car is in the shop, so it’d be best if you came to my flat so I take have to take the train.
I felt my heart leap as if it would jump out. What did this girl have that caused me to be so attracted to her?
“Okay, where do you live?” I asked her. I was sweating and as nervous as a child waiting on Santa.
“I live five miles away, just past Eckridge Towers. 325 Chestnut Ridge Lane, flat 9.”
“Great,” I said, trying to sound nonchalant. “What time do you want me there?”
“How about seven? Does that work for you?”
Did that work for me? I would make it work even if it didn't. “I'll see you then.”
“Okay, I have to get to my history class. See you tonight,” she called out as she looked back over her shoulder.
My heart was beating so hard, and my palms were already sweaty. Thinking about being alone with her in her flat, working closely on a project together was causing feelings in me that I hadn't felt for anyone. Not to mention that it had been a very long time since I had sex with anyone. I had to remember that I was only going over there to work on our project. I was certainly attracted to her, but I didn't know how she felt about me. Judging by how she had treated me the day before, she probably didn't see me in the role of a lover or boyfriend.
I sat through another boring lecture while Tally went on and on about statistics. God, I hated that class, but it was a requirement for my degree.
As soon as it was over, Clayton made his way to me and began bragging about how he and Antonia had screwed in her mum's bed while her parents were out of town.
“Man, I hit that so hard, I thought she was gonna come up off that bed,” he said as he laughed.
“Great,” was all that I could manage. I wasn't particularly interested in what he and his girlfriend did, nor did I feel that he should be telling me. Not if he loved her. Some things were sacred and private.
Clayton had always been good with women. He had never lacked getting a piece of ass whenever he wanted it. I, on the other hand, was an entirely different story. The only action I got was with a high school girl who wore her retainer the entire time. Not the sexiest thing, but hey, sex was sex.
“So have you and the pauper started on your project yet?” he asked sarcastically.
“Pauper? Why did you call her that?”
“Because, man, she’s filthy and poor.”
“Clayton, that's cruel. She's a human being who happens to be very nice. And no, we haven't started it yet.”
I was getting upset with him and his choice of words he used in describing the girl I was attracted to.
“Well, whatever. You want to hit that, then hit it. Don't fall in love with it. I'll admit, she's got a nice rack, but she's not a keeper. You can't exactly take that home to Mum, if you know what I mean,” he laughed a deep, throaty laugh as he mocked her. I didn’t like it.
“Whatever, man, I'm out of here. I'll see you tomorrow.”
I was angry. He was such a snob now that we were going to university. I had a feeling that dating Antonia had something to do with it as well. She was so snooty that she barely even looked at me when I saw them together at functions.
Oh well, who gave a shit about her anyway? All I was interested in is Eliza and getting to know her better.
Seven o'clock finally came and in my usual fashion, I was right on time. I was surprised to see her neighborhood. It was very nice. The building where she lived seemed to be a nice place as well. Maybe Clayton was wrong. Maybe he had her mixed up with someone else.
I buzzed the door, and her sweet voice answered. “Come on up, I'll let you in.”
My heart was racing, my head was spinning. I felt as if it was our first romantic date and not just study time.
The door swung open, and there she stood looking good enough to kiss. Her hair was pinned up loosely, and she had on yoga pants and a tank top. Her breasts were much larger than I had imagined. The clothes she had worn to class the last few days were baggy and loose fitting, so there was no way to quite see all of her figure.
I was sure that she wasn't wearing a bra, but I didn't want to stare at her tits. That would be crass.
“Welcome,” she greeted me as she smiled. “This is my humble home.”
She moved back and allowed me to enter. “It's nice,” I returned as I looked around the flat.
It was nice. She had all new furniture, new rugs; nothing looked old. Clayton was wrong about her. She wasn't poor. Stupid prick!
“Let me take your coat,” she said as she slid her hands over my shoulders and tugged the heavy fabric.
As she turned to hang it on the hook, I caught a glimpse of her round ass, and I immediately felt myself spring up inside my jeans. Damn! Not right now!
“You okay?” she questioned.
What the hell? Did she see my bulge already?
“Yeah, just thirsty,” I said, hoping she'd disappear into the kitchen so that I could tame the beast that was trying to escape.
“Oh, let me get you something. What would you
like?” she asked.
