Royal Wrecker: Barnes Family Romances Book 4

by Alleman, Normandie

  The doctor inserted a tongue depressor in Leo’s mouth. “Say ahhh,”

  “Ahhh,” Leo uttered, obediently sticking out his tongue.

  The doctor listened to his chest with his stethoscope. He let the end of it drop and scratched his head.

  “I’m sorry, but I don’t see anything wrong with you. You don’t have a fever. Your throat isn’t red. Your heart and chest sound good. I’m not sure where your symptoms are coming from.”

  Leo nodded. “I hear you, doc. And I understand. I have an illness of a different kind.”

  The doctor raised a brow skeptically, but let Leo continue.

  Leo motioned for me to come sit next to him.

  I wasn’t sure what he was doing, but I crossed the room anyway.

  As soon as I got close, Leo reached out and pulled me into his lap.

  Not expecting it, I let out a small squeal.

  Leo wrapped me up in a tight embrace. “Doc, I’m lovesick. That’s what it is. I know I shouldn’t have given a false alarm like that, but you don’t know what it’s like. We’re newly married, and my mother’s damn production company… They don’t want to give us any privacy at all.”

  The doctor’s eyes narrowed.

  “Have you ever been a newlywed, doc?” Leo asked.

  The doctor nodded. “It’s been a while, but I think I vaguely remember.”

  Leo threw up his hands, letting go of me for a minute. “Then you know what I mean. I told them I was sick just so we could get a day uninterrupted.”

  He hugged me close again. This time I put my arms around him too and gave the doctor a pleading look.

  “My bride and I, we just want a day to be together. Alone. If you know what I mean.” He pulled several crisp bills out of his robe pocket and handed them to the doctor. “So if you could just tell them I need a day off to rest my voice, I’d really appreciate it.”

  The doctor pocketed the bills and nodded his assent. “I don’t see any reason why a day of rest can’t help your vocal chords. Just to be on the safe side.”

  Leo nudged me, and I stood.

  Then Leo rose and began walking the doctor to the door.

  “Do you think maybe I could get your autograph for my daughter? She’s a big fan.”

  “Absolutely!” Leo practically sprinted over to the hotel desk and grabbed up the complimentary pen and paper. “What’s her name?”

  “Jessica.”

  Leo scribbled something down, ripped off the top page, and handed it to the doctor. “There you go.”

  “Thank you,” the doctor said.

  Leo opened the door and just before closing it behind him, he told the doctor, “No. Thank you. And give my best to Jessica.”

  Leo placed the Do Not Disturb placard on the door, then once it closed, he clicked the locks and pressed his back against it.

  For a second, I imagined what it would be like if what he’d told the doctor were true.

  If he and I were really in love.

  If my husband wanted me so badly that he wanted nothing more than to make love to me all day.

  If he adored me so much that he was willing to shut down an entire television production schedule to fuck my brains out for twenty-four hours.

  The thought made me catch my breath.

  Standing there, his back against the door, shutting the entire world out in nothing but a bathrobe that was coming apart just below the waist—

  The thought of it made me weak with longing, and at that moment I wished more than anything in the world that he would love me like that.

  What I wouldn’t give for a day in that pretend world he just conjured.

  But instead, he raised a brow devilishly and said, “Target, my queen?”

  14

  Leo

  Honoré didn't seem nearly as excited about an outing to Target as I’d hoped she would be. It was something my sister Ivy and I used to do, and we always had the best time, so I thought I would at least introduce Honoré to the experience. Everyone should experience Target at least once. It was a rite of passage in America.

  I was actually kind of surprised that she had never been there. For someone who had lived such a big life, sometimes it seemed like she’d missed out on a lot of real living. And while I didn’t exactly feel sorry for her, it made me want to take her places and show her things.

  We hired a car to take us there. Everyone on the production staff thought that we were holed up in the hotel room. Instead, we caught our transportation behind the hotel. I had my assistant distract Honoré’s bodyguards for a minute, and off we went.

  I sported a pair of mirrored sunglasses along with a newsboy cap, while Honoré had a cute little blonde wig on. It had some funky bangs that framed her face so sweetly. I preferred her with dark hair, but this wig gave her a playfulness that was perfect for our outing.

  “Here.” I handed her a pair of black, horn-rimmed glasses I had in my pocket. She wouldn't be as recognizable in America, but we didn't want to take any chances.

  “Thanks?” she said as she put them on. And just like that, I had a boner. I could feel my pants start to tent, and I shifted in my seat trying to make it less noticeable.

  “Damn, that hair looks cute on you.”

  “Really?”

  “Hell yeah. You look smoking hot and just different enough that I think we can get away without being recognized.”

  She smiled briefly, and suddenly, I felt the urge to impress her. What if she thought this whole thing was stupid and the whole day sucked?

  I mean, she was a real and true royal princess. I kept telling myself that she was a person just like the rest of us, because most of the time she acted like a normal person. Plus, I'd been called royalty of America so many times that sometimes I forgot how different she was from me.

