Zara pushed herself out of the pool, the sound of Ian’s bark coming easily through the water streaming off of her and through her swim cap. Her muscles trembled, and she was starving. They’d been practicing for ten hours, and she had a feeling no matter what happened, Ian would not be satisfied.
She stood on the deck, her chest heaving as she tried to make up for the oxygen she had deprived herself of while underwater. At least she wasn’t in Ian’s direct line of fire. But she knew she could do her kicks sharper, and she’d run into someone underwater on their last run. So she had some room for improvement too—and the show was only a week away.
Ian finally released them with, “Be here by eight tomorrow,” which was an hour earlier than normal. Zara sighed, her stomach roaring at her for something to eat. She stooped by her bag and pulled out a towel to wipe her eyes.
“Is he always this intense?”
She glanced over at the question, asked by James, one of the acrobats who did the high dives.
“Unfortunately, yes,” she said with a weary smile.
James watched Ian’s retreating back and then looked at Zara again. “A bunch of us are going to dinner if you want to come.”
“Thanks,” Zara said, a flash of missing hitting her. She usually did spend a lot of time with the cast of the shows she was in, exercising and getting meals. But since she’d met Noah, she’d driven straight back to the mansion to spend evenings with him.
“James,” someone called, and he waved to them.
He turned back to her. “So, are you coming?”
“Oh, she can’t,” Suzie said, appearing on Zara’s other side and dropping her swim cap into her bag. “She’s got a secret boyfriend up in this house on the bluffs.” She was practically whispering by the end of her sentence.
Zara rolled her eyes as Suzie started giggling. “But I’d love to go to dinner.”
James grinned and said, “All right. We’re meeting out front in ten minutes. Everyone’s invited.” He walked away then, his broad shoulders rippling with muscles.
Zara tossed her towel into her bag. “Thanks for that.” She lifted the bag, her shoulder groaning with the added weight.
“Well, it’s true.” Suzie followed her toward the locker room.
Zara wasn’t sure if her friend was upset they hadn’t hung out as much as they normally would have, or if she was just stating a fact. And Zara was too tired to try to figure it out. She’d eaten everything she’d brought from the mansion, and there was no way she was making it up the bluff without finding food first.
She opened her locker and saw her phone flashing with both green and blue lights. She was instantly twice as exhausted as she had been previously, but she reached for her phone with her free hand while she dropped her heavy swim bag to the ground.
She had texts from Noah, as well as two of her sisters. She had missed calls from Noah and someone named Petra. She frowned at that name, her slow, calorie-deprived mind taking a few extra moments to try to figure out who Petra was.
All at once, she remembered.
Noah’s mother.
The woman who’d hired Zara to housesit the mansion on the bluff.
Her blood felt like ice in her veins, and her heart pumped harder and harder to keep her circulation going.
She sank onto the thin bench in front of the lockers and ignored Suzie when she asked what was the matter.
What was the matter?
Zara was going to lose her job, that was what the matter was. Not only that, she’d probably have to pay Petra back. After all, the house-sitting gig was supposed to go through the beginning of September, and it was barely July.
She tapped on Petra’s texts first. Sure enough, her words felt like cannons firing through Zara’s system.
I just found out my son has been staying at the beach house, which means I obviously don’t need a house sitter.
Zara decided to let the technicalities of what constituted a beach house slide by.
He claims there’s been no impropriety, and that you are indeed his girlfriend. However, I don’t need to pay someone to be my son’s lover. Therefore, I would like you to be out of the house by tonight, and I will need two-thirds of the money back.
Zara’s head felt like it weighed hundreds of pounds and she couldn’t hold it up. Her neck ached, and her heartbeat wouldn’t stop jumping around her chest.
There was no way she could be out of the house tonight. She had nowhere to go. And worse, his mother’s words felt full of acid, and Zara feared she’d never please the woman now. The fact that she wanted to was ridiculous, but Noah was her boyfriend….
Not her lover.
Zara’s fight and determination flew back into her body. So what if this woman was a queen? Zara had a contract with her, and she had been doing the job she’d agreed to.
Before arguing back with her, though, she swiped over to Noah’s messages.
Zara, I just got off the phone with my father. I told him everything. I’m so sorry.
Zara, call me when you go to lunch.
Zara, my mother is livid about the house-sitting. I’m trying to talk to her. Don’t do anything yet.
Zara, Zara, Zara.
He’d called twice too, and Zara’s head hurt from all the drama. All the swimming. So much hunger. She slumped against the lockers, but all that did was make her back hurt.
She’d known she and Noah were from different worlds, and yet, she’d allowed herself to believe they could build a bridge between them. One step at a time. Wasn’t that what Noah had said?
And she’d been foolish enough to believe him.
She shook her head and got to her feet. Petra wanted her out of the house, so she’d get out of the house. She hadn’t spent any of the money she’d gotten from house-sitting, so she’d just send some of it back.
Easy.
Done.
But she knew as she walked toward her car that nothing about what was happening was easy. She knew, because her heart was beating strangely. She knew, because she didn’t answer Noah’s call when it came in. She knew, because she didn’t drive up the bluff to the mansion the way she had been for weeks now.
