Page 7 of The Prince's Green Card Scheme

CHAPTER 4

CHLOE

Ihave a personal rule that when customers are flirting with me, I’ll return the favor if I think they’re hot, but I won’t let it go any further than that. It feels like a slippery kind of road that I don’t want to go down.

Especially with men. You give them an inch and they’ll try and take a mile.

And when you work in a bar, nothing is less comfortable than random men trying to get it on with you while you’re on shift. But when Paul asks me if I feel like going out for a drink with him, my mouth opens and says yes before my brain really has time to think.

Maybe it’s just the Bellamare thing, but he is the perfect vision of a Bellamari man. He has a well-groomed beard and short black hair that, I am sure, if it got a little bit longer, would have a curl to it. His eyes are dark and warm and inviting, his face round but without looking childish, and his skin glows with a summer tan, olive and brown so soft-looking that I almost want to lean over and touch him.

When he reaches out for his glass to take a drink, I can’t help but let my eyes linger on his long fingers, on the way his lips wrap around the straw.

I know what I like in a man, and Paul is hitting every target.

Not only does he look beyond gorgeous, but he seems like a nice guy as well. He’s funny. He’s charming. He’s got a great smile.

From the second he suggests the drink, I’m watching the clock, waiting for the minutes to tick by until we can go somewhere else, together. Finally, it hits nine and I scamper over to where he’s sitting at the bar. He hasn’t moved since he got here. He’s just sat there quietly, waiting for my shift to end.

“Hey,” I say, grinning as he grins at me. “Wait here. I’ll be back in a second.”

I run into the back, take off my apron and change out of my work shirt. I’m glad I’ve got a spare shirt in here. It’s not my cutest ever date outfit but it’s a fun blue blouse, perfect for this summer weather.

Trying not to seem too eager, I rush back out into the bar, my heart racing with nervousness as if he might have started chatting someone else up while I’ve been gone.

But he hasn’t.

He smiles when he sees me again.

“Hey,” I say as I step out from behind the bar.

“Hey,” he says. “Let’s get out of here.”

We step out onto the street into the hot, sticky New York air. It doesn’t seem to faze Paul at all, and I guess he’s probably used to hot summers as much as I am, coming from Bellamare. Heclearly hasn’t spent much time in New York, though, because he keeps looking up at the sky in wonder, staring at all the buildings like they’re magical and new.

I lead him through the streets, winding our way through traffic and tourists as we get deeper into the city. He barely says a word, and I wonder if it’s occurred to him that he’s putting an insane amount of trust in me right now. I could be anyone, taking him anywhere.

In fact, I’m taking him to a nearby favorite bar, somewhere cozy and casual. A good place for a date.

“I suppose we could have just stayed at your bar,” Paul says as we get closer.

I shake my head. “I didn’t want to run into anyone I know.” He raises an eyebrow as if to sayoh, I see; worried about people seeing you with a man,but says nothing.

It’s not that I think my colleagues would actually say anything. I don’t think they care that much. It’s more that I’ve been there for the last seven and a half hours and I want to go somewhere different and more exciting than work.

When we get to the bar, I hold the door open for him. It’s dim and subdued in here, the music not too loud, the waiters not too overbearing. I don’t feel like anything too intense right now, but the fries they do in here are great, and I’m hungry.

We get settled at a table and he stares at me evenly. “What?” I say.

“Nothing. I just can’t believe how lucky I am to be here.”

“Paul,” I scoff, staring down at the table, “I barely know you.”

“Then let me tell you a little more,” he says with that easy smile that drew me into this in the first place. “Did you know that Bellamare is the most beautiful country on earth?”

I bite my lip, trying to hold in a giggle. “I hoped it might be. Tell me everything about it. What’s your favorite part?”

He narrows his eyes, thinking. “It’s always gorgeous. But in the summer, when the sky is blue and the sun is bright, going for a walk around Lake Bella is more beautiful than any other place in the world. The trees are such a lush green, and the weather never lets you down. I always wanted to take the person I loved on a picnic there. I’m saving that for someone special.”

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