The Prince's Devious Proposal - Holly Rayner Page 0,13

that before.

But on the other hand…celebrities were the closest thing America had to royalty, and it wasn’t as if they had never crossed her path before. According to Petr, Naomi herself was a celebrity—although she found that particular assessment ridiculous. Of course she wasn’t. She had only been the opening act for a hit band for a few months. There were much more famous musical artists out there.

But he did seem genuine. He was a very sincere person, Naomi thought as she brewed her coffee. And he had clearly been in awe of her, thrilled to have the opportunity to meet her.

Celebrity was just about the way other people saw you. Maybe in his eyes, she was a star.

This is all so strange.

And what was it going to feel like to go back to work on Monday now that she knew this? How could she go from being admired by a prince to being kicked around by Rick?

A knock at the door disrupted her thoughts.

Naomi frowned. Who could it be on a Sunday morning? None of her friends would have dropped by without calling, and she hadn’t seen any of them in weeks. They had come visiting in droves after her mother died, but they seemed to have sensed Naomi’s desire to be alone.

She poured her coffee, picked up the mug, and went to the door. Pulling back the curtain, she peeked out.

And almost dropped her mug. Petr was standing on her doorstep.

What is he doing here?

She fumbled with the lock and pulled open the door.

He flashed his winning smile. “Good morning, beautiful,” he said. “Am I too early?”

“Too early?” she said dumbly. “I thought I was supposed to call you next. Wasn’t that what we said?”

“Yeah, we said that,” Petr agreed. “But I decided to change the plan. I hope you’re not angry.”

“I’m not,” she said, and then wondered whether she should have waited to find out what he had changed the plan to before giving an answer.

“Perfect,” Petr said. “Can I come inside?”

She stepped back to let him in. “I just made a pot of coffee,” she said. “Do you want some?”

“That would be great,” he said.

She went to the kitchen and pulled down a mug, then winced and put it back. It had been a novelty gift from a friend after a vacation and had a vulgar saying on it. She rummaged around in her collection and found an innocuous white one. She poured him some coffee and returned to the kitchen table.

Petr had taken a seat. She put the coffee in front of him and sat down opposite him. “So what brings you here this early in the morning?” she asked.

He leaned across the table toward her. “I have a proposition for you.”

She couldn’t help feeling a chill. “What do you mean?”

He reached into his jacket pocket, produced an envelope, and set it on the table between them.

She looked at it. “What is this?”

“Open it.”

Tentatively, Naomi reached out and picked up the envelope. She slit it open and pulled out two plane tickets.

She squinted at the destination, her eyes opening wide. “Barcelona?”

“You said you’d never been to Europe,” Petr reminded her.

“Well, no, I haven’t. But—”

“So what do you say? Let’s go?”

Suddenly, Naomi was wide awake.

“These tickets are for today,” she said.

“No time like the present,” Petr said.

“But…” This was preposterous. “I can’t just go to Barcelona.”

“Why not?”

“Because…because I have work tomorrow!”

“So take some time off,” he suggested with a shrug.

“I can’t.”

“Why not? It’s a travel company, right? Who would understand the need for a vacation better than a travel company?”

Naomi snorted. “It’s not a travel company,” she said. “It’s a sales company. That’s what they’re good at. That’s what they understand. Just because the things they sell happen to be vacation packages doesn’t mean they appreciate the value of a getaway.”

“But you must have vacation time allotted,” Petr said.

Naomi shook her head. “My boss really doesn’t like it when we use it,” she said. “And he already doesn’t like me. He’ll come down hard on me for sure if I take off on an impromptu vacation.”

“Would he fire you?” Petr asked, his eyebrows raising.

“I don’t know,” Naomi said. “He might.”

“That’s not fair,” Petr said indignantly. “You deserve a vacation, Naomi. You deserve the chance to get away for a while. How long has it been since you traveled at all? Have you had any fun since the tour ended?”

“I mean, I’ve done fun things,” Naomi said. “But…no. Nothing like that. Nothing like a trip to Barcelona.”

“Come