A Princess Next Door (Rothman Royals Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

though. Not because of the exercise. I’d grown up dancing ballet and
jousting, so I was in decent shape. The discipline came in not staring
lustfully at Jack’s body the entire time.
    He had a very good body. I was more aware of it now than I’d
been three weeks ago. I loved the breadth of his shoulders, the smooth line of
his back beneath his shirt, the rippling contours of his arms, the strength of
his legs, the flatness of his abdomen. I even loved the hair on his arms and
legs and how sweaty he got when he worked out. It made him seem more real, like
he wasn’t just a vision from my fantasies but a living, breathing human man.
    So while I tried to focus on the elliptical trainer, I
mostly just thought about him.
    We worked out for an hour, talking about his day at work and
about a special seminar in Renaissance art my professor had told me about this
morning.
    “It’s just two weeks long,” I explained. “It starts a week
after graduation, and it’s very intensive, lasting for most of every day.”
    “It sounds terrible to me, but I bet it would be right up
your alley.”
    “Yes. I’d love to attend. It’s by invitation only, and
mostly graduate students participate, so it’s a real honor that he invited me.”
    “So you should do it.”
    “I’m supposed to move back home right after graduation.”
    “But the seminar is just two weeks, right? All you’ve got to
do is delay your move by three weeks.”
    “It’s not as easy as that. All the plans have been made.” I
felt depressed, thinking about it. “My mother has organized a ball in my honor
the week after graduation. Hundreds of people are invited. I have to be there.”
    “A ball?” Jack’s eyebrows were sky high.
    I realized my mistake immediately. “Oh. Yes. It’s what she
calls her fancy parties.”
    Jack wiped some sweat from his forehead. “Well, then go
visit them for that week after graduation and then come back here for the two
weeks of the seminar. It could still work.”
    My heart jumped in excitement when I heard the suggestion,
but my mind soon caught up with the hope. “It wouldn’t be worth it. All that
hassle and travel just for a two-week seminar. Since I’m not going to graduate
school, I couldn’t do anything with the credit anyway.”
    “I think you could. I think you should do it. Think about it
anyway.”
    “Okay. I will.” I mostly said it to end the subject, since
it was making me anxious and upset. Jack always made decisions seem so simple,
but anything involving my family could never be simple.
    We talked less as we started to exert more effort. When I
was worn out, I got off the machine and wiped my face and arms with a clean
towel, telling myself not to leer at Jack who was cooling down on the
treadmill.
    “Ugh,” he said, when he finally got off and grabbed a towel.
    “What? Did you exercise too hard?”
    “No. I was actually just remembering tomorrow night.”
    “What about tomorrow night.”
    “I have to go to this stupid banquet.”
    “What banquet?”
    “It’s a work thing.”
    “What’s wrong with that?”
    “I hate formal shit like that. I avoid it as much as I can.
But I really can’t get out of this one.”
    “I’m sure it won’t be too painful.”
    “I’m sure it will be. I don’t even have anything to
wear.”
    “Do you need to wear a tuxedo?”
    “God, I hope not. I don’t think it’s black-tie or anything.”
    “So just wear a dark suit.”
    “All I have is a gray one that I’ve worn about a hundred
times.”
    “You only have one suit?” I stared at him in amazement. He
always dressed casually for work, but his comment was astounding to a girl who
owned about four dozen evening gowns.
    “I think I might have an old one I used to wear to church
with my mom, but it’s at her house in my hometown, and it never did fit very
well.”
    “What do you wear to weddings?”
    “I don’t go to weddings if I can help it.” He smiled
sheepishly and wiped more sweat from his