Three months later

Hannah stared at her phone, willing it to ring.

She’d called Bruce more than a half hour ago, and he hadn’t answered, so she’d texted him to call her when he had the chance.

It was nine thirty on a Thursday evening. It was possible he was on a date.

The thought annoyed her. It wasn’t the weekend. He shouldn’t be out screwing some woman when she needed to talk to him.

She knew that was an unfair feeling, so she tried to stamp it out. She kept staring at the phone in her hand for a long time though.

Finally it rang.

“What’s up?” Bruce asked when she answered.

“Were you busy?”

“Not really. What’s going on?” He obviously knew she had a particular reason for calling him, and that made her feel even more anxious than she already was.

She had nothing to be anxious about. He was her friend. She was always honest with him. This wasn’t a big deal.

It felt like one though, so she took a slow breath before she said, “I need a date.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“I’ve got that wedding coming up in two weeks. I told you about it. Polly, that friend I went to high school with. At that fancy hotel in West Virginia. I’m a bridesmaid. I need a date.”

“Then ask someone to go with you. What’s the big deal?”

She made a face at her empty apartment. Bruce was usually quick and clever. He could have helped her out by picking up on nuances right now. “There’s no one for me to go with.”

“That’s not true. You know plenty of guys, and a bunch of them would jump at the chance to spend the weekend with you.”

“I can’t ask a guy I don’t really know to go to this wedding with me! We have to drive all the way across the state. We have to spend two nights together. I don’t even know if there are extra rooms available at the hotel. We might have to share.”

“Ah,” Bruce breathed in a different tone, like he’d finally understood her problem.

“But I don’t want to go by myself. Most of the girls from school were kind of snotty to me about being a scholarship girl, and if I go to this fancy wedding without a date, it will just solidify in their minds what a loser I am.”

“You’re not a loser, Hannah. Don’t call yourself that.”

“I know. I know I’m not a loser. But I also don’t want them to think I’m a loser. It’s not that strange to want a date to a wedding where you’ll see all the people you used to know in high school, is it?”

He was silent for a moment. “No. It’s not strange.”

“So I want a date, and I can’t ask a guy I don’t really know. So...”

“Oh God, Hannah, you’re not really doing this, are you?”

Finally he’d understood where she was going with this. “Yes. I am. I want you to go with me.”

He groaned. “I hate weddings.”

“I don’t care.”

“They’re ridiculous. All that overblown romance. You know how I feel about all that crap.”

“I know, and I don’t care. I need a date, and you’re my friend. It’s just one weekend.”

There was another long pause. Then, “What weekend is it again?”

She told him the dates, feeling hopeful now that he was taking it seriously.

He gave another groan.

“You’re free, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I’m free.”

“It would be a huge favor. I’d owe you for a long time, and you could call in the favor anytime you wanted.”

“Damn it, Hannah.”

“It’s a very fancy wedding. There are two different black-tie events.”

“Damn it, Hannah.”

She giggled, realizing that he’d caved after all. “And you’ll need to pretend it’s a real date.”

“What do you mean?”

“Having a date is pretty meaningless if everyone knows we’re just friends. You’d have to pretend to be my boyfriend. You can’t go around hitting on other women while you’re there.”

“Damn it, Hannah.” This time the words were almost a growl.

She was so excited now about him agreeing that she was smiling to herself in her bedroom. “I love you, Bruce Mackenzie. You know that, don’t you?”

“Yes, I know that. And you better treat me really nice if I’m going to do this for you.”

“I’ll treat you as nice as you want.” The words made Hannah blush, for no good reason.

Or maybe there was good reason.

She did want a date for this wedding, but she also had ulterior motives for asking him to the wedding in a few weeks.

She, Madison, and Charlie had made a pact. They were going to get what they wanted by the end of the weekend.

Charlie was going to claim the heart of the man she loved. And Madison was going to have a hot fling.

But Hannah wanted something different, something she’d been mulling over for three months and was absolutely sure about now.

She wanted to not be a virgin when this wedding was over.

Trying to lose her virginity to the man of her dreams just wasn’t happening for her, so she was going to ask Bruce.

She had absolutely no idea what he was going to say.

***

THE FOLLOWING EVENING, she was over at Charlie’s much larger place not far from hers. Charlie had inherited a fortune from her parents when they died seven years ago. She never had to worry about money the way Hannah did.

Charlie never made a big deal about her wealth. In fact, she had a hard time knowing when men were genuinely interested in her and when they just wanted her money. Hannah only rarely felt jealous of her friend.

