Page 47 of The Billionaire's Royal Secret

His heart skipped a beat as he stared at the woman standing in front of him. Her eyes went wide as she spotted him. “Nathan!”

“Ellie!” he said as he closed the gap between them. “What are you doing here?”

She shot a glance over her shoulder before she twisted back to face him. “Oh, uh, client meeting. Rather fussy client. You?”

“Dropping something off for someone.” He lifted his briefcase.

“I see,” she said as she shifted her weight. “Well, perhaps I can walk you to the office.”

“I’d like that,” he said as he crossed to the door and held it open for her. “I’m really…unhappy that I’m not getting to see you tonight."

“Good thing you’re seeing me now then.”

“Yes, it is,” he said as they stepped into the sunshine.

“And how is your day going?”

“For once, the universe decided to throw me a bone. My days usually swing between barely tolerable and why do I bother? But today…it’s like a glimpse of sunlight in a perpetual storm. A great day, indeed.”

“Wonderful. What has made it great?”

He sucked in a breath as he choose his words carefully. “Uh, really good news at work.”

“Oh?” She arched her eyebrows, silently prodding him to continue.

“I…got really great feedback from my boss. He’s very pleased with my performance. Maybe even impressed.”

“Nathan,” she said with a grin, “that’s amazing. Congratulations! I’mso proud of you.”

“Yeah? I mean, I’m not getting a promotion or a raise or anything…”

“Who cares? You are doing amazing work at your job. And someone is noticing. That’s an excellent accomplishment.”

He slid his arm around her shoulders. “Thank you.”

“Money isn’t everything, Nathan. The accomplishments are most important. Challenging yourself and succeeding.”

They arrived at GenoTech. He stared up at the skyscraper. “Well, this is me.”

“Go get ‘em, Tiger,” she said with a grin before she kissed him, then wiped her lipstick away.

“See you tomorrow?”

“Absolutely,” she said. “I’m looking forward to the fair.”

“Me too.”

“Have a lovely time at your event tonight.”

After another kiss, they parted ways. He watched her walk away before he pushed inside. Despite his elation at seeing her, a weight settled on his shoulders as he took a seat behind his desk.

After his encounter with Ellie and her overwhelming support, a new worry twisted his gut. He was in love with her, but she didn’t even know his real name. He sank his head into his hands. How would he tell her? What would be her reaction?

The thought taunted him throughout his afternoon, making concentrating on work difficult. By the time he clicked off his monitor, he’d managed to only complete half of the work on his to-do list.

The text message he received from Ellie as he walked through the front door at home only brought a fleeting smile to his face. He climbed the stairs, a somberness filling his chest.

It hadn’t lifted by the time he arrived at the party. His so-called work event was actually a charity gala. He forced a smile onto his face as he glad-handed the upper crust of Sterling City.

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