AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He’d Googled it.
“Who is she, then?”
“Who is who?” he asked, taking one last drink, watching the way she took a deep breath and the affect it had on her breasts. He forced his eyes north—and caught her watching him with that same intense scrutiny.
“The lucky princess your father picked out.” She stole a quick glance at him then stole the bottle. She swallowed a mouthful of tequila, and he took the bottle back, capping it and tucking it away. “The one who will bring money, and military force, and strength to your country, as well as herself.”
“Her name is Princess Genevieve.” He dragged a hand through his hair, blinking as the world around her was spinning a little bit. That hadn’t taken long at all. Clearly, he was losing his touch. “She’s nice enough, I suppose, but there’s nothing there. I told you, unless you’re a fan of shoes, you won’t have much in common. And there’s no chemistry.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, her words slurring together slightly.
“She doesn’t make me ache so much that all I can think about is touching her. Kissing her. Having her.” He hesitated but then reached out, caressing her cheek. Her eyelids drifted shut, and her lips parted on a sigh, and he trailed his fingers over her jaw. “She doesn’t pull me apart with nothing more than a sarcastic comment that’s meant to tear me to shreds but really only makes me want her more. She doesn’t make me feel…anything.”
A small breath left her lips, and she swayed closer. “Leo…”
He ran his fingers down her arm “She doesn’t make me feel like this.”
Curling his other hand around the back of her neck, he leaned in, seconds from rediscovering just how perfect her mouth felt against his. She let out a moan, giving herself over to him, but her eyes flew open as the car stopped. The second she realized how close he was to kissing her, she lurched back, breathing heavily, and touched her fingers to her un-kissed lips.
She dropped her hand to her lap and took a long, drawn out breath. “Well, I’m sure she’s lovely, anyway.”
“Yeah.” He clenched his jaw, knowing that if that car hadn’t stopped, she’d be in his arms right now, and he’d be kissing her until they both forgot all about Princess Genevieve. “Lovely.”
Chapter Ten
Desperate to look at anything other than Leo, and the passion in his eyes that threatened to consume her in one giant bite, she glanced out the window. They’d pulled over to the curb in front of an ice cream shop. God knew she could use some of that to cool off the heat raging through her body at that almost-kiss.
“Alicia, I—”
“Ice cream?” She cut him off, knowing whatever he was about to say would be sweet, and perfect, and designed to make her trust him again. But she didn’t want to. “That’s what we’re doing?”
He flexed his jaw, then opened the car door and got out, holding his hand down for her. “Not just any ice cream. The best ice cream in the whole country—maybe the whole world.”
A nervous laugh escaped her as she slid her hand inside his, because the feel of his skin on hers again was almost too much, and she was seconds from forgetting all her reasons for keeping her distance and just freaking kissing him already. “It’s that good?”
“Yes,” he said, shooting her a long look out of the corner
of his eye. “The kind of good that starts in your belly, and slowly spreads through every inch of your body until everything feels so amazing you just want to die.”
A shiver swept her, because she knew exactly how that felt. He’d shown her in that hallway. He led her to the ice cream shop, opening the door for her. She walked inside, stopping when she saw it was completely empty. “That’s pretty…descriptive.”
“Is it?” The shop door shut behind them, and he locked it.
She laughed uneasily. “So…ice cream.”
“Right.” He walked behind the counter, watching her from under his ducked head. “Still like rocky road?”
“I’m more of a cookie dough kind of girl now,” she said slowly, biting her lip and watching him far too closely. The afternoon sun played with his hair, making it look darker. “Are you supposed to be back there?”
“I asked permission. The owner agreed to give us a few hours alone in the shop.” He gave her a small smile, making her heart flutter. “I’m going to make you my favorite sundae. It’s a secret recipe that no one else knows.”
A surprised laugh escaped her, and she stepped closer, even though she knew she should stay as far away as possible from him. “You make your own sundaes?”
“Of course I do.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Why do you sound so surprised?”
“You have cooks. Maids. A valet. Everything you’d see on Downton Abbey, and more.”
He frowned. “Downton what?”