She’d rather have her parents alive and well than all of Charlie’s money.

Charlie had just popped a cork on their favorite champagne, and Madison was grabbing the flutes from the shelf above the wine rack. Charlie was pretty and curvy with reddish glints in her dark hair, and she was grinning as she poured out the champagne and offered them each a glass.

“Okay,” Charlie said. “We have our plan. We’re all going to be brave at the wedding. We made a pact, and there’s no going back now. Here’s to finally getting what we want.”

The three of them toasted, clinked glasses, and then sipped the champagne.

“May our princes finally get off their asses,” Charlie added.

Madison laughed, but Hannah shook her head. “You might want your prince to sweep you off your feet, but I just need mine to deflower me and then head back to his own castle.”

Charlie gave her a slanted look. “I know you keep saying that’s all you want from him. But you sure do talk a lot about Bruce for someone who is just your friend. Are you sure that’s all you want from him?”

“Yes, I’m sure! I told you before. I love Bruce, but he’s not my type at all. Besides, I don’t really want a prince who can’t keep his hands out from under other princesses’ skirts.”

“He’s not that bad, is he?” Madison asked with wide blue eyes.

“Yes, he really is. He moves on anyone he finds remotely attractive. He has no discretion at all. I promise he would have made moves on both of you if I hadn’t told him very clearly you were off-limits.” She paused, thinking about how much she would have hated that. Then she added, “I hope you don’t mind that I told him that. He is a great guy, but...”

“But that would be the weirdest thing ever,” Charlie finished for her. “Whether you want Bruce like that or not, he’s very clearly yours. We’d never even consider him.”

“Right,” Madison agreed. “Bruce is definitely yours.”

Hannah relaxed at this reassurance, and she couldn’t help but like the sound of the words.

Bruce was smart and handsome and funny and had a kindness at the heart of him that he didn’t always want other people to see. He declared himself to be anti-romance, and she’d always thought that was a shame. She’d seen his heart, and she loved it. He would have been close to perfect if it weren’t for his unfortunate habit of sleeping around.

She wondered if he’d ever fall in love.

She wondered if he’d ever settle down.

She wondered if he’d ever let his heart be touched.

The truth was she didn’t really want him to.

As soon as he did, he wouldn’t be hers anymore.

***

TWO WEEKS LATER, HANNAH blinked several times as she woke up.

She was in the passenger seat of Bruce’s car, and they were driving across Virginia. They’d gotten to the mountains a while back, and she’d been trying to reply to some emails on her phone. But eventually she’d given up and closed her eyes.

She must have dozed off.

Looking over, she saw that Bruce was still driving, but he must have glanced over at her motion.

“How long was I asleep?” she asked.

“About a half hour. We’ve got at least another hour left, so go back to sleep if you want.”

“No. I’m not really tired. I don’t know why I fell asleep.” She felt strange about it although there was no good reason for it. “I assume I didn’t snore or do anything embarrassing?”

Bruce chuckled. “You didn’t snore too loudly.”

She stiffened, realizing as she did that he was just teasing. With an exaggerated scowl, she said, “Asshole.”

He just laughed again.

When she noticed a sign on the side of the road, she said, “Hey, there’s a scenic point coming up. Do you mind if we stop and stretch our legs a bit?”

“Sure. We’ve got plenty of time.”

That was one of the things she liked about Bruce. He might be incredibly smart and strategic when it came to getting women in bed, but he was easygoing about almost everything else. He didn’t care that much about keeping a schedule, and he was happy to stop or change plans for anything she might request.

When they reached the exit ramp, he pulled his car over onto it and drove up the winding route to a small parking area. There was one other car parked there, and he pulled into a spot on the opposite end of the lot.

Hannah looked at the other car, backed into a spot, and shook her head.

“What’s the matter?” Bruce asked, putting the car into park.

“You know what I love about you?” she asked, turning to look at him with a little smile.

His blue eyes glinted with something fond and amused. “I assume you love a lot about me.”

“Naturally. But I was thinking of something in particular.”

“What’s that?”

“You don’t always back into parking spaces.”

His brows drew together. “I don’t back into parking spaces?”

“Yeah.” She gestured at the car across the lot. “You’re not always doing that.”

“Why would I always back into parking spaces?”

“I don’t know, but more than half the guys I’ve gone out with do it.”

“They’re mostly doing it to show off.”

“I know.”

“You can’t tell me there’s any reason in the world for that guy over there to have backed into a space when there was no one else in the whole parking lot.” Bruce’s voice was very dry.

