Page 116 of Modern Romance September 2026 Books 1-4

‘Speaking of reputations,’ she said, trying to wrestle things back into control, and moving towards the door. ‘I’m sorry about the video.’

‘You warned me.’

‘Still, even I didn’t expect—’

She stopped walking then, angling her face back only to find that he was right behind her. A moment later he lifted a finger and pressed it to her lips. The touch was so intimate and familiar. Innocent, yet also scoldingly hot.

‘I watched the video,’ he said.

Her eyes clung to his, her heart in her throat.

‘I did, too,’ she replied.

His finger stayed where it was. When she spoke, she imagined her warm breath against his flesh and goosebumps danced across her own skin.

‘Is it a problem?’

‘My prime minister is already planning our wedding,’ she said, not able to offer a laugh to show she was joking.

‘I suspected as much.’

‘You’re apparently quite a catch.’

He quirked a dark brow. ‘And yet we both know a marriage between us wouldn’t work.’ He moved his hand then, cupping her cheek, the gesture completely at odds with his words. ‘You want someone like my brother.’

No.

She wanted to reject that proposition outright. She wanted to immediately dispel the idea of marriage to someone like Otto from her mind altogether. But he was the far more sensible choice. The kind of man she should marry. Steady, stable, dull.

‘And you?’

‘Have no interest in becoming king,’ he said, in a way that was light-hearted but somehow insulting, too. As though he saw no appeal to her life and lifestyle.

‘In a way, that would make you a very good husband,’ she said, thoughtfully. ‘You’re not power hungry.’

‘I like my freedom.’

‘You think I’m not free?’

‘You danced with me last night and now it’s front-page news all across Europe.’

She blanched at that.

‘That, Your Majesty, is not freedom.’

‘No,’ she said softly. ‘I know.’

His thumb stroked her cheek then, so her body lit with all those same flames and fuses as the night before.

‘It must have made it difficult for you to date.’

She swallowed, her throat suddenly constricted.

‘I mean, you must have seen men, of course, behind closed doors—’

Her cheeks flushed with warmth.

‘There is no such thing in the palace. Even here, staff gossip.’