  But there were times when I looked at her that I knew the concept that the Barnes were like royalty was a crock of shit.

  The girl sitting next to me was someone very special, and there were times that I felt really guilty for leading her into this position in the first place.

  And it made me realize life wasn't always just fun and games. Sometimes people got hurt, even when you didn’t intend to do it.

  All the more reason I wanted to get the hell out of this business and start living a more grounded existence. Fame and partying were nice. A good way to pass the time, a great way to pay the bills, but it was getting old.

  I was tired of waking up next to an empty bottle or another nameless, faceless girl.

  It had actually been nice waking up next to Honoré the past few mornings. I knew it was fake, but it was still nice to have some consistency in my bed even if nothing had happened there between us. There was a companionship that I missed when I wasn't with Ivy.

  When we got to outside Target, the car stopped, I swiped my card, and we thanked the driver and went inside.

  Once inside, the first thing Honoré asked me was, “So what do we do? Do we need a cart?” Her gaze rested on the long line of red, plastic shopping carts.

  “No way, babe. We need two.” I commandeered one cart and gave it to her, and pulled out another, taking that one for myself.

  “Which aisles do we go down? What are we looking for?”

  “We want to see everything.” I picked up a scarf on one of the first displays we came to and wrapped it around her neck in a dramatic fashion.

  Honoré giggled. “Stop,” she said, taking it off and putting it back. “I thought we were trying not to get recognized.”

  “Sorry, not sorry. I got carried away.”

  We tried on a bunch of different pairs of sunglasses, and she picked out a pair with pink hearts.

  I found a twelve-pack of underwear and got so excited about it that Honoré looked at me funny.

  “You don't understand. These are the best kind. And look at all these colors—when you order online, you never get this grade of a selection. Do you need some underwear?”

  She blushed and shook her head.
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  “Okay. Oh look, this is my favorite. The pet aisle.”

  “Do they have pets here?”

  “Sadly no, but I love to look at all the little treats for them. We can buy some and donate them to a shelter if you want.”

  “I love that idea.” Her eyes sparkled, and I felt like I was finally bringing some joy to this woman's life. It killed me that I had mucked it up so badly. If I could make her smile today, that was a win. A beginning of me making it up to her. Or at least trying to.

  We picked out a bunch of toys—tennis balls, toy bones for chewing, and to Honoré's disgust, a huge package of pig ears. When I wasn't looking, she threw in some little doggy T-shirts.

  Minutes later, on the other side of the store, she had a complete fit in the makeup department. She couldn't believe how many different things were available for just your eyelashes, or was it eyelids? I didn’t know much about makeup, but according to Honoré, the selection at Target was the best.

  “I've always had a makeup artist,” she cooed. “This looks like so much fun.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “My sister Ivy used to have this big doll head. I think it was blonde… Anyway, she would put makeup on that thing all day long. Then she'd wash it off and do it again. She had that thing looking so ratchet.”

  We laughed.

  “Do you think I'll be able to see your sister again soon?”

  “I don't know. She's off doing some press thing Mom sent her to do, and I think they're planning a solo concert if I can get out of my performance deal. I'm not sure how she's going to take that.”

  Honoré looked concerned. “That's tough,” she said. “It seems like you two have always been close.”

  “We have. Guess is the twin thing. And the fact that we’ve been performing together since before I can remember. I do miss her. But we gotta grow up and do our own thing eventually, right?”

  Honoré nodded. “I guess so.”

  We went to the books and magazine section where we picked up some reading material and added it to our shopping carts, which were beginning to get quite full.

  Honoré picked out a rug for the bathroom. I have no idea whether she was planning to put that in our hotel or bring it with us to Iceland in her suitcase, but whatever. The object of the game was to have fun, and we were certainly accomplishing that.

  As we brought our loaded-down carts to the checkout line, a mother and baby were in line ahead of us.

  The baby sat in the front of the cart, a little seatbelt buckled around his waist.

  While his mother placed her items on the conveyor belt and chatted with the clerk ringing her up, the little guy chewed happily on a toy that looked like a gummy ring with an elephant on one end.

  Then he noticed Honoré.

  When she saw him, her face lit up. “Oh! Aren’t you sweet?” she cooed at him.

  He grinned, his eyes sparkling.

  Then she started flirting with him. She crinkled up her nose, which made him giggle.

  Next she played a bit of peek-a-boo with him.

  The little boy loved it, and I was mesmerized watching the two of them.

  Too soon, the mother finished paying and gathered her bag to go. When she came around to the front of the cart and noticed us, she gave us a polite smile and whisked her child and her purchases out of the store.

  Honoré gave the baby a tiny hand wave, but he was already back to chewing on his elephant.

  Then it was our turn to check out.

  It took some time to get everything rung up. I called ahead and had my assistant send a car for us that would be big enough to hold our loot and make sure there were people back at the hotel to help us unload it.

  He wasn’t terribly surprised. Having worked with me for a couple of years, he knew I wasn’t into asking for permission to do shit.

  “Now, see? Wasn’t that awesome?” I asked Honoré as we closed the trunk on the last of our purchases.