“I know.”

“It nearly always takes more effort to back into a space than out of one.”

“I know.”

“So unless there’s some pressing need to make a speedy getaway, it’s just to show off.”

“I know!” She was giggling now at his need to defend his position. “Bruce, I agree with you. I just told you that I love that you don’t. You don’t try to prove yourself or put on a show. You don’t need to. I love that about you.”

His expression softened in a way that made her heart start to race, but then he seemed to give himself a little jerk. He unfastened his seat belt and opened his door.

Hannah felt slightly let down for no good reason, and she tried to brush it off. She got out, stretched, and then walked over to the railing, smiling as she gazed at a wide expanse of rolling mountains and blue sky. “Look how beautiful,” she said, turning to look at Bruce, who was coming up to stand beside her.

“Not bad.”

She rolled her eyes at his understated response and pulled out her phone to snap a few pictures. Then she stood and admired the view for a few minutes.

“Look,” she said, pointing toward a small valley to the right. “That house there. It’s like a minicastle. It has a tower and everything.”

Bruce narrowed his eyes to peer in the direction she indicated. “Not much of a castle. That house can’t be more than ten years old. They just made it over-the-top like that.”

“There’s nothing wrong with over-the-top. I always wanted to have a tower room like that. Imagine having a bedroom in a tower.”

He was shaking his head. “How would you manage the furniture placement? It would be a pain in the ass to position stuff in the room. You like the idea, but would you really like it in real life?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I’ve never actually seen a round room like that. But it’s a cool idea. You just don’t have any poetry in your soul.”

“Agreed. I have no poetry in my soul of any kind, but you have more than enough for both of us.”

She smiled and moved over to lean against him. “You’d think eventually a little of the poetry might rub off on you.”

“Don’t count on it. I’ll never be a romantic like you.”

“I’m not that much of a romantic.” She didn’t even know why she was arguing since she usually freely admitted it.

“Yes, you are. Why do you think you’re still a virgin?”

Confused, she looked up at him questioningly.

“You know why, don’t you? Because you’re waiting for a prince from one of your fantasies to finally come along and wake you up with a kiss.”

She frowned. “You don’t have to make it sound silly.”

“It’s not silly. I didn’t mean it to sound like I was making fun of you.” His eyes were more sober than usual, so she believed him.

She thought about what he’d said. “I guess you’re right. I mean, not in a silly, immature way, but I am waiting to find the right man. At first, well, at first it didn’t seem like a big deal. Plenty of girls didn’t have sex in high school. But then in college it... it just didn’t happen. I never went out with a guy I liked well enough. Then after college, everyone assumed I’d already had sex, so it seemed to become a bigger and bigger deal. So here I am.”

“You don’t need to defend yourself to me, Hannah,” he said softly, lifting a hand to run it down her hair very lightly. “It’s you I care about. Not anything you do or don’t do in bed.”

For just a moment her throat was tight with emotion. “Me too. With you.”

He held her gaze, and it started to feel strangely intense. He made a strange move then, like he’d leaned forward but then jerked back so quickly it looked like a twitch. He gave her a slightly twisted smile. “But don’t try to tell me you’re not a romantic, because I know very well that you are.”

“Guilty,” she admitted. “I guess I would like a man who’s willing to get through a whole wall of thorns just to get to me.”

“Sure. But you’ll only see that he’s there if you open your eyes.”

She frowned at the odd note in his voice. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing. I was just extending the Sleeping Beauty metaphor. Just that you can’t expect him to do all the work while you’re lying there snoozing.” His tone was casual and natural again. He cleared his throat. “I guess we better get going.”

“Yeah. Sure.”

She went back with him to the car, but she was still thinking about what he’d told her.

She thought about it for a long time.

***

AN HOUR LATER, THEY were driving through the gates and down a long driveway toward the main building of the hotel.

The property was vast, and it took a few minutes before Hannah could even see the huge white Georgian building. She gasped when Bruce drove around a particularly tight curve and the hotel was suddenly in view. Pulling out her phone, she leaned forward, trying to snap a few pictures of the hotel as they approached so she could send them to her mother, who was almost as excited about Hannah taking this trip as Hannah was.

Bruce was driving slowly, but the building was too big for her to get the whole thing in one photo, no matter how much she contorted her body to change positions in the passenger seat. She did the best she could and was surprised when Bruce pulled his car over onto the side of the drive.

When she glanced over questioningly, he was giving her a dry little smile. “Just get out and take the picture.”

