Eda couldn't stop crying. She cried all the way down the stairs, from the penthouse to the lobby of Prince Seyman's hotel. She couldn't handle the elevator alone, without Serkan, and that made her cry harder.
She cried in the taxi. She sobbed so violently that the driver kept asking if she was okay and gave her tissue along with a piece of chocolate to make her feel better. He wouldn't even take the fare from her.
Now, unlocking the door to her house, she was still crying. She had to calm down. She'd done what she had to do. Inside the foyer, she took a deep breath and slowly blew it out. She had to keep it together because now the real work began. She wasn't about to let her grandmother control her life.
The house was dark; she guessed her aunt and Melo were both out and she was glad. She needed to be alone. She trudged up the stairs to her bedroom. It had been such a long day, and she just wanted to put on comfy clothes and crawl into her bed and dream about him.
Why was everything always so hard for them? Why wouldn't everyone just leave them alone? Why couldn't they just love each other?
She turned on the small lamp by the door and set her purse down before she shrugged her blazer off and hung it on the back of her chair. She reached behind her with both hands to unzip her dress, and she struggled to reach it. Melo had zipped it up for her when she put it on. She sighed in frustration. "Can anything just be easy for me today?" Fresh tears streamed down her face as she tried again to reach the top of the zipper. She started to feel trapped; she just wanted it off!
"Can I help you with that?"
Eda whirled around, her eyes wide with surprise, to see Serkan standing by the window, leaning against the wall, his hands in his pockets.
"Serkan! You scared me to death!" She put her hand on her chest to calm her racing heart and took a deep breath. "What are you doing here? We agreed we wouldn't see each other until we deal with my grandmother."
He sauntered toward her with a sexy little smirk on his face, his eyes blazing with desire. He stood right in front of her, mere inches separating them. He was so close she had to tip her head back to see his face. He looked down at her and smiled. He loved when she was barefoot--she was so little and adorable, his fairy girl.
He noticed her wet, swollen eyes and his expression changed to one of concern. He held her face, his thumbs wiping the tears from her soft skin.
"You've been crying. I don't want you to cry, Eda."
She averted her eyes from his and sniffed. "I'm fine." She rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands, willing the tears to stop. "How did you get in here?
"Melo let me in. Right before she left. To spend the night at Ceren's. And she said your aunt will be out late, too." He kissed her cheek and ran his hands over her hair. "I didn't like the way we left things at Seyman's. I wanted to make sure you were okay."
She held his face in her hands and pulled him down so their foreheads touched. "Serkan, I hated saying those things to you." She kissed his lips softly. "But you know we're being watched. We can't take risks like this. If she finds out--"
"She won't." He trailed his fingers lightly up both her arms, his touch leaving goosebumps in its wake. He closed his hands around her biceps and leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Knowing we're being watched and could be caught at any time makes this more exciting, doesn't it?" He sucked her earlobe between his lips, scraping his teeth over it before he released it.
Eda's lips parted on a gasp. Her pulse whooshed in her ears; her heart was beating so loud and fast, she was sure he could hear it. She looked away from him to hide her arousal. "No, Serkan. It's not exciting; it makes me nervous."
