If not for the sound of shuffling on the other side of the door, Cas would have thought that Iris wasn’t in her room. He stood in the corridor for just under a minute, guessing that she had either just crawled out of bed or had been in the adjoining bathroom when he’d arrived. He hoped it was the former. When he and his father had stopped by earlier in the morning, she had looked thoroughly exhausted, so it would be relieving to know that she had gotten some sleep during the day. If he’d had the time, he would have done the same thing, but unfortunately, the socialites of the capital couldn’t seem to function without reassurance from the royal family that the terrorist attack wouldn’t affect their assets. He rolled his eyes. The three hours he had spent taking their phone calls would have been better spent napping.

His thoughts were interrupted when the door finally swung open, and he was greeted by the sight of Iris, long blonde hair still damp from the shower she had taken. Even in her casual clothes, she looked good. His dark brown eyes swept down and up her frame in a quick once-over, just as entranced as he always was. She seemed to have managed to rest at least a little too. The dark circles under her eyes had faded, and the color had returned to her cheeks—quite a bit, he noticed. His gaze lingered on her face as he took in the attractive detail, until he realized she was [i]blushing[/i]. She was staring back at him, and she was blushing. He bit the inside of his lip to stifle a smile, happy with her reaction.

It wasn’t the first time he’d been ogled by a woman. He usually caught a few glancing in his direction when he went out in public—and sometimes men as well—and the media often made a show of broadcasting the fact that he was still single. Popular gossip articles liked to pose guesses about his “ideal” partner and circulate rumors about why he had never had a long-term girlfriend. One of his favorites was a particularly saucy story about a secret lover from a neighboring country who had moved to Aspiria and now worked at a strip club in the heart of the capital. Supposedly the woman had won him over with her exotic dancing and sultry body, and he had a forbidden relationship with her in the privacy of the back rooms.

Of course, the rumor was completely untrue—he’d only been to one strip club in his life when Jay had insisted it was necessary for his twenty-first birthday—but the wild tales the writers came up with were entertaining nonetheless, and they fueled the public’s interest in his dating life. Seemingly every woman in the capital under thirty wanted to be the first to “steal his heart” and become the princess who would one day reign at his side as queen. Money and power were enticing commodities, after all. If only they knew that Atlas was determined to arrange a political marriage for him though, they might realize that his love life wasn’t as thrilling as they believed it to be.

Unlike the wandering eyes of the other high borns in the capital, Iris’s stare wasn’t unwanted. Caspian’s heart somersaulted in his chest as she stuttered and flushed a deeper shade of red, further confirming the effect he had on her. He was just as smitten, and the grin he’d tried to suppress broke free to take over his mouth. [color=#b97703]“I’m surviving,”[/color] he shrugged, stepping past her into the bedroom to stand by the edge of her unmade bed. [color=#b97703]“Did you manage to sleep?”[/color] He turned around and leaned his hip against the mattress, slipping his hands languidly into his trouser pockets. Although he was so tired that he could have swayed on his feet, he tried not to let it show. There was nothing that could be done, since he had to give a public address in an hour, and he didn’t want her to worry or chide him for pushing his own needs aside.

[color=#b97703]“I’m leaving soon, but I wanted to come by first and ask if you’ve had dinner,”[/color] his eyes dropped fleetingly to his watch once more as he compulsively monitored the time. [color=#b97703]“If you haven’t, we can eat together. I feel a little bad for leaving you here by yourself all day.”[/color] His smile turned sheepish. [color=#b97703]“I promise I’ll be around more often after this mess is sorted out, but for now, do you want to have dinner with me?”[/color]