“I see,” I say, taking a sip.
“You didn’t ask me your question.”
“What question?”
“What my type is.”
The edges of my lips curve into my sexiest smile. I look him full in the face, my pulse racing as I say boldly, “Oh, I think I know exactly what your type is.”
I reach out to brush an imaginary something off his shoulder, letting my hand linger a moment too long. Really, I just want another excuse to touch him.
Across the pool, India whips off her flowing white dress to reveal a gold bikini on a body to die for. “Edward, stop chatting up my friend and get over here! You, too, Lotte. It’s time we all got wet.” With that, India dives headfirst into the pool.
“With an invitation like that, how can we resist?” I say.
“After you,” Edward says, offering me a hand. I clean the gravel off my bum and follow him to the pool.
The large, rectangular pool is surrounded by solid beech hedges, which have been cut into pillars and shaped into arcs. I remove my shoes and throw my clothes on a nearby chair. Underneath, I’m wearing my red bikini.
I catch Edward looking at me, but he glances away when he notices me looking. He pulls off his shirt and we stand in front of each other shyly.
“So . . . are you just going to stare at me all night?” I ask.
Edward takes me by the hand, pulls me after him, and the next thing I feel is a blast of cold water as we plunge clumsily into the pool.
As we laugh and splash around in the cold turquoise water, I jump on his back and try to dunk him. We begin grabbing at limbs and climbing all over each other like puppies. He lifts me up slightly and I realize that my cleavage is now at his eye level.
“Not quite so high!” I squeak, feeling a flash of self-consciousness. My bikini top is so ludicrously padded, I might as well have towels stuffed in my bra.
He slides me lower down his torso. Now we’re eye to eye. “Is this better?”
With our bodies pressed together, I can feel his heart racing just like mine.
“Much.”
I close my eyes briefly, willing him to lean in and kiss me.
Instead, he just grins and sinks down to the bottom of the pool, pulling me under with him.
Before I know it, it’s two a.m. and we’re all drunk as farts, running around Huntshire’s expansive grounds in our wet bathing suits. Somebody’s found an old Polaroid, and we all mug for the camera. After a series of silly photos of just the two of us—Edward holding me in his arms, me jumping on his back, the two of us hamming it up with beer bottles—Edward and I play hide-and-seek in the maze, which has over a thousand yew trees and a single path leading to the center. It’s all so romantic I don’t know how this could end with anything but a kiss.
I finally find Edward in the center of the maze, a narrow, enclosed space. Edward leans in, and our faces are mere inches away from each other.
I’m in a maze with a handsome prince.
“I caught you,” he says. He’s so close I can see a faint freckle on his right cheek. I can pick out the flecks of gold in his blue eyes.
“I caught you,” I say, shivering as much from the cold night air as from his steady gaze. I can feel his warm breath, sweet with the faint smell of fermented hops, as he leans forward and rests his lips on mine.
As our lips meet, I feel a frisson of energy and excitement and triumph shimmy down my spine. He leans into me hungrily, and I push my body back into his, acutely aware of the bare skin of my stomach grazing against his.
I’ve been fantasizing about this moment for so long, but I never believed it would actually happen. I mean, who snogs the future king?
I’ve kissed only a handful of boys, but I suspect I’m not a bad kisser. And the way Edward is running his hands over my back right now, not to mention nibbling gently at my tongue, makes me suspect this isn’t the worst five minutes of his life, either.
“God, Charlotte, you’re a hell of a kisser.”
“You’re not so bad yourself.”
As he leans down again, he starts kissing the side of my neck, sending waves of pleasure through my body. I let out an involuntary little moan, and he grins at me. “Ah, you like that, do you?”
In response, I pull him onto the ground and then roll us over onto his back, so I’m now on top. I saw a woman in one of my dad’s favorite James Bond movies do that once, and it looked so cool.
“And you like this,” I laugh.
“Guilty.”
I feel more comfortable and confident being in control. I’m willing to bet Edward isn’t used to girls taking the lead, either.
I giggle, leaning down and meeting his lips again. As our lips and tongues touch, I try to stop myself from laughing, but a wave of involuntary giggles comes over me. Every time I try to get serious, I succeed for only a few seconds before the giggles rise up again.
“I’m that bad, huh?”
“No!” I laugh. “I don’t know what’s gotten into me. Happiness. Or nerves.”
“I don’t believe you’ve been nervous a day in your life.”
“I have!” I protest, leaning forward so that my elbows are on either side of his head and my forearms are resting on his chest. “I get nervous. All the time.”
“I’ll believe that one when I see it.”
“What about you? Surely nothing makes you nervous.”
“Oh, plenty makes me nervous. I just do a good job of hiding it.”
I shift on top of him and suddenly realize that a bulge is poking through his bathing suit.
“Hi there,” I giggle.
He blushes. “See? Nerves.”
“That is not what nerves feel like.”
We both start giggling, and before I know it, we’re kissing again, Edward’s hands running all through my hair, down the length of my back, up the sides of my legs.
Suddenly, the mood shifts from light and sexy to heavy and expectant, and I realize that I’m standing on a precipice. Is this the moment? I’m not sure I’m ready. Scratch that—I know I’m not ready.
I like Edward, but my first time having sex isn’t going to be on the grass in the back of somebody’s garden—prince or no prince.
I put my hand lightly on his chest, sitting up slightly. “This is the most fun I’ve had in a long time. But I should go to bed.”
He looks concerned, sitting up, too. “Are you feeling all right?”
“I’m feeling fine. I just . . .”
“I understand,” he says, nodding. “At least, I think I do.” He holds my gaze, blushing a little. “You’re kind of amazing.”
“Oh, go on.” I pause and then say, “No, but seriously, go on.”
He laughs, standing and offering his hand to pick me up.
“You’re not transferring away from Sussex Park, are you?”
“No, why?”
“Good. Then this won’t be the last time I see you.” He gathers my face in his hands, leaning down to give me one single, sweet kiss.
“Should we say good night to everybody?”
“I’m going to stay awake. But I’ll walk you back to your room.”
“No need,” I say. “Let’s say good night here.”