The Billionaire Princess

Groaning at the memory, she squeezed her eyes together. Maybe if she didn’t open them all these memories would turn out to be just part of a dream. A very nice dream, but one she’d didn’t want to be real. Maybe the weight she felt across her middle was a figment of her imagination.

Sara shifted her leg a little and the feel of crisp hairs against her leg dashed away any hope that she was still dreaming. Slowly taking in a deep breath and then exhaling, Sara opened her eyes.

Something between a groan and a laugh bubbled up and out of her when her eyes settled on Christopher’s face. His eyes were still closed and his breathing remained even, as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

Hell, what was I thinking? She’d never in her life had a one-night stand. Not to mention this was her brother’s best friend. How was she going to face Christopher now? What about her brother? She’d die if Jake ever found out.

Could she sneak out before he woke up? While it might not solve the overall problem at hand, at least she would not have to face him naked the minute he woke up.

In an effort not to wake him, Sara slid toward the edge of the bed all the while keeping her eyes locked on his face. Almost there.

The arm Christopher had draped across her stomach slipped off. With one leg over the side of the bed, she sat up prepared to retrieve her dress and yank it on.

“Sara?” Christopher sounded as confused as she’d been when she first woke up.

Embarrassed by her state of undress and unable to get her dress without standing, she yanked the sheet around her.

For what felt like an eternity a heavy silence hung in the air between them. “I… we… uh… should talk.”

The mattress shifted and she knew without looking that he’d pulled himself into a sitting position.

“I’m… I didn’t intend for this to happen,” Christopher said, his tone apologetic.

He took hold of her hand and heat flooded her face. Unable to look at him, she nodded, not sure whether to tell him she understood or tell him it was okay. At the moment a whole plethora of perplexing emotions churned inside her.

“Sara?”

Since she couldn’t undo the events from the night before, she had to face them. “We’re both adults. Last night happened. No big deal.” Sara struggled to keep her voice sounding nonchalant. “Trust me, things like this happen all the time. I don’t even know how many times it happened during the eighteen months I worked on the senator’s campaign,” she said matter-of-factly. Just not to me. “People get lonely and when they do they look for companionship.” Did her argument sound better to him than it did to her? She hoped so.

“Still it shouldn’t have happened. I’m sorry.”

She saw worry and guilt in his eyes when she looked over at him. Placing a hand on his bare shoulder, she leaned a little closer. “You have nothing to apologize for, okay? Let’s pretend it never happened.” Could she do that? Saying the words was one thing, carrying them out another.

“I should go before anyone gets up and sees me leaving.” Sara dropped her hand. The way she saw it, if she left now she had more than a fifty-fifty chance of getting back to her room unseen by either of her brothers. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather keep this a secret between us.”

Sara knew she didn’t imagine the look of relief that washed across his face.

“You read my mind. Jake would kill me if he found out,” Christopher answered, his face devoid of any humor. In one fluid movement he swung his legs over the side of the bed so he faced away from her. “Go ahead and get dressed. I promise not to look.”

She glanced once at his bare back. The night before she hadn’t seen any of it, but her hands had roamed across every inch. In the morning light she could see the muscles her hands had traced the night before and immediately her hands tingled wanting to do so again.

Bad idea. Very bad idea. Before she could give in to her hands’ desire, she jumped off the bed and snatched up her dress. In record time the dress went over her head, and she zipped it up. While her first instinct was to fly out the bedroom door, she paused long enough to open it and peek into the hall. From there the coast appeared clear.

Please let me make it to my room. “I’ll see you later,” she said without looking back at Christopher. Sara didn’t stick around for his reply. Slipping into the hall, she closed the door gently behind her.