Leo reached for her hand and pressed her palm to his chest that had no right to be so muscular. “Hmm, that’s a non-answer.”
Anna wanted to pull away so he didn’t see how out of her element she was with him. She lifted her chin and ignored the shake in her voice as she licked her lips. “It’s all I’ll say. It takes me weeks to buy a pair of shoes and we’re talking about something that’s to be inside me. So let’s move on. What’s the last thing to discuss?”
“Last?” He pressed his forehead to hers.
She quivered as he held her closer. “You mentioned four things to discuss.”
His hands went up and down her back. “Ah. Four. I want to ensure you don’t object to kissing.”
“Kissing?” Her lips pursed like she was ready—she ducked her head and hoped he hadn’t noticed.
He held her and she couldn’t see anything else as he said, “Only kissing. But not just in public, or in front of the staff. Any time.”
Her eyes fluttered closed and she whispered, “I liked when you kissed me in your office.”
He tightened his grip like he possessed her as he brushed her hair behind her ear. His fingers on her face sent a shudder through her. She didn’t know what to do. He said, “Good. I’d like for those kisses to continue.”
That sounded impossible. She’d have to be comfortable near him and right now, in his arms, that seemed crazy. She sighed. “I’m not sure.”
He ran his hands through her loose hair. “Let’s try it and see.”
“Okay…” she said but he claimed her lips and stopped her from saying anything else.
Heaven help her. She was his. Somehow she needed a plan to win his heart, but his kiss left her breathless.
Chapter 5
The sun shone through the glass door leading to the balcony, but that brightness didn’t offer a massage, and Leo needed one. The hot shower hadn’t helped. Leopoldo left the bright tower bedroom with aches in his body he’d never had in his life.
Each sore muscle made him wish for a bed.
Hopefully soon Anna Camila would let him in her bed.
Then maybe he’d get a good night’s sleep again.
And know what she tasted like.
One day soon, but for now he headed into his office as Anna showered in their suite.
Innocent and sweet Anna who was also clear-headed, smart and beautiful. Very few women had all her qualities and were usually the first any smart guy wanted to marry, which made him extremely lucky that she was available.
Luck had never been on his princely side. Usually he found himself knee-deep in trouble if he was up this early.
Except when Anna set his schedule. She’d kept him pretty steady this year which was another one of her positive traits.
It was as if Francesca had spies on him, because the moment he closed his office door, his phone rang. He read the screen and saw Francesca’s name as he listened to the voice mail.
It was too bad he couldn’t just send the voice mail to Anna to deal with, but he couldn’t do that anymore.
Somehow he needed to explain to his wife what had happened, but it wouldn’t be fair for her to fix this particular problem, if there was one. He prayed that Francesca was lying.
On the second ring, he answered and looked out the huge bay windows that led to a metal balcony. “Francesca, why are you calling me?”
In her high-pitched sing-song voice she said, “I’m at the hospital, taking the test as you requested.”
How had he thought her attractive? His entire body was tight as he wished he’d never touched her.
Now he needed to solve this problem and solve it without Anna. He pressed his lips together. “Look, give me two minutes and I’ll call you back with further directions.”
Again she said like she sang, “I’ll look forward to it, Leo.”
His heart raced as he ended the call. There had to be an answer where Anna didn’t just snap her fingers and take care of everything.
Would he hurt her if he told her? He was used to them being a team.
Tension went to his left temple. Behind him a light knock on the door sounded before it swung open and he turned. Anna walked in, wearing a sky blue dress and flats. “Everything okay?” If he lied to her right now, that made him a horrible husband. If he didn’t pay for any child he might father, he was a horrible person. His heart twisted as he crossed his hands and stared down at her. “Who’s doing your job now that you’re my wife?”
She tugged her ear. “I can handle whatever you need…”
And then he’d have to explain. Francesca was the past and he needed to focus on Anna and their future. He took her hands. “I’d rather we focus on us. But who should I call?”
She squeezed his palm and then let his hands go as she shrugged. Anna jotted down a number on a pad of paper at his desk. His phone beeped as she said, “I was showing Pierre the ropes yesterday morning.”
“I’ll call him fast.” He kissed her cheek and noticed how warm and soft her skin was. “Meet you for breakfast in a few minutes?”
She walked to the window and pointed down to the water. “Okay. I’m going to explore the shoreline of the castle. There’s a small beach I’m itching to dig my heels into. Bring coffee?”
Then he’d have a few minutes in private to find Pierre and figure out how to tell Anna about Francesca without having her solve the problem. As she headed to the door, he stared at the sway of her hips and said, “See you, my sweet.”
She pivoted, and her eyebrow rose. “That’s new.”
The nickname? His lips curved into a smile. “You don’t like it? You are the sweetest thing in my life these days.”
A huge grin beamed from her face. “Then you can say it again. See you soon.”
She walked out the door and gently closed it. He waited a minute and then sat at his desk. Once he was sure no one was outside the door, he called the number Anna had given him. Pierre answered on the first ring. Leo said fast, “Pierre, I need you to drive to the royal hospital and ensure Francesca Goodrum does a pregnancy test, and if that is positive, I need her to take a paternity test.”
