Page 51 of Once Upon a Prince

We had never discussed what we were or what we were doing. I was attracted to him; he was to me. We were having a great time enjoying each other’s company in a foreign country. We never discussed what it would mean when we came back, what if anything could happen. I didn't want to push it so I didn’t ask. I certainly didn’t want a souvenir from him to remember a vacation tryst with my boss.

He was nothing but the perfect gentleman to me. Taking my hand, holding open doors and chairs for me, and paying for everything. When I was with him, I felt special, cherished, and appreciated. He had been easy to work with but I hadn’t counted on him being so easy to talk to and spend time with. We had spent hours just talking as we walked around the city and, in the evening, before we went back to our room and made love for hours.

He had checked out of his room the day after we made love. It was certainly more fun to share a room with him and it made me feel better about having such a large suite. We even spent one day not leaving the room. We talked, laughed, drank wine, sat out on the balcony, and did work, and when we could we made love all over the suite. If I was honest, it was one of my favorite days in Buenos Aires.

Dax had a way of looking at me that told me what he was thinking. I could get turned on by those looks. Other times he would come up behind me and just kiss my neck or take my hand and suck on my finger. He was never the same lover twice, everything we did was new, exciting, and incredible. I had never been with a lover like him. He took care of me in a way that I never knew a man could. Not only in bed but out.

We had spent one afternoon heading to a few different wine shops, tasting the wine so that I could bring some back for Ara. I had wanted to try more of Torrontes, one of the wines we had at dinner. Dax even tracked down the wine that we had that night from Enrique’s family and bought a case. He had convinced me to let him buy me a few bottles for me, though it hadn’t taken much for him to convince me.

The days flew by and I was having a wonderful time, I didn’t want to go home. I felt that Dax and I had started something, something great, but I wasn’t sure if it would last. It was one thing to be with someone when you were on vacation, it was quite another to see how we would be when we got back home. It only complicated matters that we worked together. It was not something I wanted to think about and so I didn’t. Dax never brought it up so I assumed it wasn’t anything he was worried about.

I figured that either meant he assumed we would continue to see each other when we got back and there was nothing to worry about or we would be done when we got back and there was no point in talking about it. I didn’t want to think that we would be done when we got home and by how Dax was treating me and how much fun we were having, I didn’t think that was the case.

“Can I ask you a question?” He asked one day while we were sitting outside a wine bar. It was a lovely warm afternoon and the sun was shining overhead without a cloud in the sky. It was our last day in the city and I wanted to hold onto the day and him for as long as I could.

“You can ask me anything,” I said.

“Good. Can you tell me a bit about your stepmother?”

I leaned back in my chair and looked around us. “My stepmother? Why?” She was the last person I thought that Dax would bring up.

“You don’t talk about her and when you do, it isn’t very flattering. I get the impression you aren’t close. What exactly is your relationship with her?”

I took a sip of my wine and then another. Using the time to calm myself down and to try and figure out what to say. Dax must have sensed my nervousness because he put his hand on top of mine. “Whatever is going on, you can tell me. If she’s bothering you, I want to know. If I can help, I want to.”

“There really isn’t much you or anyone can do. She was married to my father, as I told you. He gave her control of my shares and her daughters until we all turn twenty-six. Until then she can run the company as she sees fit.”

“Do you not agree with how she runs it?” Dax asked.

“She doesn’t run it. She doesn’t do anything with it. She has no idea how to run the company nor does she seem to want to know. I was the one who took care of the company, kept it solvent when my father died. It was only because I hired another person to take over my position, well three actually, that she even allowed me to come up to New York.”

“You worked so much that you needed to hire three people to do your job when you left? How much time did you spend there?” Dax asked.

“About twelve to fifteen hours a day. At first, I liked doing the work and then it became a necessity. She refused to hire anyone to help me.”

“But she let you leave?”

“Technically my salary helps to offset theirs and still give Cheryl some extra money. With me gone, she could rent out my house, and with my income from working for you, she would have even more money.”

“That’s your money, not hers. She shouldn’t be able to take it from you.”

I could see that Dax was hurt and upset for me. It was sweet that he cared and I could feel tears sting my eyes. I didn’t like him or anyone knowing the extent of the hold my stepmother had over me or what I had to endure. It was why I never told him about it and rarely talked about it with Ara or Layla.

“It was a small price to pay to be able to get away from her. I’ve wanted to come to New York since I was fifteen years old. It just took me ten years to find a way to make it happen. If it meant I had to give most of the money I earned to Cheryl then so be it. I didn’t care about the money, I cared about being away from her.

“My life isn’t in Nebraska; it isn’t working for her or my father’s company. I never wanted to do it. I don’t want to. I admire that you have such loyalty to your father and his legacy, but I never felt that way. I want to have my own life, I want to do my own things, and I want to be free to go, do, and see all the things that I missed.”

“Because you were working so hard for your stepmother. She made you hate the company?”

“I don’t hate the company. I just don’t want to run a factory.”

“You would be excellent at it.”

“Thank you. That is kind of you to say. I might but it isn’t what I want. In order to run it, I’d have to be in Nebraska. I don’t want to live there. I have made a life in New York. I have friends who love and support me, I have a job that I love to do and I think I’m good at.”

I didn’t say anything more and dropped my head down. I was embarrassed by all that I had revealed to him. I also didn’t know what to say about what we were, nor did I want to give any reference to what I hoped or wanted us to be, in case I was wrong. Dax squeezed my hand and I slowly lifted my head to look at him.

“And you have a me, who is very happy you have come into his life and will do whatever he can to keep you there. If that is what you want?”

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