She grinned at him, washed with an entirely unexpected flood of affection for him.

Then she scrambled out of the car and tried to find a position where she could get the best angle with her phone.

She did pretty well near the front of the car on the driver’s side, but she couldn’t get the phone high enough. She was considering climbing up on the hood when Bruce reached over from behind her and took the phone out of her hands. He was about six inches taller than her, so he was in a better position to get the best angle. He clicked to take the picture and handed the phone back so she could check it.

“Perfect!” She was still grinning like a fool as she sent the photo her mother. “Mom’s going to love it. Did I tell you that Dad proposed to her here?”

“No. Why didn’t you tell me that before?”

“I don’t know. I thought I had.”

“No wonder you were so excited about coming here.” Bruce’s blue eyes held a strange expression—almost poignant, although she didn’t understand why. “I’m sorry you couldn’t come with the man of your dreams.”

“I’m not sorry,” she said, reaching out to give him a half hug and then continuing to lean against his side. “You’re pretty good company since the man of my dreams hasn’t bothered to make an appearance yet.”

For some reason she felt a little awkward, so she lifted her phone with her free arm and snapped a few more pictures to give herself something to do.

“Have your parents been back since?” Bruce asked casually.

“Yeah. Once, on their tenth anniversary. If I ever have enough money, I want to give them another weekend here. In a few months, it will be their thirtieth anniversary.” Hannah sighed. “They’re still so happy together.”

Bruce was silent for a few moments. Then he said lightly, “I guess that’s why you’re so committed to waiting for the right guy—because you’ve seen your parents be so happy together for so long.”

“Yeah. It really is, I guess, although I never thought about it that way. I just want... I want a man who will look at me the way my dad still looks at my mom. I know it’s sappy, but...”

Bruce didn’t answer, but he lifted a hand and very gently ran it down her hair.

Surprised by the gesture, Hannah glanced over at him, but his expression was wry and slightly amused like always.

“Where did your parents get engaged?” she asked.

He parted his lips as he thought. Then shook his head. “I don’t even know. They never told me. They’re... not like your parents.”

“What do you mean?” Bruce almost never talked about his parents although she knew they were still alive and still married.

He glanced away from her. “They’ve never been happy.”

“They haven’t? Why not?”

He licked his lips slowly, his eyes focused out on the grand hotel in the distance. “My dad has always had affairs. Constantly. One after another. I always knew they didn’t seem happy, but I was eleven the first time I realized why.”

“What?” Horrified by that piece of information, Hannah’s arm tightened around Bruce’s waist. She’d turned her body so she could look up into his face more fully. “What happened? How did you find out?”

“I came downstairs in the middle of the night to get some water, and my dad was just coming into the house. He smelled like whiskey and perfume. Not my mom’s. I knew he’d been doing something wrong. He just looked at me and gave me this... this smile. Then he put his finger to his lips to tell me to be quiet.” Bruce’s voice was slightly rough. He still had that little smile on his lips, but it wasn’t genuine. Not at all.

“Oh my God, Bruce.” Hannah gasped, her stomach clenching in sympathy. “He told an eleven-year-old boy to keep his affair a secret from your mom?”

Bruce gave a half shrug. “It wasn’t as terrible as you’re making it sound. It just... was. After that, it was obvious to me what he was doing. He’s sixty years old now, and he’s still cheating on my mom.”

“And she never knew?”

“Oh, she knows. When I was in high school, I realized she’d known all along.”

“Why does she put up with it?”

“Why does anyone?” He gave his head a firm shake, like he was trying to fling off the depressing thoughts. “Anyway, not everyone is as happy as your parents are.”

Hannah stared up at him for a minute, instinctively realizing he was uncomfortable with the conversation, that he wanted to move past the emotional vulnerability of the moment before. She understood why he’d never told her this before. It revealed a part of himself that he didn’t like to acknowledge.

She slipped her phone into her pocket and then wrapped both arms around him, pulling him into a hug.

He hugged her back, more tightly than usual.

Neither one of them said anything.

When she pulled apart, her eyes were burning slightly, but fortunately tears didn’t fall. Bruce wouldn’t have liked that at all.

“No wonder you’re so anti-romance,” she said with a smile, trying to lighten the mood with her tone.

“I guess.” He let out a breath and turned back to look at the huge white hotel against the very blue sky. “It’s always seemed to me that love is just fighting through the wall of thorns and never actually getting to the princess.”

She squeezed his arm. “You’ll get there one day. I believe in you. You’re not like your dad.”

