Zander grabbed two pool sticks and walked toward Andi. As he approached her, she looked up, and for a fleeting moment, a smile broke across her face. Though she seemed to rethink that and wiped it away with her hands.
“I’d challenge you to a game of strip pool, but I fear you’d make a matching red mark on my other cheek,” Zander said, a smile curving sheepishly on one side of his face.
Andi hung her head for a second, then squinted up at him. “It left a red mark? Really?”
Zander pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. “Call Lorenzo and ask him yourself.”
She winced. “I suppose an apology is in order for that.”
“I suspect I might owe an apology or two to you as well.”
“Not sure this is the time or place for a huge mea culpa.”
“Definitely not,” he said, handing her a pool cue. “I won’t make you play strip pool, but I’m not gonna lie, if you play your cards right, we could end up naked by night’s end.”
Andi rolled her eyes. “Are you for real? If so, you’re downright insufferable.”
“I suppose that was my wishful thinking talking. But I’ll settle for a game of pool with you, and maybe I can buy you an apology drink?”
“As long as you agree I buy you one too.”
“Deal,” he said. “Let’s rack ’em up.”
“I haven’t played pool since high school,” Andi said. “Hope I remember what to do.”
“It’s simple,” Zander said, moving behind her and lining his body up with hers as he leaned her over with the pool cue, motioning how to hit the ball. “Aim for this, and you’ll get that.” He pointed as the ball went into a pocket.
“Do I need to have you behind me to achieve that then?” Andi smiled, flirting with him for once.
“Let’s put it this way—no one’s complained when I’ve been lined up behind them like that in the past.”
Andi rolled her eyes as she reracked the balls. “I’m guessing that line usually pulls them in, hook, line and sinker.”
“Does that mean it didn’t work with you?”
“I’ll think about it,” she said as she lined up her first shot and hit it into the center pocket.
“Ouch, looks like I’ve got a shark on my hands.”
“I could say the same about you,” she said with a wink.
For a miraculous stretch of time, Zander and Andi interacted without even a hint of contrariness.
“I think we’ve set a world record,” Zander said.
“For?”
“According to the clock on the wall, we’ve gone a full forty-five minutes without a single act of violence against one another,” he said. “I think we ought to congratulate ourselves on such self-control.”
“Ha-ha. Very funny. But not so fast, sonny boy. Because I’m calling the eight ball in the corner pocket, and you are going to be furious that I just kicked your ass at pool.”
Zander decided to keep it to himself that he couldn’t care less if she beat him. In fact, if that empowered her enough, perhaps she’d let her guard down and give him a chance to move in for the kill.
He held his hands up in surrender as soon as Andi sank the ball. “Okay, lady. You win. I am at your mercy.”
“Oh, you are? I didn’t know that was the prize, or maybe I’d have won earlier.”
Zander arched an eyebrow, incredulous at that statement. “I’m telling myself not to react to cruel taunting. Instead, come with me.”
He grabbed Andi’s pool cue and hung it with his, then took her hand and pulled her away from the crowd.
They walked down a dark hallway, turned a corner, then stepped into a sunken room with plush white carpet, navy-blue walls, and scattered leather sofas. Zander pushed a button and a wall parted to reveal a large screen.
“Pips’s screening room,” he said. “This is one of my little escapes. Sometimes I just want to get away from things, so Pippa and I will come down here and watch films.” He grabbed a remote, pushed a button, and a selection of movies came up on the wall. “What’s your poison?”
It was practically culture shock as it had been so long since Andi had been to the movies. It almost made her feel like she was back home again. As Zander thumbed down on the remote through the selection of movies, Andi commented on whether each one was a contender.
“Most of these I don’t even know. I’m so out of pop culture at this point in my life.”
