Little Pink Plus Sign

A Terrible Liar

The next day, I was on duty guarding Lissa which, in all honesty, gave me serious mixed feelings. I couldn’t wait to tell her, but with the news also came the news that I couldn’t guard her for the next nine months. The idea of that was frustrating.

After several kisses from Dimitri, I headed towards her suite. Christian answered the door wiping the sleep from his eyes, his hair a mess. Mumbling something about Lissa being in the shower, he walked towards the kitchen.

“Coffee?” he offered.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “No, you have my cup. You need it more.” Opening his mouth to return my comment with some snarky remark, he shrugged and poured his coffee.

Lissa emerged from the bathroom, her blonde hair glistening. “I’m almost ready!” she called. Minutes later, she waltzed out of the bathroom looking absolutely stunning. “I had to dress up for girl’s day out!”

I laughed, a twinge of nervousness catching it in my throat. “Well, let’s go!”

“Have fun, girls,” Christian said, kissing her goodbye.

Once we were out the door, Lissa smiled brightly. “How long has it been since we’ve had a girls’ day? No politics. No guardians…sorta. Just us and some long overdue mani-pedis!” She giggled with excitement.

I had to admit her enthusiasm was contagious. I let out a breathy laugh and nodded. “Hopefully we’ll have these more often!” Since I can’t be your guardian for the next nine months…

Suddenly, she stopped. “What is wrong with you? Normally you would be giddier than me about a girls’ day. Did you and Dimitri have a fight?” Her eyebrows scrunched together.

“I’m fine, Liss. Let’s go,” I urged, entwining my fingers with her.

She pulled back. “No, really Rose, what’s wrong?”

Putting on my best blissful face, I faced her. “It’s really nothing. I just have a lot on my mind. So the sooner we get this day started, the better.”

Tucking a loose hair behind my ear, she regarded my face carefully. “Okay,” she conceded. “But you know you can tell me whatever’s going on.” I nodded. “You and Dimitri are okay?”

“Better than ever,” I said honestly. This seemed to calm her fears. “What’s new with you? I feel like we haven’t had time to talk in a while.” It was true. With her queenly duties and my silent part in her new life, opportunities for us to talk didn’t come often.

“Honestly, I don’t think…” She paused, and her face lit up. “Christian has been trying to get me to agree to a trip to Paris. I didn’t want to decide until I ran it by you since you’ll be coming with us of course! You and Dimitri, our fearless guardians!”

I felt my mouth go dry. “Paris? The guardian detail we’ll need is –”

“I know, I know. It’ll be extensive, but honestly, Rose we’ve been trapped in America all of our lives. Aren’t you a little curious?”

“Yeah, no, it sounds like an awesome trip. I’ll have to talk to Dimitri about it so we can work out the details, but it sounds amazing.” Hopefully that would buy me some time.

Suddenly, the sharp smell of acetone hit my nose. Then, my stomach. Nausea rolled through me and quickly muttering to Lissa, I ran towards the bathroom. Once my tiny breakfast was completely out of my stomach, I looked up to find Lissa holding back my hair. She handed me a wad of toilet paper, concern filling her face.

“Sorry, I just…” At a complete loss for words, I shrugged.

“Rose if you weren’t feeling well, you should’ve just told me. We could’ve rescheduled,” she said, her voice filled with hurt.