  She laughed. “Yes, you were right. That was fun. I’d like to come here all the time. Thanks for bringing me.”

  She kissed me on the cheek, which was nice.

  Not as nice as if she’d kissed me on the lips, but I knew the deal. I didn’t have to like it…

  On the ride back, I couldn’t help but sneak a few glances at Honoré, who was busy looking out the window at the New Jersey country. I kept picturing how great she was with that baby.

  She was going to be a wonderful mother one day.

  She wouldn’t be controlling and ambitious at the expense of her children the way my mother was.

  No, the kid who got Honoré as a mother was going to be lucky.

  And I couldn’t help but think it kinda sucked that kid wouldn’t be mine.

  15

  Honoré

  “Here’s the Greenland part.” Leo pointed out the side of the helicopter. He nodded insistently, as if green mountain peaks proved the rumor about the names of Greenland and Iceland having been switched.

  I shook my head good-naturedly.

  After spending almost two weeks with Leo, I preferred to indulge him rather than give him a history lesson on the Vikings and the misnomer of the two countries.

  “It must have taken lots of water to create canyons like this,” Leo said to our pilot, who then gave us some information on the history of the rock formations we were seeing.

  We were flying over some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world.

  Clear water punctuated by jagged, white rock formations made of ice. Mountains carved by deep gorges and cliffs made completely of ice sparkled in the sunlight.

  “It’s breathtaking,” Leo said.

  From the air, the grooves in the rock made them look like sandcastles, but the snow made it look like they were created with powdered sugar.

  The helicopter’s rotors thumped so loud that we had to wear headsets to protect our ears. They also allowed us to communicate so we could hear each other.

  Leo turned to me. “It reminds me of the Grand Canyon, like we have in the States. I’d like to take you there sometime.”

  I nodded enthusiastically, playing my role. “I’d like that.”

  Things between Leo and me were so messed up.

  He couldn’t really mean that. We were supposed to break up in a couple of months.

  When would we ever make it to the Grand Canyon in the United States?

  It was just something to say. Had to be.

  But a part of me wished it were real.

  Rounding a curve, a gorgeous waterfall came into view.

  The pilot dipped the helicopter to one side, swinging us closer so we could get a better view of the two main streams of water cascading down a giant rock face into a crystal-clear body of water below.

  “Probably too cold to swim in,” Leo said with a laugh.

  We were both bundled to the hilt. I had on three layers, though, I thought he only wore two.

  “Yes, but I think in our next location we may get to swim under a waterfall. I’m not sure, though.”

  “Where’s that?” he asked.

  “Are you serious, you don’t know?”

  How could he not look at our itinerary? In some ways he was totally an artistic soul ruled by creativity. It was foreign to my nature. I liked to plan things. To know things in advance, not be surprised by life. Which was all the more reason my current situation was both exciting and irritating at the same time.

  “I’m kidding.” He elbowed me, though, I could barely feel it through all those layers of clothes.

  I couldn’t help but smile. He was trying to get a rise out of me, and it worked.

  “I think you’ve had too many waffles.”

  “And you haven’t had enough.”

  I laughed. Leo’s teasing was becoming comfortable for me.

  He’d grown up with a twin sister, while I had been an only child. Playful banter like this was something I’d seen other people do, but it wasn’t how we interacted in my family.

  I remembered the few ti
mes I was allowed to spend time with my friends’ families, I’d been envious of the interactions my friends had with their siblings.

  “Look to the left.” The pilot’s voice jolted me from my thoughts.

  At the top of the next canyon were a flock of puffins.

  “Oh my God! They’re so cute,” I squealed. The contrast of their black and white feathers was so extreme, and I loved the way it was accented by those bright orange feet and beaks.

  “Their feathers are so pretty, but they don’t look real. They almost look like stuffed animals.”

  “Well, they’re moving, so … I think they’re real,” Leo teased, and this time I jabbed him playfully.

  We were having more and more fun together, but I was really starting to regret “friend zoning” him by being so distant the morning after we had sex.

  Ever since that day, our relationship had gone back to a “business” one, with a growing friendship attached.

  We enjoyed each other’s company, but Leo had taken to sleeping on the couch or a different bed, depending on the hotel room.

  As much as I appreciated the companionship, I had been thinking—and I wished we could go back to the night when he “de-flowered” me for the second time.

  Afterward, my knee-jerk reaction had been to pull away. Far away.

  But the more I got to know Leo, the more I realized that even if we were only together for a few months, I wanted to get the most out of those two months that I could.

  Okay, so when the time was up, he’d leave me.

  I already knew that. But I decided I’d rather have him in my bed every night making me scream ’til dawn than going to bed sad and lonely the way I did now.

  I’d tried to give him some hints over the past few days that I was open to his advances again, but he never seemed to notice.

  If I walked from the bathroom through the living room wearing only a towel, he didn’t look up from his phone.

  When I asked him if he wanted to watch a movie with me on my tablet in the bed, he said “no,” the couch was fine.

  How in the world was I going to get Leo Barnes back in my bed?