“And you think I’m into it? Hell no! My history at movie theaters was purely about scoring some points.” He plunked himself down on a sofa and kicked his feet up on the table in front of them. “When I was growing up, I always liked the seats in the back of the theater so I could make out with girls.” He patted the seat next to him, motioning for her to sit down. “Trust me, nowhere did the movie present as a factor to me.” He winked at her.
Andi closed her eyes, emboldening herself to do what until this point had instinctually been the direct opposite of what she’d normally do.
She settled in on the sofa and couldn’t help but skim her hands over it and again. “I can’t believe how soft this is.”
Zander reached over and mimicked her actions with his hand on her leg. “My thoughts precisely.” He leaned over and gently touched her lips with his. She took a deep breath before reaching her tongue out to stroke his lips, extending the invitation Zander had been waiting for. And he didn’t miss a beat, opening his mouth and twining his tongue with hers as his hands explored her body. He’d been fantasizing about getting up under that belly-baring top for hours, and finally his hand found its way to her side, where it roamed over her soft skin while his fingers inched under the clingy top, beneath her barely there bra, until they found her full breasts. He thought he was going to lose it, it felt so heavenly.
It was as if they were in an isolation booth, far, far from the party crowd, in this windowless, soundproofed theater. All they could hear was the panting breath of the other and the sounds of their mouths making contact in a frenzied effort to get to know each other better. Zander reached around and deftly unhooked Andi’s bra, and together in one motion they got her top off and cast that bra somewhere across the room.
Zander pressed Andi down on the sofa, and he reluctantly moved his mouth away from hers, instead wending his way with his tongue down the column of her throat, working his way farther down till his mouth found her breast and he laved her nipple with his tongue, leaving Andi moaning with pleasure. His hand managed to unzip the side of her skirt and shimmy it off. Next to go was her thong, which he flung behind him, eager for his hands to get to a more lucrative destination. His fingers found her folds, wet and ready, and he stroked her slowly, to Andi’s delight. She urged him on by pressing herself against his fingers, which he began to move in and out of her as her moans grew louder and the thrust of her hips faster. He took a gentle bite of her nipple, which was enough to send her over the edge, and she shouted his name as she shuddered against him.
Zander made quick work of his shorts, already damp from his foray into the swimming pool earlier in the evening, and his boxer briefs while Andi lay sated, glowing with a natural smile he’d long hoped to see on her face.
~*~
Andi gave Zander an approving once-over as he stood naked for a second time before her, this time with her as the sole audience. She reached her hands out to pull him down, but was able to first wrap her hands around that glorious cock she’d seen once before. This time her amazement took on a whole new dimension, excited to try him on for size, as it were. As she pumped her hands up and down on him, he grew even larger, to her great pleasure. It was Zander’s turn to groan.
He pointed at himself, then at her, and said, “Now.”
Andi stopped for a minute, remembering at last something of vital necessity, pointing at his cock. “Protection?” she said with a slight plea in her voice.
Zander scrambled for his shorts, reaching into the back pocket and pulling out a condom, holding it up like a swee
pstakes prize. “I think they say in your country ‘a Boy Scout is always prepared.’” He smiled as he settled himself between her spread legs and slid with ease into her warm body. They lay still for a minute as each savored the sensation of skin on skin. Andi could feel Zander’s heart pounding in his chest and hear his breathing grow faster. She pulled his head down to kiss him, and he began a slow slide in and out of her, spreading her wider, pushing deeper, while Andi grabbed for that gorgeous ass of his to pull him toward her. They both groaned and gasped and pumped harder and harder until Zander let out a loud groan and held himself deep inside her, and Andi followed him with a moan that seemed to go on forever.
Chapter Fifteen
AT some point at what seemed the middle of night—albeit in a windowless room with dark blue walls, where night is day and day is night—Zander heard his phone buzz. At first he denied its intrusion, comfortably spooned against Andi beneath a blanket he’d found that they’d laid out on the floor. He made a mental note to replace it for Pippa as soon as possible. Maybe he’d ask her if he could keep it for sentimental reasons.
