How to Resist Prince Charming(45)

He managed to lift his face and meet her gaze. “Not the first part,” he admitted. “I met my client, and we formed a pretty good rapport. But the second half of the day,” he rolled his eyes, “was a complete waste of time.”

Groaning, he sat up and scooted closer to her. “I thought I was going to be able to talk about our new line of mufflers. I even had a nifty little speech ready and everything. But all they did was call my name and have me stand up. Everybody clapped, and I sat back down.”

Running a hand through his hair and causing the dark mass to stand on end, Braxton went on. “I can’t believe I sat there through four hours of crap for that. I listened to a bunch of bullshit that had nothing whatsoever to do with Farris Industries... and all for a five second ovation of applause.” He snorted.

Lenna hugged him. “I’m sorry.”

He mumbled something incoherent and cuddled into her until his cheek landed on her lap. Closing his eyes, he let out a long, exhausted sigh, reminding her how little sleep he’d gotten.

Something nurturing sprang awake inside her. She wanted to make him all better again. After wiggling her fingers past his loose tie and undoing the top button of his shirt, she soothed his tousled dark hair back into place. “You really care about making this project work, don’t you?”

He opened one eye. “Of course.”

To hide her embarrassed flush, she leaned down to kiss his forehead. “I’m sorry, I just...I don’t know. You spoke so highly of your last job. But you’re putting so much time and effort into this one.”

Eyebrows crinkled as if confused by her confusion, he murmured, “Well, yeah. My dad started this company from nothing. He put his entire life into it. He loved it. And I love him, so I’m trying to honor his legacy as best as I can.”

Swallowing the lump on her throat, Lenna began to play with his hair. But shame tightened her chest with the desire to cry. His goal was so noble and altruistic. Yet she knew her father was impeding his objective. Plus her secret relationship with him was straining everything on top of that.

“So,” he asked, smiling for her benefit. “How was your day?”

Since he looked sincerely curious, Lenna forced a thrilled grin. “I loved it.”

Braxton’s eyes glittered as he sat up to rest his weight on his elbow. “Good. I hoped you would.” He leaned forward and kissed her softly.

But Lenna pulled back to add, “It would’ve been better if I’d experienced it with you, though.”

“Then I have good news. We don’t have to be apart for the rest of the trip.”

“Really?” she asked, looking skeptical.

Braxton returned the serious look and leaned his forehead against hers. “Really. They canceled the short conference I was supposed to attend in the morning, thank God, so there are no more meetings. I am taking my new client to dinner tonight, but I was hoping you’d accompany me to that.”

She brightened, flattered he thought her worthy enough. “Sure. I’d love to.”

He pressed his lips lightly to hers. But when she went to deepen it, he pulled back. “Wait. If we start that, I won’t want to stop. Tell me everything you did today first.”

“Oh!” she said, excited to share. “Here. I took pictures. Thank you for the camera, by the way. It was perfect.”

Braxton nodded distractedly, already flipping through her camera’s library. When he saw snapshots of the Eiffel Tower, his shoulders slumped. “Oh, man. You already went.”

Lifting her face, Lenna said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you wanted to—”

He shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. I was just... never mind.”

“No,” she said, her face still filled with concern. “We can go again tomorrow.”

“But there’s so much you probably want to see. I don’t want you to have to repeat—”

“It’s okay. I don’t mind.”

“Lenna,” he said in a warning voice. “We’re not going.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes. We are. I wanted to go with you, anyway.”

Braxton gave up the argument with a sigh and forced her to keep showing him the pictures she’d taken.

“And here is the Musée du Louvre,” she said a few shots later.

“What’s that?” he asked, frowning at the small screen. Lenna sent him an amazed look.

When he finally lifted his eyes from the picture, he caught the expression. “What?”

“You’ve never heard of The Louvre? It’s only, like, one of the most famous museums in the world.”

“Oh,” was his casual reply.

Lenna snorted as his blasé answer. “The Louvre,” she repeated. “You know, the museum that holds the Mona Lisa?”

Finally, his eyes lit with recognition. “Ohhh. Wow, I didn’t know that painting was in France.”

Lenna once again found herself staring at him in disbelieving shock. “Where did you think it was?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. In the United States, I guess. Probably at the Smithsonian or some such place.”

Lenna rolled her eyes, but an amused gleam lit her face. “You are so American.”

“And proud of it,” he answered, winking.