Page 50 of Wicked Queen

“I’m joking.”

Relief washed over his face. Then we both realized we were touching. I dropped his hand and forced a laugh.

“I couldn’t help it,” I told him. “If I don’t joke, I cry.”

“How are you?” he asked, moving a little closer to me.

I was aware of his body in a way that I normally didn’t react to most men. I often had security guiding me, but this was different. Because Anderson had lowered his voice and his eyes, which I realized now were the same blue as Alexander’s, they blazed like my husband’s. I couldn’t deny that he had feelings for me. I couldn’t make them go away. No matter how much I wanted them to.

Because I’d lost more than a friend when he’d confessed how he felt: I’d lost the chance to know him as a brother.

“Pregnant,” I said. He needed a reminder that I’d made my choice long before we’d ever met. “That pretty much sums up my life at the moment.”

He moved to grab a champagne flute off a passing tray, casually putting the distance back between us. At least he took a hint. “You haven’t had that baby yet?”

“I have about four weeks to go,” I whispered.

“Thanks, I’ll be sure to change my bet. The pot is up to, like, five hundred quid.”

“Please tell me you’re joking.”

“Seriously, how are you?” he pressed. “When I saw that press conference…”

His jaw tightened and I saw that day through his eyes and what he must have thought when I ran out on Alexander. He needed to know that any hope he clung to was wasted. “We’re working through it. I was angry.”

“You had a right to be.”

“But we’ll be fine, Alexander and I.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” he said, sounding anything but.

“There you are,” a friendly voice said in my ear as an arm dropped over my shoulders. “I saw one sister storming off, so I knew the other sister couldn’t be far.”

“What does that mean?” I asked Edward. “I have been nothing but welcoming to her.”

“I overheard her earlier telling everyone what a monster you were—that you made her give her old room up, because it wasn’t hers anymore,” he said dramatically.

I gasped, my eyes narrowing. “In that case, I just called her a Royal cunt to her face. And now I’m feeling less sorry about it.”

Edward snorted, not the least bit offended by what I’d said to his true sister. “We have different ideas of hospitality. Don’t worry. She wasn’t telling anyone who mattered.”

What mattered was that she was telling anyone at all. I was about to point this out when Edward turned his attention to Anders. “It’s good to see you.”

“You, too.” Anderson looked even more uncomfortable than when Sarah had been flirting with him.

“I know Alexander can be a bit much,” Edward said, continuing with what sounded like a well-rehearsed speech, “but you have a couple normal members in your family. Well, mostly just us.” He gestured to me and himself in turn. “My husband is normal. So, three normal family members.”

“I don’t want to make this a thing,” Anderson said slowly. “I’ve got my mum and my life. I’m just not like you lot. No offense. I don’t need…”

“Another family.”

He’d made that clear to me before, and I understood. But part of me wanted to clear up a few things with him. I hadn’t been born to Royalty. I hadn’t been raised in this world. We had a lot in common. Pointing that out would only complicate matters more.

Edward’s face fell, but he recovered quickly, nodding. “I just wanted to reach out. If it ever changes or you need something, I make a lovely chess pie and I can usually wrangle a title in a pinch.”

“I’ll let you know.” This actually got a laugh out of Anders. “Now, if you’ll excuse me,” he paused, biting his lip as he looked at me. But whatever he wanted to say, he kept to himself.

“Why do I get the impression he wouldn’t mind if you called?” Edward murmured as Anders walked away.