And the whole time, I never once saw her smile in my direction or even acknowledge my existence. So, when I enter her private living area, I am not really in any mood for her drama and hysterics.
“Annika!” I call again, trying to project my voice into the open doorway across the room. She has disappeared into her bedroom but left the door ajar. “You forgot your fucking tiara and your goddamn shoes!”
Her golden head appears in the doorway, her guileless eyes piercing me through and through. “Could you help me with the zipper to this dress? It’s stuck.”
Squinting at her, I nod. “Yes, your highness. Whatever my mistress desires.”
Arching a brow, Annika steps back through the doorway, a smirk on her lips. “You’re very salty tonight, Erik. My grandmother would hate that you’re talking to me in such an insubordinate manner.”
My eyes travel down the length of her body. Midnight blue velvet clings to all the right places. Her tits look amazing. The curve of her hips is alluring. And her tight little ass in that dress?
It looks more expensive than all the money and jewels in this house, combined.
Annika walks over to me, turning around. She holds her long platinum hair up and flashes me the back of her neck and her sleek upper back.
My heart starts to pound. How Annika always does that to me, I have no idea. All I know is that being so close to her, reaching out to touch her… it’s definitely filling my head with perverted thoughts.
I move closer, seeking the hidden zipper that runs along the column of her spine. As my fingers brush the back of her dress, all I can think about is the feel of her lips pressed against mine and the little sounds she made when I kissed her.
Swallowing, I manage to unzip her dress, baring her sun kissed bare skin to my eyes. I blink, forcing myself to step back. “I’m done,” I say, averting my eyes.
I feel like such a fucking predator right now, preying on someone so much younger and more inexperienced than I am. Yet Annika turns around, a mischievous glint in her eye.
“Thanks. Pour me a drink, will you? I have to change out of this dress.” She points to the bar cart near the floor to ceiling window.
I narrow my eyes at her as she vanishes through the doorway leading to her bedroom once more. “Annika…” I husk out, shaking my head.
She has no answer for that, it seems. I turn toward the door but can’t seem to make myself walk out of this room.
What is it with this girl? Why do I feel so much… lighter when I’m around her?
Heaving a sigh, I walk over to the bar cart. There are only those funny-looking prohibition-era coupe glasses on top. It pairs well with the little fridge filled with several bottles of expensive champagne.
Shaking my head, I pop one of the bottles of champagne and fill two glasses with the aromatic bubbles.
When I find a seat on the gray tweed couch, sipping the champagne, Annika reappears. I almost do a spit take at the slinky little white silk robe she’s wearing.
“Ah, thanks,” she says, tossing her hair and taking the coupe glass from my hand. She sits down beside me.
I swallow and stare. Just six inches of couch sit between me and her silky-looking, bare knees and thighs. She sips at her champagne.
“That hits the spot.”
I drag my eyes back to my glass and make a noncommittal noise. “Mm.”
She leans back on the couch and scrunches up her face. “That charity event was boring with a capital b.”
I swirl the contents of my glass and glance at her. “I wasn’t even sure what it was to raise money for, actually. But it seemed to be in poor taste to ask.”
She throws back her head and laughs. The sound is low and throaty. “Hah! It was for school lunches or something.”
“Yeah. I mean… there were ladies that stood in front of the whole audience and talked. But I’ll be damned if I can remember what they talked about. My mind definitely wandered.”
Annika tilts her head to the side, sizing me up. “What did you think about? You’re always so mysterious. Just a huge, brooding question mark to me at all times.”
My neck heats. I definitely spent no less than thirty percent of that time wondering what exactly Annika had on beneath her slinky dress. And fantasizing about what I would do with her if she were anyone else in the world…
I clear my throat. “I was plotting my next move on the stock market.”
Her eyes widen; her expression turns questioning. “What do you mean?”
I give her an odd look, a teasing smile on my lips. “Do you need me to speak more slowly? How can I be clearer about what I just said?”
She bats my shoulder. “I meant… like… are you trading stocks or something?”
I roll my eyes a little. “Yes, princess.”
A little line of worry forms in her brow. “Are you any good at it? Like… do you make money doing it?”
I shrug. “I do all right.”
She nods slowly. “I had no idea.”
“No one does.” I chuckle, sipping my drink. The bubbles burst on my tongue, almost too sweet to even drink. I roll the wine around my mouth.
“This is really terrible champagne.” I set my glass on the floor.
Annika glance at her coupe, shrugging. “I don’t know. It’s whatever the sommelier buys for the palace.”
“So, it’s fancy and terrible. Good to know.” I sigh, sitting back against the rough tweed of the couch. “Buying that wine was a decision… but that isn’t the worst advice I’ve ever received. Actually, it’s not even the worst thing that has been pitched to me today.”
Annika’s lips turn upwards. “No?”
“Nope. This morning, a professor cornered me at the event and told me all about how solar cells are really going to power everything in two years’ time.”
She wrinkles her nose. “If it makes you feel any better, some woman at the gala caught me in the line for the bathroom. She told me about how she feels for me every time she sees me in the newspapers. And then she started talking about some kind of radical self-love movement…” She shudders. “She was one of those ladies that doesn’t wear a bra but needs to.”
I roll my eyes. “Did she have a pamphlet? I hate when they have pamphlets to show me.”
She flashes me a dimple. “No. She did tell me to look up radical self-love on Instagram, though.”
I laugh. “You’ll have to report back when you’ve learned what that is. Unless it’s just… you know, masturbating a lot.”
She crows with laughter, batting me on the arm again. “Shut up. You think it could be?”
I lean closer to her, lured by her laugh. “I think the probability is high.”
She grins, wrinkling her nose. “Ah, I needed to laugh. This… this is nice.”
“What?”
It’s only then that I realize how close we are sitting. I kept moving closer, charmed by her smile. But I see now that we are probably too close.
Okay, definitely too close.
I clear my throat, moving back a few inches. “Sorry. I forgot that.”
I trail off, not really wanting to finish that sentence.
That we need way more space between us?
That I’m just here to babysit you?