Sentimental? Had he lost his mind? Since when had he become maudlin about sex?
Zander extricated himself from Andi’s warm body and fumbled on his hands and knees in the dark, following the buzzing sound that persisted. Finally he found his phone and saw a raging text from his mother.
ALEXANDER, WHERE IN GOD’S NAME ARE YOU??? WE ARE HOSTING A BREAKFAST WITH THE PRIME MINISTER OF FRANCE IN ONE HOUR, AND YOU ARE NOWHERE TO BE FOUND. YOU HAD BEST SHOW UP, CLEANED, DRESSED, AND LOOKING YOUR BRIGHTEST OR I ASSURE YOU THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY!!!
“Crap,” he said, gulping. His mother was not one for hyperbole. When she threatened retribution, she meant it. He glanced over at Andi, sound asleep beneath the cozy blanket and snoring slightly, clutching the blanket so serenely, and he didn’t have the heart to wake her. He’d call Pippa first thing and straighten things out, but he’d better get a move on prontissimo or he would meet with the wrath of an angry mother.
He pulled on his still-clammy shorts, dug his keys from the pocket, placed a gentle kiss on Andi’s shoulder, and snuck quietly from the room.
~*~
“That bastard!” Andi said as she woke alone in Pippa’s movie theater, in the pitch black, having no idea what time it was but well aware she was all alone. She fumbled around until she found a light switch and could survey the damage. Her cute borrowed skirt lay rumpled some five feet away from where she’d last worn it. Her top was God only knew where, her bra hung suspended from the doorknob, and her thong had ended up by the popcorn machine.
“I could kill him!” she said with a growl. “I knew I shouldn’t have trusted him! All he wanted was to get in my pants. Another notch on the royal headboard. Dammit! I should have known better!”
She collected up her belongings—well, Pippa’s belongings—fluffed up the couch, folded the blanket, and left the comfort of the screening room—screening room, indeed!—to face her shame.
Andi followed her nose, trying to remember her way through the house on a mission to get up to her bedroom where she could bury her head in a pillow and maybe cry for a minute or two before regaining her composure and saying “fuck it” about Z’s betrayal. But instead she was greeted with sunlight blinding her dark-adjusted eyes as she wended her way through the main floor of the house and into the kitchen.
“Well, good morning, princess,” Pippa said, slapping her friend lightly on the back.
Andi blanched. Princess? Oh, God. She knew?
She smiled the smile of someone who just realized they have a huge hole in the crotch of their pants and everyone’s noticed it.
“Princess?” she said, leading the question in hopes that Pippa would not only disclose what she knew but also where that lout Zander was. Andi knew for sure he hadn’t run out to grab them coffees. And she sure as hell hoped Pippa wasn’t aware of her ill-conceived royal hookup, what with the “princess” reference.
“A little joke,” her friend said. “Though you can be the princess of our hearts, if you’d like.”
Andi felt like she was going to throw up. How on earth had she gotten herself into such a situation?
“Thanks, but I’m not cut out for the royal life,” she said. “I think I’ll stick with my commoner status where I can stay under the radar if I’d like.”
“According to my friend Zander, it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be anyhow,” Pippa said. “Far too many ribbon-cuttings and grip-and-grins, and a whole lot of feeling like you’re the most important unimportant person on the planet.”
Important? Full of self-import is more like it, Andi thought.
“I can only imagine,” she said, and really, she could only imagine. Because the royal life would never be her life. And she knew she absolutely hated the flippancy and the betrayals that seemed to come with members of the royal family. Thanks, but no thanks.
“Did you sleep well?” Pippa asked her, handing her a cappuccino she’d just made.
Andi took a sip of her drink, trying to come up with a legitimate story. “Like a baby, thanks.”
“And with whom?”
Emma spluttered out her cappuccino. “What do you mean?”
