“I’ve been called ‘Princess’ enough to last one lifetime, and I know that probably sounds ungrateful when it’s many a young girls’ dream, but...”

“Let me guess—the reality isn’t all it’s cracked up to be?”

“No.”

He captured her gaze in his. The warmth, the understanding in his crystal clear blues choked up her chest and had the words spilling forth before she could stop them. “Would you understand if I told you my life has been mapped out for years? My parents had a strategy, and I was their pawn to be played to their best advantage.”

She bit her lip. Shocked at what she’d admitted. How could she trust him not to spill all? To sell her story like so many others had before? “I shouldn’t have—”

She clamped her teeth down so hard she thought she might draw blood, because the truth was, she wanted to talk to him. The urge was like an ever-swelling tide within her. She couldn’t explain it. She’d had no one for so long.

“It’s okay, Cassie. You can trust me.”