Taking the trip to America to see Sophia was the most spontaneous thing I’d ever done. Growing up in a palace with a daily schedule and then working at a company with complete focus and structure didn’t prepare me for what was to come.

Each leg of the journey brought moments of doubt. What if she was completely over me and I was about to make a fool out of myself? Going to her apartment to see another man hand in hand with her would have broken my heart. But thinking of that possibility made it all seem very real.

It would be better for everyone if she moved on, but I had to see her one more time. Putting it all out there for her one last time would give me a chance to either make something of our relationship or leave it in the past for good.

It was the only way I would be able to stomach any other dates with Mother’s picks for my wife. Getting Sophia out of my head and heart was the solution.

With enough money to travel privately, I reached Dallas far quicker than anyone flying commercial. I didn’t want to give myself the opportunity to change my mind. Mother was furious with me, and if I returned home, I doubted she would ever let me out of her sight again.

This was my last chance to be with Sophia, and I wasn’t about to ruin it because of cold feet.

The limo driver pulled up to her building. I fully expected to wait around outside or in the lobby of her apartment building until she returned home from work, but as I got out of the car, the woman holding the front door turned around, and my breath caught in my throat.

Sophia’s face mirrored the shock within me. My feet moved on their own, as if she had a magnetic pull on my heart. I strode over to her, wanting to take her into my arms. The corners of her lips tightened, and I knew this wouldn’t be as easy as I would like it to be.

We had gone toe to toe before, but I’d royally fucked up by sending her away without an explanation. Well, I had an explanation, but it was a lie. I never stopped loving her, and if she would be with me the rest of my life, I would be the happiest man alive.

As long as she wasn’t seeing anyone else, I promised myself I would stick around until we could figure something out.

Her hand tightened on the handle of the door as I approached her. Cautiously, I slowed my walk and waited for her to say something. I wasn’t in the mood to get a bloody nose if she decided to shut the door in my face.

When she didn’t move or speak, I took the first step, unable to bear the silence between us any longer.

“Sophia,” I said, keeping my hands at my sides even though I wanted to reach out and cup her cheeks in my hands. I wanted to pull her close and never let go. “I’m sorry.”

She shoved away from the door and right into my arms. Her arms slung over my shoulders, and she squeezed me closer to her. Her body against mine sent electric pulses through me. I lifted her off her feet and inhaled the scent of her.

All of my worries went away. I couldn’t believe that she missed me as much as I did her. This wasn’t a hug between friends. There was still a chance for us; I just had to make it happen.

“Let’s go inside,” she said.

She took my hand and then noticed something behind me. We turned to see my suitcase sitting alone where the limo had been. I hadn’t even noticed that the driver had left it there.

I grabbed my bag, not letting Sophia out of my sight. Walking into her building, I felt whole again.

---

“It’s not much,” Sophia said when we got off the elevator on her floor. We were silent during the elevator ride, but it wasn’t like the dips in conversation that I’d experienced with Saanvi. Sophia and I were comfortable enough with each other to know that sometimes words weren’t needed.

She didn’t loosen the grip on my hand as we ascended to her floor.

Though, I did want to express how sorry I was. I would spend the rest of my life doing that as long as she was there next to me.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said, not caring if she lived in a cardboard box. I was with her, and that was all that mattered.

“Says the man who has a palace,” she said.

Before she could open the door, I took both of her hands in mine and drew her close. I wanted to kiss her so badly but not before she knew everything. I would leave it up to her if she wanted to continue being with me after.

“As long as I’m with you, I don’t care about anything else. Apartments, palaces, they’re just things. I want more out of my life than things. Can you understand that?”

“I can,” she said and unlocked her door.

I walked in behind her, and my heart skittered in my chest. Since I had only seen Sophia in England or Qatar, I never seen her in her element or seen what her life really looked like outside of fancy restaurants and palaces.

The main area of the apartment was an open space with a living room, small kitchen, and breakfast nook. It was tidy, and the knick-knacks and paintings on the walls gave me better insight into her mind. A few framed articles hung on the wall. I planned on taking a closer look at those if Sophia asked me to stay.

The place was every inch Sophia.

“So, this is it,” she said, tossing her keys onto the small table near the kitchen. “The bathroom and bedroom are through there.” She pointed to a door across the room.

I nodded my understanding. “Can we talk?”

“Sure,” she said. “Let’s sit over here.”

We sat on the oversized brown suede couch nestled in the corner of the room, facing a small flat-screen television. Before I met her, she worked a lot. I imagined a big screen wasn’t at the top of her list of priorities. I vowed that whatever she wanted for the rest of her life, I would give it to her. She had an opportunity to have it all, but she needed to be the one to make that choice.