“My powers of deduction at work,” her friend said, holding up her fingers, counting. “First, you’re still in last night’s clothes. I didn’t figure you’d tend to sleep in your party wear. Second, you’re doing a walk of shame from that direction”—she pointed down the hall—“nowhere near your bedroom. And third, well, you look like you’re ready to throw up, which means either you’re dreadfully hungover, or ready to commit hara-kiri for an embarrassing hookup.”
The woman was a damned clairvoyant.
“Um, yeah, well, about that...”
Pippa laughed. “No need to confess. I was just teasing. I shouldn’t have put you on the spot like that.”
Andi rubbed her temples. “I shouldn’t have put myself on the spot like that.”
“As long as you had fun,” Pippa said with a wink.
Andi didn’t want to think about how much fun she’d had, at least until she’d discovered she was abandoned and alone.
“Yeah, well, it was okay. Let’s leave it at that.”
“So, what would you like to do today?” Pippa asked, reaching for the remote and turning on the television.
Curl up in a ball and cry?
“Gosh, I hadn’t even given it a thought.”
After all, I was too mired in embarrassment.
“We could go into town and shop,” Pippa said. “Although on your budget that might not be in order.”
Andi shook her head in agreement. “My backpack wouldn’t appreciate that either. It’s about as full as it can get.”
“Or we could hang out here, lounge by the pool, and just relax.”
“That seems more my speed.” She wanted no chance of being in public and running into that rat bastard ever again.
The television blared in the background.
“...In other news, the royal family hosted the French prime minister at an official breakfast at the palace.”
Andi glanced up at the television screen to see a cutaway of Zander and what must be his family, all shaking hands with the prime minister. She shook her head to clear her mind. Of course he had bigger fish to fry, she thought. After a quickie with the girl he wanted to conquer, it’s only natural he’d run off to be a prince with more important duties. A lesson learned. She bit her lip and suppressed tears from rolling down her cheeks.
Chapter Sixteen
ZANDER counted the minutes till he could free himself from yet another dull breakfast with a man whom he had no interest in making bilingual small talk with. Events like this only reminded him really didn’t desire to one day be in charge of all this hoo-ha. He was perfectly content to go about his business, get into the occasional kerfuffle, and never have to worry about a real royal schedule like his brother Adrian had. Just as soon as he could slip out
, he’d get hold of Andi.
Only when he finally tried to reach Pippa, there was no answer.
He called repeatedly but only got his friend’s voice mail. He was tempted to return to her villa, but just in case Andi hadn’t disclosed what had happened, he thought it best not to do that.
His phone rang, and he hoped it was who he hoped it was, but instead it was Lorenzo.
“Ciao, Lorenzo, what’s up?”
“Just checking in with you, making sure you’re staying out of trouble.”
Zander laughed. “Would you really rather I simply followed protocol and died a slow, painful death from boredom?’
“What if I said yes?”
“Well, I wouldn’t believe you. Besides, you don’t have to worry about it regardless. I’ve been trouble-free purely by accident.”
“Miracles do happen.”
“Speaking of miracles,” Zander said. “I found her.”
“Her?”
“The blonde.”
“Ohhhh. Her?”
“Indeed.”
“Did she hit you over the head with a cricket bat this time?”
Zander laughed. “Let’s say I put my cricket bat to good use.”
“Wait a second. You’re telling me the two of you hooked up?”
“Lorenzo, you make it sound so sordid. It was way more than a hookup.”
“Aha! I knew it. This one is the one to tame you. What did you call her—the wildcat? So fitting: we have the wildcat taming the wild child.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Zander said. “But I also wouldn’t say no to making this a more frequent occurrence.”
Zander explained how the night had unfolded, to his friend’s rapt attention.
“So what’s your plan?” Lorenzo said.
“My plan was to get hold of Pippa, but she’s not answering. I can’t let Andi stew on this or she’ll think I treated her like a one-night stand. But shy of showing up at Pippa’s doorstep, how do I reach her?”
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