Pierre’s voice was hesitant as he asked, “Paternity test, Sire?”
Fair. He should probably explain. He massaged the back of his tense neck. “She says she’s pregnant with my child. I need to be sure before we proceed.”
“I’m on it, Sire.”
“Good man.” Leo stood and peered out the windows to the ocean below. Anna was walking alone on the beach, her dress a different hue than the sea. “I’ll be back to the palace in a few days. Any developments I want you to report right to me, and not Anna Camila on this.”
“Yes, Sire,” Pierre answered.
He hung up and went to his room, changed into a short-sleeved polo, and headed downstairs.
The staff was chipper and talking to themselves, and he ordered coffee from them before he strolled outside in the sun.
For the rest of the day he would enjoy himself with Anna, and tell her Francesca’s possible condition as soon as he knew for sure. If it came to pass, then he would promise to never cheat or hurt her in any way ever, including publicly, again. This would play out badly on the news and she would need to be prepared.
He had to protect her from his own mistakes.
He would explain once he had all the facts from the doctor in a day or two. As he made it to the beach, he heard Anna splashing her feet in the ocean and saw her flats kicked up on the sand—Anna didn’t seem to care that her dress was getting wet.
He bent down to take off his shoes when his phone rang in his back pocket.
He checked it and his heart stopped.
Pierre was to handle this. Francesca shouldn’t interrupt his honeymoon with Anna. Leo stepped back. “Francesca, my new secretary will join you at the hospital. Please call the royal palace at the number I just sent you.”
She sighed and said, “I wish you could be here.”
This wasn’t good. While Anna was still a myster
y, he’d never hurt her with another woman, especially Francesca. “Francesca, I’m a married man now.”
Francesca’s voice was thick as if she was crying. “Doesn’t change how I feel. I love you, Leo.”
Or she loved his money. One day she’d be someone else’s wife. Perhaps he’d tell Pierre to find some other noble desperate to marry and send Francesca off. His ancestors would have gotten rid of mistresses that way. His voice was tight as he said, “Goodbye.”
He hung up the phone and put it in his back pocket, then took off his shoes and folded up the hem of his pants so he wouldn’t get wet in the surf. Anna laughed while water sprayed against her legs and he noticed how perfect she was in the damp fabric.
How had he not seen those legs in the skirts she’d worn?
Clearly he’d been blind because she was molded much better than any model he’d ever entangled himself with.
From now on, he’d never be so stuck up that he missed what was right in front of his nose.
She turned around when he neared. A wave smacked against her back, but she didn’t even flinch. She brushed her salty hand on his face. “You look pensive. Is everything okay?”
One day soon he’d tell her. He had to. But first he’d solve his own mess, so he laced his fingers with hers and said, “It is now that I’m with you.”
Anna blinked sea water from her lashes. High tide was rolling in—he should have brought her a towel. “What kind of emergency do you have Pierre dealing with?”
Her mouth had a blue tinge due to the cold temperature of the water. She needed to get out before she caught a chill. He walked her toward the beach as he asked, “What?”
She followed until their toes dug into dry sand. “You called me once in the middle of the night to ensure your horse was ready to ride early in the morning.”
He led her toward their shoes and handed hers to her, not that she’d put them on. Her feet were as sandy as his. Leo showed her a small water valve to clean them. “I’m spoiled, Anna Camila. I always have been.”
She turned it on like she was some servant still and motioned for him to wash his feet first while she said, “You’re a prince destined to be a king. I guess that’s expected.”
His wife needed to understand she was to be queen. He tapped her lower leg and positioned her calf in the stream of water. “Anna, I need to talk to you about something.”
As clean water washed away the mud, she swayed in his arms and tossed her shoes on the pebbles. He let her foot down and she headed back onto the sand. “Look!”
Anna sounded excited by the pod of dolphins off shore, so much so that she didn’t care about dirty feet.
“Where are you going?”
“Are those dolphins?”
“Yes.” He placed his shoes next to hers, glad they were in a protected bay where no press could take his picture, and straightened hers out too.
Grinning at the dolphins as their pod swam closer, Anna waded into the water without looking back. “Put your shoes down and come splash with me.”
Without a thought to her dress, she waded to her hips like she was a mermaid transfixed by the dolphins.
Anna was breathtaking, forgetting the rules to never be seen as less than proper when outside, though he put his hands in his pockets and followed her into the water. “I need to talk to you though.”
She squealed like she was still a teenager as she pointed toward the pod of dolphins. “In a minute. I just want to enjoy the water… they’re coming closer!”
And just like that silver gray dolphins flew three meters out of the water like they were playing, and one of the dolphins came over to her. She squealed, with her light brown hair tendrils in the water like she was goddess herself and it seemed like he kissed her.
Anna wouldn’t know the legend on this island, as it wasn’t in the school books, but his sisters loved to tease him that one day his future queen would be chosen by the dolphins to rule Avce. He blinked, remembering how his sisters had giggled at him when he was nine years old. He hadn’t believed them—maybe someday he’d tell them about this day.
