Maid For You 3

Chapter 10

Luke's arms were still around my waist, mine around his neck. I felt my heart pounding against my ribcage in a romantic frenzy. I didn't take long to answer.

"Yes," I answered in a half whisper. I suddenly giggled and pulled him through the short remaining distance into a hug. "Yes, Luke!"

Luke drew back and cupped my face in his soft, comforting hands. His chocolatey eyes were shining as they looked at me. "Do you really mean it?" he asked softly, titling his head.

I clasped his hands and gently pulled them from my face to bring them down to our sides. I leaned forward and placed a chaste peck on his lips. "Yeah, I mean it."

Luke bit his lip with a smile and turned his head to the side, beaming. It's absolutely heart-shatteringly endearing. When he managed to look me in the eyes again, he sweetly squeezed my hands and said, "You really should know that Charlie's a blabbermouth."

I smiled mischievously. "I know he is."

Luke dropped his mouth and laughed. "I see. It was all strategic then."

"Well, I hope you can forgive me for my scheming, boyfriend."

Luke smiled. "Well, in this case, I think the ends justify the means."

"I didn't know it would work so well, though. I must say I was quite surprised."

"Good," Luke said. "Who doesn't like surprises?"

I smiled. "Let's sit," I said.

"On the floor?"

"Where else?" I asked as a slid down and sat against the wall. Luke sat next to me, and I put my head on his shoulder and wrapped my arms around his left arm. "Well, what do you think all the servants will say when they find out we are a couple?"

"Oh, I'm sure half of them know that we were dating by now, thanks to Charlie."

"An unfortunate side effect."

"Could be worse," he mused.

"Oh for sure."

"I think if we walk into dinner holding hands, people will get the message," he told me.

"I agree. Sounds simple enough."

"But..." Luke started, but didn't finish.

"But what?" I asked, unravelling myself from his arm and turning to face him.

"Well, I've had some time to think about this this morning."

"Think about what?"

"Um, well, I was thinking that maybe we shouldn't tell Prince Coleman that we're dating," he said, scratching the back of his neck. "It's just, I mean, there isn't any real rule against staff dating. I mean, I'll have to let my Aunt know so that she's aware of the situation since she's head of household, but there's no real reason for Prince Coleman to know."

"Oh."

"It's not anything against you at all," Luke said quickly. "I just—I just think he might be weird about it, that's all. So, let's maybe keep it under wraps around him?"

Part of me wanted Prince Coleman to know, to shout that I was dating Lucas Prescott to the whole world. I wanted Coleman to know that he and I really were done and that I'd moved on, just like I said I would. However, another part of me agreed with Luke's decision to keep our relationship secret from Coleman. Firstly, I felt like it looked kind of suspicious that only a week and a half after the Autumn Festival confession incident, I was dating someone else. Coleman would probably think it was just a ploy to make him jealous, which it was not. Furthermore, Luke was right—Coleman would most likely be weird about it. I didn't know exactly how he might respond, but I imagined that it could be highly inconvenient. Honestly, neither Luke nor I needed to include Prince Coleman drama into our brand-new relationship, and I was almost certain that Coleman would deliver on drama if he knew.

"I agree," I said. "It's best he doesn't know."

Luke smiled. "Besides, you know what they say." He leaned forward and whispered, "secrets are kind of hot."

Whoa. Speaking of hot.

His lips brushed against mine, taunting me, before he landed a solid kiss on me.

"Your lipstick's smudged," he told me, his eyes sparkling.

"Yeah, it looks like it rubbed off onto your face," I answered.

"I guess we'd better make ourselves presentable, then," he said.

When Coleman returned, he seemed completely oblivious to what had just passed between Luke and I. When I was in the room, Luke and I traded winks and smirks underneath his nose. I have to admit, it was exciting. Fortunately, Coleman released us for dinner at the same time that evening, and once Luke and I were out of the hall reserved for Coleman, Luke clasped my hand in his own and kissed the back of it before swinging my hand like normal.

When we entered the dining hall, Luke threw his arm around my shoulders, and as everyone turned to gawk at us, I felt like a Rockstar with gorgeous Luke at my side. We piled food onto our dinner plates and sat right next to each other while we leaned against one another.

Sherry moved from where she was sitting to sit across from us.

"Are you two going steady?!" she asked excitedly.

"We are," I answered triumphantly. A couple of other people sitting at our table scooted closer, and people at the other long table looked at us with curiosity.

"Well when did this happen?" Sherry asked.

"We've been on a couple of dates in the past few weeks," Luke said. "But we made it official today."

"Aww!" Sherry beamed. "You two are so cute!"

"Congratulations," another servant said.

Luke and I chatted amicably with other servants for several minutes until a looming presence suddenly stood behind Sherry and in front of us with her hands clasped together and her face stern.

"Mister Lucas, Miss Carmichael," Missus Lucille said. "When you are done with dinner, I'd like to speak with both of you in my office."

Geez, that woman scares the crap out of me, I thought, staring into her cold eyes.

Of course, Missus Lucille," Luke answered with a smile. "I was planning on meeting with you soon anyways. We'll see you soon."