“That was the idea,” Miles grinned at Iris when she said he was building her ego. Really it was more of an excuse for him to compliment her without giving away his interest outright. Now that the lockdown was over, there was less of a reason for him to pretend like he didn’t find her ridiculously hot, but he wanted to plan out how he was going to make a real move at least a little before he actually tried it. For now, he would just work less to hide his attraction, so she wouldn’t be blindsided when he left nothing to the imagination later on.

Heading out of his bedroom, he made his way to the front door, where one of the maids had just let Caspian inside the manor. “Hey, long time no see,” he greeted the prince in a friendly manner, then quirked a brow when he noticed the color on his face. “You okay, man? You’re looking a little flushed.”

[color=#b97703]“I don’t want to talk about it,”[/color] Cas shook his head, shutting the topic down with a wince. Apparently his efforts to quell his embarrassment hadn’t worked very well. He hoped the residual awkwardness would fade once he got his mind off the events at the gas station. Seeing Iris again would help. At the thought of her, he peered past Miles’ shoulder down the hallway that led to his room, his heart fluttering with excitement. [color=#b97703]“Let’s go sit down,”[/color] he suggested to the other high born, waving a hand for him to follow as he strode toward the corridor.

“Okay,” Miles complied without question, picking up on the prince’s implied desire to meet up with Iris away from the maids that were milling about the public quarters of the building. They walked back to the bedroom, talking idly as Miles made one more attempt to ask why the prince had shown up to his place looking flustered. Of course, Cas shut him down stubbornly and took a few quick steps ahead to get to the door before his friend had a chance to pester him anymore. As soon as he opened it, he was greeted with the sight he had been awaiting for the whole week.

Stopping in the doorway, he couldn’t help but stare as his eyes landed on Iris. She was sitting on the sofa, donning a beautiful, deep scarlet dress that cinched and flowed over her body in a way that both flattered her figure and highlighted the rosiness of her fair skin. Her golden blonde hair was loose and her blue eyes were especially striking in contrast with the bold color of her clothing. It almost felt like she had been posed just for him, and he nearly missed the words that left her perfectly shaped lips as he struggled to pick his jaw up off the floor.

[color=#b97703]“Um, yeah…”[/color] he managed to splutter after a moment, proceeding the rest of the way into the room with Miles following close behind. Clearing his throat, he smiled at her sheepishly, feeling strangely nervous around her when she looked so incredible. If possible, she was even more gorgeous in person than he’d made her out to be in his imagination while they’d been apart. He was bewildered how he had gotten so lucky that a woman like her was actually interested in him. If his friend hadn’t been in the room with them, he would have been tempted to close the distance between them and have her on the sofa.

Chagrined by the direction of his own thoughts, he forced himself to speak, [color=#b97703]“Anyway, how have you been holding up? I hope Miles hasn’t been giving you too hard of a time while you’ve been stuck here with him.”[/color]