He gave a soft huff of laughter. “I sure hope not.” He cleared his throat. “All right. Enough of this. Let’s get going.”

***

A LITTLE WHILE LATER, Hannah stepped into the hotel room she was going to share with Bruce for the weekend.

For the first time, she felt a little nervous about it.

The room had two twin-sized beds in it (since she’d requested the staff separate the beds rather than putting them together), so they weren’t going to have to do anything weird like share a bed. But still. The room wasn’t really that large. There was only one bathroom. And it felt... intimate.

After their conversation earlier, she felt very close to Bruce, and being this physically close made her nervous.

She was afraid her heart might start getting the wrong idea about them.

Bruce was right behind her, carrying her garment bag. The bellman had brought up their suitcases, and Hannah reached into her purse for a tip for him. She gave it to him before Bruce could, and he frowned at her.

When the bellman left, he said, “I was going to do that.”

“Why would you? Because you’re a man? You’re here to help me out, so the least I can do is cover the tips.”

He smiled slightly and shook his head at her, lifting her suitcase onto her bed.

She stared at the bed for a minute, still feeling that slight stiffening of self-consciousness.

“You’re sure you’re okay with this?” Bruce asked. He’d lifted his case onto the bed but was looking at her from across the room.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know. We’ve never shared a room before.”

The smaller rooms at the hotel were completely booked. She knew because she’d called them up as soon as Bruce had agreed to see if it was possible to get him a room, but all they’d had available were expensive suites.

She gave him a little shrug. “It’s not a big deal. We have our own beds. I’m not a child, you know.”

“I know you’re not a child.”

“I just mean I wouldn’t get embarrassed by something so little. I might be a virgin, but it’s not like I’m naïve.” She wasn’t sure why it felt important for her to say that, but it did.

His expression changed to something almost teasing. “Is that right?”

“Yes, that’s right. I know as much about sex as anyone.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I do. Ask me anything.”

“Ask you...”

“Anything. Anything about sex. Ask me.”

He chuckled. “All right. What does a penis look like?”

“Oh my God, Bruce,” she groaned. “I know what a penis looks like. You really think I don’t?”

“Have you seen one in real life?”

She made a face. “Eh, sort of.”

He was laughing for real now. “Sort of? How does one sort of see a penis?”

“We went skinny-dipping a few times in high school. Just a group of us. So I, uh, saw some things. Just in passing. Not close up or anything.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t look at me that way. I’ve seen movies and pictures and glimpses in real life. It’s not like a penis is some magical, mysterious item that can only be understood in certain circumstances. It’s a dick, for God’s sake. They’re pretty much a dime a dozen.”

He was still laughing. “All right. I’ll give you that one. So you say you know so much about sex without ever having it. Then what does it feel like when a man goes down on you?”

She rolled her eyes. “It feels good.”

“Good? That’s all you’ve got. Good?”

“I’ve been aroused before, you know. I’ve had orgasms.”

His eyebrows lifted slightly, and something changed in his eyes. “Have you?” he asked, gravel in his voice.

She blushed for no good reason. “Yes. I have. I told you. I’m not a child. I’m not some naïve adolescent who doesn’t know her way around her own body. I can get myself off whenever I want to.”

“Do you?”

“Yes, I do. I’m twenty-five years old, and I’ve never had sex. Of course I get myself off.”

“How often?”

“I don’t know.” She couldn’t believe she was having this conversation. “It depends.”

“On what?”

“On a lot of things.”

His voice was still thicker than it should have been. “How do you do it?”

“How do I... how do I get myself off?” She stared at him, realizing if she didn’t answer, he would have scored a victory. “I have a vibrator. Or I can do it with my hand if I’m already turned on.”

He just stared at her without moving.

She suddenly realized what was wrong with him—why he was stiff and hoarse and slightly flushed.

She gasped. “You’re turned on!”

“I am not.”

“Yes, you are!” She started to smile. She couldn’t help it. “You got turned on just from me talking about getting myself off. I can’t believe what a horndog you are.”

He narrowed his eyes at her but didn’t answer.

She laughed and pulled her toiletry case and some clothes out of her suitcase. “I’m going to take a shower. You can do whatever you need to do in here until you hear the water turn off.”

He made some sort of grumble in response, but she couldn’t make out the words.

She was still chuckling a little when she closed the bathroom door.

Maybe this was a good thing.

If he’d gotten turned on from just the idea of her masturbating, maybe he wouldn’t be averse to helping her out with her virginity.

The thought made her feel better about everything.