Chapter 22

FELIX

The motel Mila was staying at was… cheap, to say the least.

This area of town–just off of Fresia’s main strip of retail–was, to put it mildly, seedy. I had never spent time in this particular area. Rumors of gang violence had swirled around this street for years, and the safety of the citizens was something that heavily weighed on my father.

Something that weighed on me, too.

The streets didn’t have any lights, and the buildings were just a tad too rundown. It wasn’t a place for a prince to go walking alone at night.

Or a woman, for that matter.

Mila’s motel was arguably the worst building on the block. The paint was peeling from the shutters, and one of the stairs leading up to the main entrance was completely broken. One of the windows–I prayed that it wasn’t one in Mila’s room–was shattered and covered over with cardboard.

Mila ducked her head as we approached the main steps, or what was left of them. Through our bond, I could tell she felt embarrassed. I smiled at her, an attempt at reassurance.

“So, uh, this is me,” she said. “I have almost enough saved so that I can move to an apartment instead. I just need a few more weeks at Samara and then I’ll be good to go.”

My heart ached at that statement. I couldn’t imagine a sweet, defenseless girl like Mila staying here. No wonder she was so hesitant to embrace Fresonia if this was the version of the country she was dealing with.

“If you don’t mind me saying, it doesn’t look very safe,” I mentioned cautiously. I did not want to offend her in any way.

Mila shrugged. “It’s okay. Nothing’s happened so far.”

I had to protect this woman at all costs. Not just for the curse, but to protect my own growing feelings for her.

“Please,” I said, turning on my charm a bit. Maybe that would persuade her. “Allow me to purchase you an apartment. It doesn’t have to be anything big or fancy, but anything would be a step up from this place.”

Mila’s face twisted slightly at my words.

“I appreciate the offer, Felix, I really do,” she said eventually. “It’s an incredibly kind gesture. But we just started… dating? Courting? Whatever you want to call it, we just started an hour ago. I think it’s a bit soon for you to be buying me real estate.”

“It’s for your own safety,” I tried.

Mila shook her head. “It’s too soon. I want to earn things myself, not have other people just hand them to me.”

I appreciated her integrity, but it still stung a bit to hear the rejection. If she thought it was too soon for me to buy her an apartment, how would she react when I proposed marriage?

“I understand,” I said.

In all honesty, it was completely unlike anything a woman had said to me before. Most of the women I went on dates with were all too happy to receive expensive, extravagant gifts from me early on in the relationship. In fact, most of the women I’d dated had seemed more sad about losing me as a gift-giver than losing me as a partner.

Mila was different.

That I knew for sure.

When she looked up at me through her eyelashes, a warmth spread through me. It was as if Mila was bathing this cold, dark street in sunlight.

I shook the silly thought out of my head. I bent to kiss her hand.

“We shall have our first official date tomorrow,” I declared.

Mila’s brow furrowed. “I have work tomorrow.”

Of course. This woman was employed.

“Oh, right,” I said, still attempting some level of smoothness. “Well, I can drive you to work.”

Mila smiled slightly. “It’s well within walking distance.”

I couldn’t tell if she was testing me or not. I held her gaze for a moment, and then took the plunge.

“How’s this. I will walk you to work and eat dinner there. I love Samara’s Place, it’s my favorite food in the city, and besides, I could use more of that prickly pear lemon pie. That way I can still see you and spend time with you without distracting you.”

To my surprise, Mila grinned. She seemed agreeable to the idea.

“And then afterwards,” I continued, “I can walk you home. Back to this apartment. Even though I still don’t think it’s safe enough for you.”

Mila laughed.

MILA

Felix was surprising me right and left.

He was very generous to offer to buy me a place to live, but I had been telling the truth–that felt much too soon for someone who had only learned my real name two hours ago.

His willingness to plan time together around my work schedule was certainly an indicator of him being a good person. Maybe he wasn’t such a playboy after all.

I agreed to his plan for the next day and let him walk me up to my motel room.

There was a moment of slight tension outside the door. I could tell that he was debating whether to kiss me goodnight, and I was hyper-aware of the fact that we had already done a whole lot more than kiss.

Felix reached out a hand and gently stroked my cheek. I shuddered at his touch.

“Mila,” he said softly. He said my name like it was the most important word in any language. I commanded my thudding heartbeat to slow down, but it didn’t listen.

“Thank you again,” I finally said. “I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.”

I could tell he was looking at my lips. Truthfully, I was feeling more overwhelmed than anything else, and the idea of disappearing into the hotel room seemed like my best option.

“Goodnight,” I told Felix.

He nodded at me once and dropped his hand.

“Goodnight,” he replied.

Then, without warning, he leaned down and pressed his lips to mine. A quick, chaste kiss–but one that was full of promise and understanding.

When Felix pulled away, he merely winked at me and made his way back down the hall.

After I went into my room, I sank down against the door. My head fell into my lap.

Today had been the most stressful and overwhelming day of my life. Which was saying something, because it felt like every day this past week had been the most stressful and overwhelming day of my life.

All I wanted to do was take a hot shower and curl up in my tiny, lumpy bed, forgetting about the stress of the day and drift off to sleep.

As I washed my hair in the shower, I found my thoughts making their way to Felix’s eyes. When I scrubbed my face, all I could think about was his hand gently cradling my head.

I shook my head and tried to snap out of it.

But that night, as I lay in bed, my head was full of memories of Felix’s kiss. How soft his lips had been. How sweetly he had smiled after. How my heart seemed to quite literally skip a beat thinking of it.

I couldn’t deny it anymore. I started to fall for the Prince of Fresonia.