Instead, she drove over to the Sweet Breeze Resort and Spa and checked into a room. No, she couldn’t really afford it, but all the performers in Ian’s shows got half-price rooms at Sweet Breeze. So she splurged and ordered room service, showered while she waited, and wheeled the cart into her room wearing a fluffy, white robe once she was ready.
She ate, simply going through the motions her body needed to do to stay alive. Her mind whirred constantly, but she couldn’t see a way out of the mess she and Noah had created. She shook her head at herself.
“What were you thinking?”
She pulled out her phone to text Petra an apology and that she was out of the house. She wasn’t sure when she could go get her things—or Whitewater—but it didn’t matter. She had her swim bag and her purse, and she could get her stuff out of storage as soon as she found a new apartment. Maybe Noah would feed Whitewater for her, but she didn’t have the mental energy to ask him right now.
Another text from Noah had come before she could text his mother, and she hadn’t heard her phone chime. Where are you? Ian said practice ended over an hour ago.
He’d called Ian?
A spark of anger ignited in Zara’s blood. Of course, Noah had endless resources at his disposal—and she’d used her credit card at Sweet Breeze. So it was only a matter of time before he showed up here.
Instead of waiting for him to track her down, she sent him a text. Sweet Breeze Resort, room 1215.
Half an hour later, a knock sounded on the door, and Zara stared at it, trying to decide if she should open it and face Noah, or ignore him. Since she wasn’t in junior high anymore, she crossed the room and unlatched the door before twisting the knob and opening it.
Sure enough, Noah stood there, his dark eyes blazing with all kinds of powerful emotions. “There you are. I’ve called you a bunch of times.”
“Three times,” she said, as if the number really mattered.
“Fine, three times.” He stepped into her personal space, and she fell back to allow him entrance into the room. “Did you listen to my messages?”
“Nope.” Zara let the heavy hotel door swing shut, the resulting crash! so loud she cringed.
“Have you texted or called my mother?”
“No, siree.”
Noah turned and glared at her. “Zara, this is serious.”
“I know this is serious,” she snapped. “Why do you think I’m at this hotel I can’t afford? Your mom told me to get out of the house by tonight. So I did. I’ve been off work for a couple of hours, and I was starving. So I showered and I ate, and I’m trying to figure out what to do.” Her chest heaved, and tears pricked her eyes. She was so tired, and she just wanted the fun, easy, casual month she’d enjoyed with Noah to be her reality all the time.
His expression softened, and he said, “All right,” in a voice made of marshmallows. “All right.” He stepped into her and gathered her into his arms, holding her close to his heart while she worked to contain her emotions.
She did not want to cry in front of him. She would not.
“I spoke to my mother,” he said. “I convinced her not to take the money back, because you have been taking care of the house. I do nothing there.”
“You cook,” Zara argued, because she could. Had he really asked his mother to let Zara keep the money?
“And I’ve moved out,” he said. “So there’s no reason you shouldn’t be at the mansion, taking care of it according to the contract you signed with my mom. You’ll earn your money, and you’ll have a place to live.” He pulled back and held her at arm’s length. “Maybe now you can have your girlfriends up to the house for that pool party.”
The way he looked at her, all soft smiles and crinkly eyes, and Zara became more confused than ever.
“You moved out?” The thought of staying in that huge house alone—which had once appealed to her greatly—now felt like a threat.
“Yeah. Boomer and I found a little cabin on the beach. It’s nice, and he likes the ocean.”
“You’re such a liar.” She could hear the fib in his voice. “Boomer does like the water, so the ‘cabin’ must not be nice.”
“So it’s missing a few amenities. I’ll be fine.”
“What kind of amenities?” Zara narrowed her eyes at him.
“I’ll hardly be there anyway,” he said instead of answering. “I’m flying to Triguard on Monday.”
Alarm pulled through Zara. “You are? Why?”
“My sister is getting engaged on Wednesday, and I need to be there for the event. I’ll be meeting with my parents on Tuesday night to talk about…everything.”
Zara stepped out of his arms and searched for the bravery she needed to speak.
“What?” he asked when she couldn’t quite find it.
“I think this might be too hard,” she whispered.
“Zara,” he said, his voice full of compassion but also argument. “It’s fine. I’ve worked everything out.”
And he likely had. He’d always been able to get what he wanted, even tickets to a sold-out show. But his parents had not granted him permission to leave Triguard permanently, and her parents had not appreciated that he was a prince. Apparently, nice Indian men were higher on the social ladder than royalty.
And she’d caused a rift in his family because of the house-sitting, and she felt dishonest though she had been taking care of the house the way Petra had asked her to.
“Did you tell your mom about my cat?” she asked.
“Of course not.”
“You said everything.”
“Well, I’d actually forgotten about Whitewater.” He smiled at her gently. “Okay? Everything is going to be okay.”
Zara didn’t know what else to do, and she wanted to believe that Noah really could work everything out. So she nodded, let him draw her back into his arms, and bit back the idea of asking him if he at least had running water and a working sewer.