Book 1 || Finding Prince Charming || Harry Styles

Chapter 44

Her view.

"Thanks for the coffee." I smile at Harry as we leave the coffee shop. "It was good."
"Do you feel like you have more energy now?"
"Oh, yes." I lie, then yawn.
"Oh, Cassidy." He grins. "Ii guess the caffeine content wasn't high enough for you."
"Sorry, I didn't get much sleep last night."
"Why not?" His eyes narrow.
"You know." I shrug, not wanting him to know I've been thinking about him all night.
"Did you have a date?" His voice grows hostile. "Were you in--"
"I didn't have a date." I cut him off. "Not that I couldn't have if I wanted."
"I told you my brother is not--"
"Oh, shut up Harry." I sigh. "If I hang out with Louis, that's between us. I'm fed up of hearing you try and warn me off every other day. It's annoying."
"I'm just trying to help..." he begins, and I can see from his expression that he's disgruntled.
"Don't try to help me outside of class, Professor. It's not wanted or needed. And it's definitely not appreciated."
"You're not so timid anymore." His lips twitch as he stares at my heated face.
"I was never timid." I glare at him.
"That's true." He pauses and licks his lips slowly. "You do like to give as good as you get, don't you?"
"It's not hard when it's not very good." I smile at him sweetly and his eyes narrow.
"Are you trying to rile me up, Cassidy? Do you want me to prove to you how good I am?"
"I don't have all year." I reply tartly and he laughs.
"Come, let's go to the museum." He grabs my hand. "I want you to see your face when you look at art."
"Why?"
"It will remind me of the look you make when you come." He whispers in my ear. "The look of exquisite pleasure and raw emotion."
I gasp at his words and pull away from him. There's something so desperately inappropriate about Harry, and while a part of me hates that about him, the other part of me absolutely loves it.

***

"Welcome to the National Gallery." Harry extends his arms as he points at the grand white building in front of us.
"It's huge." I look up at the white building in awe and then run up the steps and stand on the balcony overlooking the city.
"That's Trafalgar Square." Harry runs up behind me and points to the enormous black lions in the centre surrounding a tall statue of a man.
"It's amazing. I've seen the photos before, but never imagined I'd see them in person."
"Do you know who Trafalgar was?"
"Not really. I know he had something to do with Napoleon right?"
"Napoleon Bonaparte?" He looks at me with a straight face.
"I think so." I bite my lower lip. "But Napoleon is French and we're in London, so I don't know." I shrug. "Tell me."
"Well, my question was slightly tricky." He laughs and grabs my hand. "See the statue of the man? His name is Nelson. Lord Nelson. And the column was built for him for his success against the French during the Napoleonic wars at the battle of Trafalgar."
"I knew it had something to do with Napoleon." I stick my tongue out at him and he laughs.
"Indeed you did." He leans forwards me and kisses my cheek. "Let's go inside now so I can impress you with my knowledge of art."
"You don't need to impress me," I say quietly, and he stops and stares at me for a moment before smiling widely.
"And that's why I want to impress you more than anything."

We stand there for a few minutes, my heart beating rapidly at his soft gaze. Part of me wonders if he's going to be sweet to me from now on. Maybe he'll show me a sweeter and softer side. I know that if he calls me a whore or insinuates that I'm a prostitute again, that I'll be likely to slap him so hard his cheek will sting for days.