My words hung in the air for a second before Daniel did something that shocked me to my core.
He laughed.
A real laugh, not the half chuckle he'd let slip in Yorkshire. His eyes crinkled, deepening the faint, oddly sexy lines around them, and his teeth flashed white against his tanned skin.
The sound slid over me, as rough and textured as I imagined his touch would be.
Not that I had ever imagined what his touch would feel like. It was hypothetical.
"Touché." The remnants of amusement filled the corners of his mouth, transforming him from gorgeous to devastating.
And that was when another catastrophe happened, one far more disturbing than getting stuck in a too-tight dress in a public dressing room.
Something light and velvety brushed against my heart…and fluttered.
Just once, but it was enough for me to identify it. A butterfly. No, no, no. I loved animals, I truly did, but I could not have a butterfly living in my stomach. Not for Daniel Carter. It needed to die immediately.
"Are you okay?" He gave me a strange look. "You look like you're about to be sick."
"Yes, I'm fine." I refocused on the screen, trying my best not to look at him. "I ate too much, too fast. That's all."
But I was so flustered I couldn't focus for the rest of the afternoon, and when it finally came time for bed, I couldn't sleep a wink. I could not be attracted to my bodyguard.
Not in a way that gave me butterflies. They'd only fluttered when we first met, but they'd died quickly after Daniel opened his mouth.
Why were they returning now, when I had a full grasp of how insufferable he was?
Get yourself together, Rachel.
My phone buzzed with an incoming call, and I picked it up, grateful for the distraction.
"Rachel!" Chloe bubbled, clearly tipsy. "How are you holding up, babe?"
"I'm in bed." I laughed. "Having fun at the festival?"
"Yessss, but wish you were here. It's not as fun without you."
"Wish I was there, too." I brushed a strand of hair out of my eye. "At least I had the indoor festival. That was a brilliant idea, by the way. Thank you."
"Indoor festival?" Chloe sounded confused. "What are you talking about?"
"The setup you planned with Daniel," I prompted. "The tent, the cushions and the food?"
"Maybe I'm drunker than I thought, but you're not making any sense. I didn't plan anything with Daniel."
She sounded sincere, and she had no reason to lie. But if Daniel hadn't planned it with my friends, then…
My heart rate kicked up a notch. Chloe continued talking, but I'd already tuned her out. The only thing I could focus on was not the one, but the thousand butterflies invading my stomach.
...
By the time graduation rolled around a month later, I'd corralled the butterflies into a cage, but an errant one escaped twice. Once, when I saw Daniel petting Chinny, who'd worn him down with her utter cuteness.
Another time when I saw the way his arm muscles flexed as he carried groceries into the house. It didn't take a lot to get my butterflies going. Hussies.
Still, despite the annoying critters living rent-free in my stomach, I tried to act normal around Daniel. I didn't have another option.
"Do I get a medal or a certificate of recognition for my incredible restraint over the past four months?" It just so happened the last day of my trial period coincided with my graduation ceremony, and I couldn't resist teasing Daniel while we waited for Emily to set up the shot on her tripod. She was our unofficial photographer for group photos today.
"No. You get a tracker-free phone."
Daniel scanned the quad, his suspicious gaze drilling into suburban dads with beer bellies and WASP-y moms dressed in head-to-toe Tory Burch alike.
"It's been tracker-free this entire time."
"Now it stays tracker-free."
Apparently, Daniel had never heard of matching someone's energy. I was trying to be lighthearted, and he was more serious than a heart attack.
Really, Rachel? This is the guy you want to flutter for?
Before I could come up with a witty response, Emily waved us over for photos, and Daniel lingered behind while I squeezed into the shot with Chloe, Madison, Josh, and Emily, who was controlling the camera through an app on her phone. I'd deal with my inappropriate flutters later.
It was my last time on campus with my friends as a student, sort of, and I wanted to enjoy it.
"You stepped on my foot," Chloe snapped at Josh.
"Your foot got in my way," Josh snapped back.
"Like I would intentionally put any part of my body in your way.."
"I need to Lysol myself to get your.."
"Stop it!" Madison slashed her hand through the air, startling everyone with her sharp tone. She was usually the most Zen in our group. "Or I'll post the candid and very unflattering photos I have of the both of you online."
Josh and Chloe gasped.
"You wouldn't," they said at the same time before glaring at each other.
I stifled a laugh while Emily, who usually played reluctant mediator between her friend and brother, cracked a smile. Eventually, we wrangled everyone into a respectable group shot, then another, and another, until we took enough pictures to fill a half dozen albums and it was time to say goodbye.
I hugged my friends and tried to swallow the messy ball of emotion in my throat.
"I'll miss you guys."
Chloe and Madison were staying in D.C. to attend law school and work as an assistant at D.C. Style magazine, respectively, but Emily was heading to London for a year-long photography fellowship, and I was moving to New York.
I'd convinced the estate to let me stay in the U.S. as New York's royal ambassador. If an event required a royal Eldorran presence, I was the person for the job.