‘No,’ he’d agreed, ‘I’m not. Because contrary to popular opinion I haven’t actually spent the last decade falling out of a nightclub, I’ve been growing a financial business. And, not that it’s any of your business, but no, I had no idea I wasn’t the king’s son. It was as much of a shock to me as everyone else.’
To his surprise she’d said huskily, ‘I can only imagine how unsettling that must have been. And for your sister, too.’ Something about the tone of her voice had caught in his gut. As if he’d heard her speak before. Saying something else. Something altogether more…provocative. He’d been afraid he was losing it. And he’d had no time for rubber-necking princesses who wanted to see the disgraced ex-king up close.
He’d looked at his watch, ‘Look, I have a meeting to get to.’
‘No, you don’t. I looked at your assistant’s agenda while she was in here.’
Caius’s hackles had gone up. He wasn’t used to anyone questioning him. ‘I don’t have to justify my schedule to anyone and we have nothing more to discuss.’
But she hadn’t moved. She’d said, ‘We do have something to discuss. Something rather…big. Related to that night in Paris.’
Caius had frowned. ‘Paris? That night? What night?’
‘The night we met…at the party. Not long before your, er, abdication was announced.’
Caius’s eyes had narrowed on her. What thehell? ‘I was only at one party in Paris in the last few months. You definitely were not there.’
Poppy had looked pale. ‘Oh, I can assure you I was there, and that we met.’
‘We did not.’
‘Yes,’ Poppy had reiterated firmly. ‘I was wearing a tuxedo suit and we became…quite well acquainted, after you spilled your drink on me and caused me to spill mine too. I had to replace my shirt.’
Caius had gone hot and then cold. ‘How do you even know about that?’
‘Because I was there. That was me.’
His voice had felt constricted. ‘Impossible.’
‘Oh no, it’s quite possible, believe me.’
Caius had felt as if he’d moved through some invisible portal to a place where people said nonsensical things. Princesses, specifically. He’d shaken his head as if that might help things come back to normal.
But no, the princess had still been standing in his office looking at him. A totalstranger. Except she’d been saying she wasn’t. That, in fact, they’d been intimate.
The thought that it had been her was too huge to try and accept. He’d gone into full denial mode. ‘No, you’re somehow privy to this information and now you’re out to extort something from me.’
She’d muttered something as she’d laid her bag down at her feet and stood up again. Then he’d watched as she’d untucked her shirt from her trousers and started to unbutton it from the bottom. Caius’s eyes had widened and awareness had leapt in his blood as he’d watched creamy skin being revealed, the curve of her waist. Flashes of memory had come back. Her wearing his shirt.
And then, as if in slow motion, she’d been exposing the full underside of her breast, encased in lace and silk. He’d moved forward without even making the conscious decision. So he could better see the distinctive mark under her breast. A small heart-shaped strawberry birthmark.
He’d recalled touching it.You have a birthmark.Caius had dragged his gaze back up to her face, recognising those lines. The even features. The slight dimple in her chin. But…
‘Your hair was dark…and your eyes were not green.’
She’d had the grace to look discomfited as she’d rebuttoned her shirt and tucked it back into her trousers. ‘I dyed my hair with a wash-out colour and put contact lenses in.’
Caius had taken a step back, suddenly needing distance between them. ‘Why?’
Her cheeks had been pink. ‘I wanted to see what you were like…in person. I wasn’t sure about the engagement.’
‘And you couldn’t just come up to me, tap me on the shoulder and introduce yourself like a regular person?’
She’d flushed even more and that had only made Caius think of how she’d looked as she’d lain back on the couch in that room and had offered herself up to him. And the way he’d fallen on her like a drowning man. More turned on than he had been in a long time.Since then.
She’d lifted her chin. ‘Let’s just say I didn’t feel confident of the reception I’d receive considering how I wasn’t…’ she used air quotes ‘…yourtype.’
The fact that she most certainly had been his type had made him burn inside. ‘What are you talking about?’