“Anything,” I answered. Quickly trying to get her out of the room so that I could calm down.
“Okay, be right back.”
I tried my best not to watch her as she walked away, but I couldn't help myself. She was hot, and I wanted to look one more time. I watched her as she effortlessly twisted her bum all the way into the next room.
Oh hell! Could I even make it through this study time?
I had to. We had to have a topic by tomorrow for Haddish. I was going to concentrate all my efforts on our project, even if it killed me and my hard dick.
“Here you go,” she said as she returned with a bottle of beer. “I hope you like beer.”
“I do.”
“I drink it occasionally, but I prefer wine,” she said as she sipped the glass of red liquid. “I have more wine if you'd rather have it.”
“No, this is fine.”
Maybe the beer would calm me. I could hope anyway. We had a lot of studying to do, and there was no time for this nonsense.
Eliza got her book out and sat on the couch. Tapping the cushion, she motioned for me to join her. “Come on. Sit,” she instructed.
Damn, I liked her.
I did as I was told and took my place beside of her on the small couch. I could smell her sweet perfume in the air, and I wasn't sure if it was that aroma or the beer that was making my head swirl. Probably a combination of both. She smelled so good. I'd always loved a woman who smelled like flowers.
“Okay, so have you thought at all about what we could possibly do our project on?” she asked me.
She was in serious mode, and I was still trying to hide my shrinking erection.
“Uh, yeah, I was thinking about something like social media and the impact it has on different cultures.”
She looked surprised. “That's a great topic. We could do so much on that. Let me grab my pen,” she said as she leaned forward and fetched it from the coffee table.
Damn, I thought her tits were going to spill out right there. She wasn’t helping my dick to stay in its place at all. I was going to have to help her with the summary and get out of there before she saw my problem. She would probably hit the roof if she knew I was hot for her.
“What's wrong?” she asked.
“Oh, nothing,” I lied. “Just trying to think of some angles that we can work from.”
“Okay, let’s brainstorm lists individually, and then we'll compare and compile.”
She handed me a pad of paper and a pen, and when her hand touched mine, I thought I was gonna explode in my pants.
“May I use the bathroom?”
“Of course,” she said as she pointed to the hall. “First door on the left.”
Oh God. I was finally alone and out of her sight. That girl was hot, and I couldn't control my frigging self around her. I had to get out of there. I could pretend to be sick. That would work. I’d just tell her that I didn’t feel well, and I had to go. But wait! She would think I was skipping out on the project and that she would have to do all of the work. Get a grip, Drew!!
After a few minutes with my thoughts, my erection had finally disappeared, and I went back out into the living room.
“You okay?” she asked in a concerned voice.
“Yeah, sure.” I couldn't very well tell her that the sight of her tight ass and bulging cleavage had caused my Johnson to stand at attention, so I lied. “Just a little sick from the beer. It's been a good while since I had one,” I explained.
“Oh, no. I'm sorry. Would you like some water or something?”
Her concern for me made me even hotter for her. I was afraid that the general was going to stand at attention again.
I tried my best, as the evening wore on, to keep my mind off of her body and what it would feel like to be with her. It wasn't the easiest thing to do. I wanted all of her. Though I hoped she hadn't noticed. Judging by her constant talk of our project, she didn't seem to want to reciprocate at all. Just as well, I wouldn't dare sleep with her on the first date anyway. I liked her too much for that. I wanted her, but I also wanted it to be at the right time. Eliza Noble didn’t strike me as the type of girl who hopped into bed with just anyone.
No, I felt it would be a while before we reached that stage of our friendship or relationship, or whatever we had. I wasn't sure I knew what it was we had, but it was something that I wanted to explore.
6
Eliza
As I held my books in my lap, I couldn't get over the fact that Prince Andrew Harrington was sitting on my couch in my flat! I still had reservations about the Royals as a whole, let's face it, it wasn’t every day that a girl just happened to have His Royal Highness only two feet away from her.
We had tons of work to get done, and I was truly trying to come up with some ideas to present to him, but I was becoming a little taken with him. Was it the fact that he was royalty? Or was it the fact that he was drop dead gorgeous? Or both, maybe?
