Page 47 of Single Dad Christmas

He groaned. He couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t. “I did.”

“God, Noah. Do you think it’s possible…”

He stared at Louisa, thinking of the denials he could make. That he hadn’t told Taylor exactly which restaurant they were going to, because he’d suspected he couldn’t trust her. But then, how many little, out-of-the-way Italian restaurants did he go to? This had been his favourite for as long as he could remember. Taylor knew that; he’d brought her here on many occasions.

“Yes,” he said, dragging a hand over his face. “I think it’s possible.”

Louisa’s eyes met his and he felt a crushing sense of failure. Because he’d wanted to give Louisa the world and treat her like a normal woman, to take her out for dinner then bring her home, and instead, he’d walked her right into her worst nightmare. “I am so sorry.”

She shook her head once. “It’s not your fault.”

“She’s my daughter, my responsibility.”

“She’s fifteen. She makes her own decisions.”

“But this is—I honestly can’t believe she’s capable of this.”

At that moment, Louisa’s phone buzzed. She pulled it from her pocket and closed her eyes. “It’s the palace.”

“The pala—oh, right.”

He watched as she answered, her hands still trembling. “Yes? I know. I’ve seen them.” She covered the receiver. “They’re going to send a car for me.”

Something speared through his gut. The feeling that she was walking away from him. That he was losing her. That she didn’t trust him to keep her safe. And why would she?

“I have a car.”

“It’s surrounded.”

“Then we’ll wait it out.”

“Noah—,” she ran a hand through her hair, then focused back on the phone. “That’s fine. Thank you.” She disconnected the call.

“Listen, this is not a big deal,” he said, frustration making his tone clipped.

“Not a big deal?” she repeated, staring at him as though he’d lost the plot. “Please, don’t say that to me.”

“I’m just?—,”

“You don’t know what it’s been like for me. You have no idea what my life in Moricosia was like. Being followedeverywhereI went, having every single moment of my day documented online, with the least flattering pics getting the most hits, and therefore holding the most value, meaning there was a game to catch me out in weird expressions or from bad angles. And ever since the breakup, there’s been this whole damned narrative about me being jilted, never mind that I dumped him. I hate this. I hate it. I came here to escape the press, Noah. I just needed…”

She’d needed something and he hadn’t given it to her. He had failed her, all because he’d wanted this to seem normal. He’d wanted what their relationship wasn’t, because theyweren’ta normal couple. They both had baggage and a high enough profile to have made this decision foolhardy.

“I know, I get it,” he said.

“You don’t,” she responded, shaking her head once. “Or you would have never suggested this, you would have never told Taylor, and you would never, ever tell me that it’s not a big deal.”

He grimaced, because she was right. “I know. How can I fix this?”

She stared at him like he’d lost the plot. “Youcan’tfix it. Don’t you get that? I don’t care about being photographed once, with you. I care about the narrative that this will now feed. The stories they’ll write. I’ll be seen as some kind of fortune hunter, jumping from a King to a King of Industry. I can see the clever, clickbait headlines already. And anytime anyone searches my name,thisis what they’ll come up with. Not my first class uni degree, not my charity work, nothing butthis.”

Okay, he hadn’t got it. He hadn’t understood because he’d never been on the receiving end of that kind of speculation. And yet… “But Louisa, correct me if I’m wrong, the way we’ve been talking, you weren’t…this isn’t exactly a temporary thing, for either of us, right? So, at some point, our relationship would have become public.”

“At some point,” she said with a tight nod. “Maybe. But when we wanted it to, how we wanted it to. When I was ready.” Tears filled her eyes, and it was the worst thing he’d ever seen because Louisa was always so strong and in control. “I’m not ready, Noah.” She pressed her hand to the centre of her chest. “What I’ve already been through this year…I just needed a break from it all. I’m not ready for it to start up again.” She turned her back on him so all he saw was the way she vibrated as she sobbed.

His gut dropped to his feet. “Louisa…”

“Please, just leave now. If you go, it’s one less logistic for me to consider.”

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