Compromising Kessen (Vandenbrook #1)(35)

How would the scenes play out?

Needless to say, that’s when things took a turn for the worse.

He needed to stop role-playing in his mind. He’d never been guilty of day-dreaming before meeting Kessen. Apparently, it was one of her many charms. He felt totally disarmed.

Once he parked, he went around to her side and carefully opened her car door and nudged her to wake up.

She wouldn’t budge; instead, she wrapped her warm hands around his neck and pulled him down to her level.

He swore.

He jerked back suddenly, allowing her to topple to the ground. It was either that or ravish her in his driveway. He thought she would appreciate his choice had he had time to explain himself, which he didn’t.

Instead he was met with a string of expletives which would have made Kessen’s grandma blush. Consequently, it just made him more aroused.

Perfect.

Because that’s just what he needed at this point.

He picked her up off the ground and dusted her off. “Sorry about that. I slipped.”

She glared. “Slipped my—”

He covered her mouth with his hand. “No more swearing. It isn’t ladylike.”

“Neither is dropping someone when they’re in a dead sleep!”

“I said I was sorry!” he barked.

She stuck out her tongue and grabbed her bags. “Aren’t we supposed to be dating? Doesn’t that mean you’re supposed to turn the charm on?”

Christian snickered. “I already have, sweetheart. What, you couldn’t tell?”

She mumbled something under her breath and slammed the door. “Stupid British men, dropping women and seducing them in gardens.”

“I’ll forgive you for your inability to complete actual sentences, considering I did just wake you out of a dead sleep. You’re not at your sarcastic best at this point.”

She sent him a chilly glare. He walked out of the line of fire and opened the door. It smelled like home. He had missed this house immensely. Kessen was sure to love it, considering her unhealthy obsession with his family’s heritage.

A smile began forming as Kessen took in the huge entry. “This is perfect.” Her voice held no previous disdain from being dropped. For some reason it made Christian pause to think, something he hadn’t been doing a lot of lately.

“Does it remind you of home?” he asked.

She turned around to face him. “Actually, it does. Does that seem weird to you?”

He shrugged. “No, I actually did have two purposes for bringing you here. First, you are absolutely obsessed with those stupid books about my family; and second, I knew you probably wanted to get away. We have been mauled by the paparazzi for the past two days. This is the place which came to mind. It’s famous, as you already know. But it’s also very cozy and has a crazy woodland feel to it.”

“It feels like a fairy tale,” she said, doing a little twirl. To say this girl was hard to figure out would be an understatement.

Kessen looked more awake now that she was walking around exploring. He could hear her “ooh” and “ahh” from the entry. He brought the rest of the luggage in and set out to find her.

It wasn’t hard to guess where she’d be. She was sitting in the sun room, which faced the garden where the famous wedding took place in the book series.

She must have sensed his presence, because she started talking.

“What was your childhood like? And please remember I’ve read all the books about your family. Though none of them included you—probably because that story’s yet to be written. Is any of it true? Before you answer, I also feel the need to remind you that you could crush all my dreams in one second by being too truthful.”

Christian let out a chuckle and joined her on the couch. “Actually, you’d be surprised to find out that most of the books are true. Naturally, the author adds details to make the situations more interesting. But the rumors of my family only marrying blue bloods or being oddly religious? All true.”

“Did your great-grandfather really marry the servant girl?” she asked pleadingly.

Christian felt ill. He didn’t want to be honest with her, because if he was honest, she would find out his great-grandfather did marry the servant girl, but then he cheated on her with a duchess from the ton and ended up sending the same servant girl to the countryside to live in a nunnery.

He decided to lie.

“They lived happily ever after.”

She beamed.

He felt better.

“I bet your childhood was amazing,” she said in a quiet voice. “Not that I’m saying mine wasn’t.”

“Of course,” he said agreeably.

“My father would probably disown me if he knew how much of a fantasy I actually lived in when I was small. I think it’s why I like books so much. I mean, how romantic is it to know your parents married for love, and that your aristocratic father left London to move to America with his wife?”

Christian didn’t say anything; he didn’t have to. They were sharing a moment, and he knew it would be ruined if he spoke. For reasons he didn’t have the energy to figure out, Kessen was being vulnerable. He would take what he could get.

It was exhausting, having to defend oneself against her constant stream of sarcasm.

“Were they happy?” he asked.