The Prince's Devious Proposal - Holly Rayner Page 0,14

with me,” he said, taking her hand in his. “I already bought the tickets and everything. We can’t let them go to waste.”

“You’re guilting me.”

“Is it working?” he asked, turning on the charm with a sly smile.

“No,” she said, laughing. “But I do kind of want to go. I just don’t see how it’s practical.”

“There isn’t any way you can take a few vacation days?”

“My boss won’t like it,” she said. “He’ll see it as me putting my personal pleasure above the needs of the company.”

“What’s wrong with that? Shouldn’t you?”

“Rick’s big on dedication to company success,” she said. “He wants us all to put the company’s needs first all the time.”

“That’s hardly a realistic expectation,” Petr said. “What about when you’re sick? Surely you can be permitted to take a few days off for illness. Even a king gets a break when he’s sick.”

“Well, yeah, that’s allowed—oh,” she said, a thought occurring to her. “I still have sick days left this year.”

“Okay?”

“I can use them,” she explained. “Rick still won’t like it, but he knows he’ll have HR problems if he tries to say that I can’t stay home when I’m sick. Nobody wants a sick person in the office spreading their germs around.”

“I don’t understand the difference,” Petr said. “Your boss will be okay with your taking time off for illness, but not to go on vacation?”

“He still won’t like it,” Naomi said, opening an email on her phone and beginning to type. “But he’ll recognize that there isn’t much he can do about it.

“I see,” Petr said, still sounding bemused. “Well, if it works, I say go for it.”

Naomi finished crafting her email and sent it off. “I told him I was going into the hospital for tests and that I would have to be out for the week,” she said. “That should give us enough time, right?”

“That’s right,” Petr said. “That should be good. So we’re really going?”

“We’re really going,” she agreed, smiling. “Are you sure, though? I can’t believe you would spend this kind of money on me.”

“It’s not on you,” he said. “Well, I mean, it is for you. But I was thinking primarily of myself, I promise. I’ve been wanting to get away for a while now, and I don’t have anyone to travel with since I’m new in the country. Now that I’ve made a new friend, I’m excited to be able to do the things I’ve only dreamed of before.” He sipped his coffee. “Barcelona wouldn’t be nearly as much fun alone.”

“No, I wouldn’t think so,” she said. “Well, if that’s how you feel about it, then I’m more than happy to keep you company.”

“I owe you one,” he said with a grin.

That was pushing it a little too far. “No, we’re even,” she said.

“All right, all right. Fair enough,” he said, holding his hands up in surrender.

“We’ll have to be careful not to be photographed,” she said, thinking of the tabloid article she had seen featuring his picture the day before. She herself had been photographed by paparazzi on occasion, but it never happened anymore.

Then again, she wasn’t usually in Barcelona with royalty. Who knew what would happen there?

“Why can’t we be photographed?” he asked. “Teasing photographers is fun.”

“Maybe so,” she said. “But if pictures of me in Barcelona get out, there’s a chance my boss will see them. And if he knows I lied to him, he’ll be justified in seeking retribution against me. I would lose my job for sure, and I can’t afford that.”

“I wouldn’t want to see you get fired,” Petr said. “All right. We’ll duck the paparazzi.”

“Great. Thank you,” she said.

“I wish I could understand what it is about this boss of yours that worries you so much,” he said. “Is this really the way he treats people?”

“Yes,” she said. “He’s been looking for excuses to crack down on me ever since my mother died.”

Petr looked pained. “I’m sorry to hear that. How long is it since she passed?”

“Thank you,” Naomi said. “It’s been six months now. In the days after the funeral, all I wanted was to spend some time with my sister.”

“Are you and your sister close?”

“No,” she said. “Not exactly. But both of our parents are gone now. She’s the last family I have. I want to be closer to her.”

“That makes sense,” Petr said, his tone gentle.

“I thought the company would give me some time off for bereavement,” Naomi said. “I went to New York to be with Sarah. But almost