Anna laughed as the dolphins dove off toward the open sea. Leo reached her side and pressed his hand on her lower back. “They must know you’re one of the good ones, my sweet.”
Her face turned red as she reluctantly left the ocean, looking like an all-natural goddess who didn’t need a drop of makeup or artifice. “Now you’re making me blush. They were beautiful though.”
For the second time they washed the mud off their feet. She carried her shoes without putting them on as she leapt to the dry round stones. He slipped his shoes on. “Come. Let’s go back to the castle. I want to talk.”
She stayed beside him and shrugged. “What’s going on? This sounds more serious than a ride on a horse.”
A vague memory surfaced from a year ago of him waking up in bed, next to some woman and calling Anna on the phone. His cheeks burned. “It was. It is.” Her eyebrows rose as they walked up the steep cobblestone hill. He massaged the back of his skull and said, “I… I don’t how to tell you.”
Again she shrugged as she stayed beside him, the late morning sun warming their skin. “Tell me what? I’ve been handling your problems for a year now.”
His body clenched. This was why even though he wanted to be honest and upfront, he couldn’t talk to her about Francesca yet. Not until he knew Francesca was in fact having his child, despite the condom. Then he’d brief Anna without asking her to solve anything. They continued up the path. “You shouldn’t have to. A man solves his own problems.”
They walked up stone steps that were created a century ago or more and she didn’t miss a beat, staying at his side. “I see. Well, as your secretary, I actually enjoyed a few of the tasks, though paying off Francesca to stay away from your parents was a chore.”
Boom. Without intending to, she’d twisted the knife and he pressed his hand to his heart. He flexed his thumb, unsure exactly what had happened but it seemed important. “How?”
She put her hands in the pockets of her damp dress already drying from the sunshine. “I didn’t feel comfortable negotiating on your behalf and I wasn’t authorized to pay the amount of money demanded. When I came to you, you just okayed the deal without countering and I was confused.”
Leo never should have sent Anna. If he’d ever guessed he’d marry her then he wouldn’t have. He swallowed his pride and tried to picture exactly what she said in his mind. “Why were you confused? It was just a chore.”
She puffed out a breath of air like she didn’t approve. “Francesca had asked for triple the price and you just paid her off without caring about the amount.”
Irresponsibility was clearly a pattern of behavior that needed to end. He admitted, “I don’t remember the specifics.” He’d just wanted the model gone.
She bumped into his side and beamed up at him like she had the secrets of a happy life embedded in her DNA. “It’s because money doesn’t matter to you. You have lots of it. But for the rest of us… money matters a great deal and can often make people do things they wouldn’t want to do.”
He pressed his hand on her hip to stop her as they neared the top of the stone steps. “You never have to worry about money again.”
She laughed like what he said was funny before nodding. “What’s your problem so I can help?”
No. He was more determined now to keep her separate. He leaned forward, kissed her forehead and said, “I’ll figure out what to do and explain soon.”
She didn’t pull away but didn’t wrap her arms around him either. “Whatever you like, Leo.”
He needed to remember this was their honeymoon, and he’d promised to seduce her. He tugged her into a hug as his hands traced her lower back. “What I’d like?”
“Yes.” Her eyelids fluttered.
He leaned closer and asked, “Including stealing a kiss?”
Her lips pursed. “I’m probably salty.”
“I don’t care.” He lowered his
head.
She finally wrapped her arms around his waist. “Okay.”
Then she melted into his kiss and he forgot everything else.
Anna was now his queen and he needed to show her how good life could be.
Chapter 6
Anna Camila had tiptoed through the house to their bedroom in the castle and now dropped her black Versace flats on the marble floor without messing them up, but the soles of her feet were sandy.
She would apologize to the housekeepers. Anna Camila unzipped the side of her damp blue dress and headed toward the bathroom. “I’ll need a shower, Leo.”
“Then we’ll head to the stables,” he said behind her.
The door was still open. She saw how he carelessly tossed his black pants onto the floor.
Maybe one day she wouldn’t care that someone else had to clean up after her, but she doubted it. She turned on the water and called out, “I don’t know how to ride horses.”
She stripped off her dress and froze when he popped his head into the bathroom. Her entire body turned red as he eyed her in her black underwear and bra. “We can ride tomorrow, then. How about today we go to the stables and I’ll introduce you to Lady.”
She closed the door with her hip the moment he left.
One day she’d be used to him in her life, with no thought to boundaries. But that was not today. She folded the dress near the door and then locked it.
Once she was sure she was alone, she stepped into the shower, washing her hair.
The salt washed off easily and soon she felt clean.
She wrapped herself in a white robe that was warmed for her and headed into the bedroom.
Leo winked at her as he went into the shower. She asked, “Who is Lady?”
He ran his hands over her terrycloth sleeve. “Your filly. She’s gentle and a good horse for you to learn how to sit in a saddle.”
With that pronouncement, he entered the bathroom, and she studied her closet in amazement.
Until now she’d had maybe ten outfits to wear. Now she had an entire closet. Everything was name-brand, and somehow this was her new life. She pressed her lips together, choosing black capris and a black cotton shirt. “Riding is important to you.”
Forbidden King (Princes of Avce Book 9) Page 5