Page 89 of The Prince Who Loved Me

She returned to him, her eyes huge and bright. “What do you think?”

He kissed her, firm and strong but still gentle, letting his lips do the communicating. Brandi clasped her body to his, increasing the pressure of the kiss until they were both gasping in pleasure.

“I think you’re amazing,” he said. “And I’m so lucky to be with you.”

***

Brandi was only half awake when Sebastien kissed her goodbye the next morning, off to meet his family. She had taken a chance on being selfish, on being honest instead of burying her emotions. Sebastien didn’t run screaming. He didn’t dismiss her thoughts and ideas. And he didn’t try to help.

He did, however, show her how much he loved her. Again and again.

Communication was important, and she was still learning how to do that. They needed to sit down, to talk. She was treading on new ground here. Old Brandi would have smothered any annoyances and give him a bright smile. But with Sebastien. She had trusted him with her thoughts and received responses without judgement. Knowing that made her spirit lighten.

Wendy was finishing up at the wash sink when Brandi walked in. She held up a hand, the sanitizing water dripping from her rubber glove. “Don’t go anywhere. I hid the bacon, so you have to wait if you want some.”

“You play dirty.”

“I’ll be done in a minute.”

The threat of hidden food didn’t stop Brandi from poking around the fridge. She didn’t find the crispy, greasy goodness, but there was some turkey left over from last night. A sandwich sounded delicious.

“Okay.” Wendy finished at the sink, then took off the gloves and dried off her hands. “What the hell is going on? Why is Sebastien’s family in Claremont? I would have held some rooms for them if I’d known they were visiting.”

“They came to point out my deficiencies,” she said.

Wendy sat at the island and fixed Brandi with a concerned stare. “Are you and Sebastien okay?”

“Where’s my bacon?”

Wendy gave a half-laugh. “In the microwave, ready to be reheated.”

Brandi pressed the time and leaned against the counter, suppressing her instinct to say everything was fine. Opening up to Wendy would be a new experience, too. “It’s…an adjustment. We’ve been friends forever, but things are different now. We’re different now.”

“Do we need to go play some softball and talk it all out? Get Rob to stand in and pitch with Jordan on a teleconference?”

“It’s not like that.” She put the bacon on the plate with her sandwich. “Are you still going to be around this afternoon? You can meet Paisley and Charlotte.” Maybe she could get Charlotte to teach her some French. It would be nice to have a conversation, no matter how simple, in Sebastien’s language.

“Right. Your blind date friends. I find it amusing that you signed up to meet men and ended up with two women.”

“Yeah, who would have thought that about me?” Brandi took a large bite of her sandwich. The heat of the bacon contrasted with the cold turkey, making her hum with its deliciousness. “They’ll be by around one for lunch. Come meet them.”

“I’ll definitely stop by, but there’s a large turnover of rooms today. I’m not sure how much time I’ll have.”

“Let me know if you need help. I’m promoting Ona to manager, but don’t want to hover after I tell her.”

“Wow, okay. Thanks.” Wendy butted Brandi with her shoulder. “You’ve been shining over there. Who’d’ve thought five years ago that you’d be successfully managing a business.”

Brandi hugged her cousin. “I had a good role model.”

“Jordan’s the best, isn’t she?” Wendy laughed and got back to work while Brandi finished off her breakfast and got in her car.

She held her phone in her hand and didn’t turn on the ignition.

Hard conversations needed to be had in person. Even though words last night had been sparse, Sebastien had apologized for what he had done, but she was hurt by his actions and needed them both to understand why it was important she do things without relying on him. It would be tough. She’d be uncomfortable being vulnerable, but her love for him was a strength. Even if she hadn’t yet told him.

They’d work things out and build a solid relationship andprove to her mother and everyone else that you can be yourself and be happy and achieve everything you wanted.

She texted him a heart emoji.