that sound, gorgeous?” he asks in a husky voice that should be illegal in public. Or at least in his formal dining room, where we’re never truly alone.
“Heavenly.”
“Good.” He abruptly pulls back, leaving me wanting. Judging by the smirk on his face, he knows it, too. “To be continued later.” He waggles his brows. “For now, shall we?” He extends his elbow for me.
“Of course.”
I hook my arm through his, allowing him to lead me from the dining room, down the corridors, and out to the front driveway where two black SUVs wait to whisk us away for our morning obligations.
He kisses my cheek before I turn, giving Lieutenant O’Kelly a smile as he holds open the rear passenger door for me. I’m about to climb inside when a hand on my arm stops me. I whip my head up to see Anderson clutching onto me. Then he yanks my body against his.
“Kylian, you might want to turn around, particularly if public displays of affection make you uncomfortable.”
“Yes, sir,” my protection officer says with a slight laugh, doing as he was ordered.
“And what kind of public display of affection did you have in mind?” I flirt.
“This.” Anderson’s hold on me tightens as his lips slowly descend toward mine.
It’s not a ravenous, desperate kiss. More loving and affectionate, his tongue urging my mouth open and swiping against mine in carefully measured strokes. I sigh and curve into him further, wanting to be as close to him as possible.
His kiss is like that first warm, spring day after a winter of cold and desolation.
Like that first taste of wine after a long, trying day of work.
Like the smell of hot chocolate on a snowy day.
Welcome.
Inviting.
Absolutely beautiful.
“New rule,” he says when our kiss comes to an end.
“What’s that?” I toy with a few tendrils of his hair. What I wouldn’t give to run my hands through it and mess it up so it more closely resembles the man I met in that Chicago diner.
“No more leaving without kissing each other goodbye.”
“You kiss me goodbye every morning.”
He gives me a knowing look. “A kiss on the cheek is a rubbish way to say goodbye.”
“Rubbish?”
“Bullshite. I hate it, all because of some stupid rule against public displays of affection. This is our home, so if we want to make out on the front steps, we’re going to bloody make out on the front steps, to hell with who sees.”
I laugh, an overwhelming sensation of weightlessness filling me. My chest expands at the love I can physically feel radiating from his heart and into mine.
“From now on, we agree to never say goodbye without a real kiss. Okay?”
I edge toward him, ghosting my lips against his. “I think this might be my new favorite rule.”
Chapter Seventeen
Nora
Sometimes it’s the littlest things that make the biggest difference in your day. One positive thing to change your outlook.
That’s precisely the impact Anderson’s new “rule” has on my day.
I’ve had so much positive energy all morning that I’ve barely thought about my doctor’s appointment. I feel deep in my soul it will all work out. That it won’t be like the last time a doctor hooked up the ultrasound machine to me, only to quickly turn the screen away so I wouldn’t be able to tell there was no heartbeat. This time, I won’t have to go through it alone. No matter what happens, Anderson will be by my side.
“Pardon the interruption.”
I pop my head up when my private secretary peeks into the conference room where I’m currently in the middle of a meeting with my PR team, all of whom I’m convinced hate me.
“A call just came in for you, ma’am.”
No longer having control over who has access to me has been one of the most difficult things for me to get used to. All incoming calls to my old cell phone are forwarded to one screened by my private secretary, who decides whether I should take them or if it’s simply something for him to handle on my behalf.
“Prince Gabriel?” I ask.
In the past three weeks, Anderson’s the only one he’s let through. Everyone else has been told to leave their information for me to call back.
“No, ma’am. It’s a nurse from a hospital in New York.”
My breath hitches, panic rushing through me. Maybe it’s just Izzy reaching out to see how I’m doing. I glance at the clock to see it’s only a little past noon here. Meaning it’s barely after three in the morning in New