Page 1 of Princess of Pride
PROLOGUE
Emery, 15
Is a first kiss worth getting grounded for life?
I duck into the shadow of the alcove under the grand staircase so the head of security doesn’t see me. If Leo knew I was about to sneak out, he’d wake up my dad just to tell on me.
It doesn’t matter that my parents are exhausted from hosting yet another business party at our estate—one of only a few Gilded Age mansions in Connecticut. They love showing off the house almost as much as Dad loves to brag about the business that his family started in the 1800s and is a Fortune 500 today.
Spencer Securities is the center of his world. The reason for his existence. Mom doesn’t rank high on Dad’s priority list, unfortunately. My older sister, Pippa, and I have a higher status—but only because he needs us. As in, he needs us to remain pure until he arranges marriages for us that will benefit the business.
Which is why my sneaking out to meet a boy is beyond risky. Stupid even. When Dad threatens a chastity belt,he means it. But I’m not going out to have sex. I’m only fifteen. I just want a kiss.
It’s minor. Almost as minor as sneaking out to the backyard.
Leo pauses at the panel to the security system. My heart sucks up my throat. He never sets the alarm. There’s no need to when we have him stationed inside the guard-house at the gated entrance all night.
Sweat drips down my back as I wait to see if he ruins my chance at sneaking out. I hold my breath as he continues to the door and don’t exhale until he’s gone.
Thank God he didn’t arm the system, or I’d be heading back to my room and returning to school tomorrow like the loser I am.
It’s not my fault I haven’t kissed a boy. I’m willing to try, but no one has ever shown interest in me until now. The gardener’s son is my only chance to kiss someone before I turn sixteen. He’s been flirting with me for a few weeks now—and by flirting, I mean smiling from a distance.
Yesterday, I ran into him after swimming in the pool, and we talked for a whole ten minutes before his dad yelled for him to get back to work. It was long enough for him to ask me to meet him. He’s cute enough to kiss, but even if he wasn’t, I’d still go to get this prude label off me. I’ll need to get a picture of us kissing too, for proof.
I run my tongue across my freshly brushed teeth and continue to the back of the house, careful not to bump into any furniture or knock anything over and chance waking up Candace, the head housekeeper who always seems to know what I’m up to.
Crystal nightlights that look like small wall sconces help me find my way through the dark room.
I slip through one of several French doors and step out ontothe terrace. My stomach erupts with what feels like one thousand butterflies.
Don’t chicken out.
The chilly spring night air kisses my clammy skin, offering some relief.
Raphael said he’d be at the pool house by midnight, waiting for me. I’m a few minutes early, but it’s not like he has to go far to get there. His family lives on our fifteen-acre property in a cottage near the woods.
For a moment, I worry he’s confused me with my older sister and won’t be interested in kissing me when he realizes his error. But it’d be hard to confuse me with Pippa. She’s taller, has a bombshell figure, strawberry blonde hair, and blue eyes. She’s a younger version of our stunning mother. She’s also a snotty bitch who has all the boys at our prep school swooning at her feet.
With her around, I don’t stand a chance of gaining attention from anyone.
I take the stairs down to the lawn and gasp when a breeze catches the hem of my night shirt, lifting it high enough to show off my boobs.
Maybe I should have thrown on a bra or a dress. This matching shirt-shorts satin set is hardly sexy, but I thought I’d look less suspicious wearing this rather than clothes. If I get caught in the yard, I can simply say I couldn’t sleep. I’m being careful though, taking paths that security cameras don’t monitor.
The moon offers just enough light for me to find my way across the thick lawn to the pool house in the distance.
The scent of flowers perfumes the air in a romantic way. If this were a romance novel, I’d be meeting up with my true love—perhaps sneaking off with him to elope against our parents’wishes.
Fiction is better than real life.
Once I’m on the pool deck, I walk faster, desperate to get out of sight. Even with the house a good bit away, I feel too exposed.
I wrench open one of the glass doors to the pool house and slip inside.
I made it.
The cool air smells clean, minus the fresh flowers and candle scents of the mansion.