Definitely the latter, I thought. After all he didn't have that effect on me when I first met him in the parking lot nor in the classroom. But there, on my sofa, he was actually getting to me. I felt my heart speed up a tad, and my palms were starting to sweat.
Knock it off, you silly schoolgirl! You have work to do!
“So?” his husky voice rang out in the dead silence, startling me quite terribly.
“Ooh!” I exclaimed as I nearly jumped off the couch.
We both laughed.
“I'm sorry I gave you a start,” he said.
“It's okay,” I returned.
When I looked at him, everything was different. The mood was different, lighter. The room seemed to have a soft glow to it. His face was even more handsome than when I had looked at him only ten minutes prior. What was going on? Could it be the wine? Was I tipsy? That had to be it. The alcohol had gone to my head and caused me to relax a little too much.
“Are you okay?” he asked softly.
“Huh? Oh, sure. Yeah,” I said as I tried to figure out what in the hell was going on. “I think I probably shouldn't have any more wine if we're going to get our topic done tonight.”
“Yeah, no more beer for me either,” he said as he set the bottle on the table next to him.
“So here's what I have so far.” I handed him the paper on which I had been scribbling. I watched as his gorgeous grey eyes scanned the page from top to bottom. The nod of his head let me know that he liked my ideas, which pleased me tremendously. I felt some sort of satisfaction as if a teacher had just given me a great mark. Why? Why did it matter suddenly what Andrew thought of my ideas? I was a strong, independent woman who needed no one to stroke my ego in order to feel good about myself.
“I think you made some valid points there,” he said as he laid the paper on my lap.
The slight touch of his hand against my leg caused a sensation to stir in me that I had never felt before. I looked at him and smiled.
God, he was gorgeous!
He was the most handsome guy that I had ever seen. I didn't think I had taken the time to truly look at him before that moment. I had just looked past him and not really at him.
“Thank you,” I managed to reply. “I guess we'll put a couple of my talking points in the paper and two or three of yours.” I pointed at my notes.
“Sounds great.”
My face burned with heat, and I knew that I had to be blushing. What was happening to me? I felt flush and kinda dizzy suddenly. I wasn't sure what it was, but I had never felt this before with anyone.
“I think I'm going to get some water. Would you like a bottle as well?” I asked.
I had to do something. I was beginning to sweat inside my shirt, and that was the last thing I wanted him to see.
“Sure, thank you.”
I opened the refrigerator door and just stood there, allowing the cool air to envelope me.
Ah, refreshing. That should do it.
“Here you go.” I handed him the bottle as I walked into the living
room and sat beside him again.
“Thank you very much. I think the beer wasn’t agreeing with me,” he stated before chugging half the bottle of mineral water.
I giggled. “Yeah, I think the wine wasn't a good idea for me either.”
“So?” he asked.
“So…” I returned.
“Now what?” He seemed as curious as I was.
“Oh. Well, I can type up the summary tonight and bring it to our next class.”
“That sounds great,” he said hesitantly.
I got the feeling that he didn't want to leave because he made no effort to move. He was just sitting there, staring at me.
“Is there anything else?” I questioned.
“Kicking me out are ya?” I thought he was joking, but I couldn’t read him well enough to be sure.
I fidgeted with my fingers and searched for the right response. “I mean, you’re welcome…”
He cut me off. “Eliza, we’re going to be working very closely together this semester. Approximately four months. I think we should know a little more about each other.”
There was an air of confidence that surrounded him as he spoke that I hadn’t heard from any man before.
“Oh … what would you like to know?” I turned toward him and crossed my legs in front of me.
“Everything. Other than your name and where you live, I know absolutely nothing about you. So anywhere you'd like to start would be great,” he added.
“Okay, well, I was born in south London, I attended public school all of my life, and now I'm at university.” I was quick and to the point without divulging much detail of my background. “Your turn,” I said as I picked up my water.
He laughed heartily. “Well, I'm afraid I'm going to need more information than that. I could have told you that much, and I'm not even a psychic.”
His smile was beautiful. His teeth were perfectly straight and as white as the snow that lay on the ground. It was apparent that he had come from wealth. Only the richest kids grew up having regular dental visits. His jaw was strong and made him look almost a bit rugged. He wasn't pretty, like some members of royalty were, but more masculine and robust.
Royally Loved: The Royal Romances Books 1-5 Page 19
