“Get it anyway.” Alex shook his head. “You should do something nice for yourself.”
“Buying an ice cream cone or new shoes would be doing something nice for myself. This book probably costs more than some people spend on groceries for a year.”
“If you don’t buy that book, I will.” He stood up straight and held out his hand.
“What? I don’t need you to buy it for me.” I pulled the book against my chest.
“Who said I was going to give it to you?” He smiled and took a step toward me. “Maybe I have secret love for Fitzwilliam Darcy. We do share a name. I also need to get a gift for someone who would love it.”
“If I can’t have it, no one can.” I narrowed my eyes in mock threat.
“Is that so?”
“You’ll have to pry it from my cold, dead fingers.” I backed into the bookshelf behind me.
“Maybe I just need to distract you long enough to steal it.” He put a hand on the shelf by my head.
“And how do you plan on doing that?” I licked my lips.
“I have a few ideas.” He moved his other hand, caging me in, and leaned down.
I clutched the books to my chest and my heart beat against them like a drum. Alex brought his mouth close to mine but stopped a centimeter away. I inhaled his scent and fought my urge to close the distance. Slowly he moved his mouth to my cheek, close enough that I could feel his breath wash across my skin. His journey continued down my jaw and to my neck. My head tilted of its own accord, letting him have better access. One of his hands moved from near my head to just beside my waist, the sleeve of his jacket brushing against my arm.
As he moved from my right side to the left, I tilted my head again, my body alive with anticipation. I wanted him to kiss me. Needed his kiss, and I was near my breaking point—no more waiting. His other hand slid down from the shelf and closed on my waist while he took a step closer, pressing his body against mine. He brought his head back up and looked into my eyes.
“I want to kiss you, Samantha.” He took a deep breath and moved a little closer. “But I’m not going to kiss you again until you ask me to.”
“What?” I jerked my head back at the same time he pulled the book from my arms. “Hey!”
I made a grab for the book but he held it above his head. Embarrassment and anger flared through my system. He had gotten me all worked up just to steal my book? The book I wanted so badly?
“You jerk!” I grabbed at his arm and tried to pull it down, but he was too strong.
“You can tempt me all you want, crawl all over me, but I meant what I said. I won’t kiss you again until you ask me to.” His eyes sparkled with his own frustration. “I’ve made it clear what I want. You need to decide.”
I stopped and looked at him. “You were right. This is difficult.”
“And I plan on doing my very best to get what I want.”
“C’mon. Let me get the book.” I changed the subject. The truth was, what I wanted was quickly outweighing my concerns.
“Nah uh. I got it fair and square. I was looking for a gift for a friend.”
“Fair and square? You stole it out of my hands.”
“I did, didn’t I?” He smiled with pride.
“Fine.” I still had my other two books, so I hadn’t lost everything. I marched out of the back room and to the counter to pay for my selections.
The shop owner asked how I was enjoying Lilaria and if I’d read any of Reinhardt’s or Ross’s books before. We chatted about the author and then I moved so Alex could buy his book. When she announced the total, my eyes almost popped out of my head.
“Thank you. I have a friend who will really enjoy this.” Alex calmly handed over a credit card and smiled when she handed him his bag.
“My pleasure, Your Highness. I hope you both enjoy the rest of your night.” She dipped a quick curtsy as we left.
“Where to now?” Alex opened my door.
“I don’t know. I didn’t even think we’d be able to come here without being followed.” I set my package in my lap while he took his seat. “What is there to do for fun around here?”
“There’s the movies.”
“Too many people.” I shook my head.
“Then I guess the clubs are out.” He raised an eyebrow.
“Definitely.” I frowned. “What about a museum?”
“Too late. Most of them are closed by now.” He narrowed his eyes. “We could go to the zoo.”
“No, thank you.” The thought of running into Jeremy made me cringe.
“That’s right, you’ve already been. There was a very nice picture of you and Jeremy in the paper saying you’re going to work together.”
“What? I didn’t see that and—wait a minute. Are you jealous?” I twisted in my seat to look at Alex. It was sad but the thought brought a little bubble of excitement in my chest. “Nice segue there with the whole zoo option.”
“Should I be jealous?” He turned away from me and started the car. “You have made it very clear that you want someone normal, to be out of the spotlight. And Jeremy would love nothing more than to have a royal girlfriend.”
“Hey! First of all, I don’t want anything to do with Jeremy.” I didn’t mention that he’d made passes at me. “Second of all, we’re in your ex’s car, which is a really weird place to be having this conversation. And thirdly, I don’t want someone normal, I want to be normal. To be just me. Not America’s Duchess. Just Sam.”