Maid For You 2

Chapter 49

He smiled. "Shall we head back inside?"

"Sure, sounds great," I said. I took his arm and we headed back to the main balcony doors. I now had no idea what Prince Nikolas thought of me. I had no idea what I thought of him. I mean, Prince Nikolas must like me, right? Or maybe he doesn't? Do I like him? I wondered. Well, I liked him enough that I was excited that he asked me to go to the Winter Ball with him.

Call me Nikolas. Now that had made my heart pound a little bit. Because he was normally so rigid and proper, it made that little snippet of intimacy that much sweeter.

As we walked back down the stairs into the ballroom, I had to lift my skirt up once again and watch my step so I didn't biff it down a flight of unforgiving marble. When I finally stepped onto the floor safely, I looked up and felt my heart thud. Prince Coleman stood directly before me with his hands clasped behind his back, looking at me expectantly. The color of his sharp military coat seemingly matched mine, and his green eyes seemed to pierce my soul. Now I was seeing his haircut up closer, and wow did he look handsome. However, I quickly recovered from my initial surprise at seeing him, and I bristled.

"Cassandra," Coleman started, his voice soft. I hated the way he said my name, hated the way it sent chills down my spine.

"Prince Coleman," I said curtly.

"Have you been having a good evening, Coleman?" Nikolas piped in next to me.

"Nikolay, pochemu ty ne vozrazhayesh' protiv svoyego sobstvennogo dela?" Prince Coleman snapped at him.

"What did he say?" I asked Nikolas.

"He suggested that I mind my own business," he answered.

Coleman rolled his eyes. "Look, I want to talk with Cassie, so why don't you leave her be?"

"You are suggesting that I am harassing her?" Nikolas rose an eyebrow. "When I am her prince for the day?"

"I just need to talk to her," Coleman scowled.

"Why?" I asked. "So you can berate me?"

He huffed irritably. "No, so I can ask you if I might have this next dance."

I froze a little bit, unsure of how to respond. "...so then you can berate me?"

"I'm not here to berate you!" Prince Coleman cried.

"Are you sure about that?" Nikolas asked him.

Prince Coleman drew in a deep breath. "Miss Carmichael," he started, his eye twitching. "I apologize for any ungallantry. Might you honor me with the next dance?"

"And you're not going to harass me for my choice at the banquet?" I rose an eyebrow.

Prince Coleman sighed and shook his head. "I promise, there will be nothing of the kind," he said, his eyes gazing at me imploringly. "I just want a dance with you."

My breath hitched. "Alright," I finally agreed. I let go of Nikolas's arm and placed my gloved hand in Coleman's outstretched one. He started to lead me to the center of the dance floor, and almost everyone we passed by stopped to look. Soon we had found a place that Prince Coleman found agreeable—in the center of the floor. I saw that many people backed away to create a clearing for us, and realized that while Prince Nikolas was my prince for the day, Prince Coleman was their prince. It was his dances that people would stand back and revere. I glanced upward and saw Queen Klara and King Collin sitting up in the balcony watching us carefully. I then averted my gaze from his parents and settled my eyes on my partner.