“Do you want something to drink?” she asked.

I shook my head. Water wasn’t going to quench my thirst for her.

I wasn’t sure where to start with everything. There was no segue into what I needed to say.

“How is being the king?” she asked, saving me from starting the conversation.

“It’s different,” I said, settling into the couch. After my long journey and Sophia not throwing me out of her apartment, my body started to relax.

She flipped her hair over her shoulder and pulled her legs under her. “I can imagine.”

“How about you?” I asked.

“Everything is status quo,” she said. “I just got back from Seattle.”

My eyebrows knotted together. “Seattle?”

“Yes, that’s where my friend Matt lives.”

I noticed she used the word friend. From the way she’d spoken about him in the past, I never worried about his intentions, but it was nice to hear her side of it.

“Did you have a nice trip?” I asked.

“Yes, I did,” she said.

“What about work?” I asked.

“I quit,” she said without explanation, but I knew it was because of me.

“You didn’t write the article?”

She stared at her fingernails, flicking at them. I’d hit a sore spot.

“I couldn’t,” she said.

“You couldn’t? Why not?”

“Why do you think, Luke?” she snapped. “I cared for you, and you threw me out of your life like I meant nothing!”

I deserved that and a whole lot more for what I did.

“So, when do you want to stop diverting the conversation and tell me the truth?” she asked.

“The truth about what?”

“If everything is fine with you and being king, why are you here? I didn’t think coming to some commoner’s apartment thousands of miles away from your palace was on your busy agenda.”

I couldn’t help but smile. Reporter-Sophia had returned and she was snarkier than ever. She deserved an explanation for me showing up in her life again after I’d been so cold toward her back in Qatar.

“What’s wrong?” she said, her expression softening. “You can tell me.”

“I know,” I said. “Seeing you so soon threw me for a bit of a loop.”

“Okay,” she said, awaiting my explanation.

“Things aren’t all that great at the palace,” I admitted. “It’s been so tough.”

“Well, your father did just die, and you had to replace him so quickly. I understand that’s not easy.”

“It wasn’t,” I said, relieved that she still understood me even after our time apart. “But that’s not the hardest part.”

“Is your Mother trying to set you up again?” she asked. “I thought you handled that.”

“I’m having a hard time because of you, Sophia,” I said, laying it out on the table.

“What do you mean? You were the one who told me to leave.”

“I know,” I said.

Her shoulders heaved, and her breathing was heavier. I was fucking this up.

I scooted closer to her and took her hands. “I only have myself to blame for feeling like this. I sent you away because I wanted to protect you.”

“Protect me from what?” she asked.

“All of it. Mother, the council, the kingdom. That choice to replace my Father was mine and mine alone. I didn’t want to uproot you from your life so that you could hate me for it years from now.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You didn’t give me a choice. You just threw me out of there like the weekly garbage. You told me you loved me. I know I hesitated, but I wanted to be sure. That morning when I walked into your bedroom, I was sure.”

“I messed up. I know that now.”

“You could have called me,” she said.

“You could have called me when you returned to my life,” I said, taking her hands in mine. They were as soft as I remembered them. I traced the lines of her palms, needing to commit them to memory. I wanted to know every one of her thoughts, and I wanted to know every inch of her body. If only she would accept me back into her life. “I wanted to give you the same grand gesture.”

“So, what are you saying?” she asked.

“I’m saying that I want to be with you. Letting you out of my life was a mistake. One that I will spend the rest of my life making up to you if I can. If you will allow me to.”

Tears filled Sophia’s eyes, and I wondered if I had said the wrong thing.

It wasn’t until she reached over to me, grabbed my tie, and yanked it toward her that I was absolutely sure she felt the same way. Our lips crashed together, and I didn’t hesitate to take her in my arms.

We tasted each other, panting between frantic kisses. My tongue darted into her mouth as I deepened the kiss. Sophia was my oxygen, and I breathed her in, tasting, touching, and taking in every single drop of her.

“I want to be with you, too,” she breathed against my lips.

I pulled back, still holding her in my arms. “You’re not seeing anyone else?”

“No,” she said, her eyebrows knitting together. “All I can think about is you, Luke.”

“That’s good,” I said with a smile. I kissed her again, more tenderly this time, pressing my lips against her soft mouth. She tasted like chocolate and something else. Whatever it was, I never wanted to stop tasting it. I never wanted to be without her by my side again.

Something shifted inside of me as if a puzzle piece clicked into place. Sophia was the only woman in the world who made me feel whole; I knew that now.

Now, I had to be the man she needed and wanted.

From the way her hands roamed my body, I knew that wouldn’t be too hard for me.