Forbidden

11| Princess

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Princess

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Chapter 11: Princess (Grace's POV)

I'm tired of standing in the corner of the room, watching my family and our guests have fun and dance. I want to dance too. I took a step towards the dance floor and was stopped immediately by a steel grip on my arm. I sighed, rolling my eyes and turning to face him. It's the first ball with him as my bodyguard, and I already find him to be much worse than Finn at events like this. "What is it now, Mr. Stone?" 

He rolled his eyes at the name and then cleared his throat, "I can't let you go there while it's so crowded. It's only been a few days since..." 

Don't remind me. I don't want to think about how Finn was shot dead right in front of me. "And?" I acted cold and unaffected. "I want to dance, so I will." 

"You can't," he seethed. "It's for your safety." 

I blinked in thought, staring at him. "So dance with me." 

"Excuse me?" 

"Dance with me. You'll be close, you can keep an eye on me, you can keep me safe. It can't get any better." 

He worked his jaw. "I hope you're aware that could get us both in trouble, your highness," he gritted out. 

"Don't call me that, please." I hate it enough as it is when Ms. Bella and the others call me 'your highness.' Ronan isn't that much older than me, only two years, so it feels even more weird than usual. 

"Don't call me Mr. Stone if you don't want me to call you your highness. My name is Ronan." 

"And mine is Grace." I shook his hand. "Pleasure to meet you. Now dance with me, Mr. Stone. Or I'll go ahead and believe me, you won't be able to do anything to stop me. I'll disappear right in front of your eyes. Let's bet on it, shall we? What do you say?" I held one hand out. 

He'd either bet, or he'd take my hand and dance with me. He sighed, glancing around the room once before placing his hand in mine. "I say we dance, your highness." 

I glared at him as we walked into the crowd. 

"You called me Mr. Stone, of course, I called you your highness," he mumbled, taking my hand and pulling me with him to the floor. I know he could get in trouble, I could get in trouble, he could get fired. I don't really care and it seems like he doesn't either. 

"You're a pain in the ass, Mr. Stone. I can't do anything without your permission, it makes me feel pathetic." 

"I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about that, Princess." 

My eyebrows shot up at the new nickname. Not very original, though, I will say. 

"You're a princess, so it's not technically a nickname. Don't be surprised." 

"I'll be damned if I am," I scoffed while my hands gripped his shoulders and his found my waist. We kept dancing. I tried numerous times to abruptly change the pace so I could trip him up and see him falter just once, embarrass him and see him flush just once. But nope. He was always one step ahead of me, always leading the dance. In fact, I faltered when he jerked me closer, my body flush against his. I let out a small gasp and lifted my head to look at him, only for him to gently place a hand on the back of my head and push it back down, my cheek resting against his chest.