Page 16 of Jonathon, After All

“I’m sorry you find Schönbühel so boring,” Leo said, his head lowering until his nose brushed Jonathon’s.

“I’m not bored,” Jonathon whispered, tipping his chin back. He crossed his fingers, praying he wasn’t dreaming and they weren’t under a spell that was about to break. “Not bored.”

“Good.” The low rumble made Jonathon’s tummy flip and he was dizzy, enthralled by the smell of Leo's breath, his aftershave, and his cologne. And he was so warm, blocking out the damp, blustery breeze as it whipped around the side of the castle. “I’m sure we can find better and safer ways to entertain you,” he said pointedly. “How will you paint if you break an arm or your neck?”

Jonathon wasn’t worried about his neck at the moment. “Was that an offer, sir?” he asked, then bit his lip as his nerves fizzed wildly.

Leo blinked down at him. “An offer?” he asked dazedly, his gaze had settled on Jonathon’s lips, making them tingle and they felt dry.

He licked them and nodded faintly. “Are you going to entertain me…sir?” Jonathon asked and inwardly shrieked at the audacity of flirting with a prince outside of his own castle. An actual prince. A dashing, older, soon-to-be absurdly wealthy, chivalrous, right-out-of-a-fairytale Prince Charming.

“I…” Leo’s jaw fell and his eyelashes fluttered. He gave his head a shake, a rash creeping up from beneath his collar. It took several attempts to clear his throat. “That would not be safe,” he finally managed. “Please use a normal door and refrain from climbing the exterior of the building while you’re here, Mr. Hawthorne,” Leo said with a curt nod, then left Jonathon staring at the exterior of the castle.

“Um…” he turned in a circle, unsure if he should run to Muriel and tell her everything or continue on to the conservatory to panic in private.

He chose to panic in private, pacing by the roses as he debated what their almost kiss meant and what his next move should be. That had been an almost kiss, Jonathon was sure of it. And while he had no idea where he had found the nerve, Jonathon hadn’t been bluffing when he’d flirted with Leo. He was also fairly sure that Leo understood what Jonathon had been suggesting and had considered it.

Telling Muriel was the quickest way to kill any possibility of something happening with the Margrave. She would scare him off by assuming he had more than casual intentions and playing matchmaker or she’d be absurdly old-fashioned and demand that Leo date Jonathon in earnest. She wouldn’t be able to resist. Dating the future Margrave of Hessen would make Jonathon incredibly popular in London and New York.

High society was Muriel’s purview and obsession, and while Jonathon appreciated her support and the comfort that came with being her companion, he had hoped to support himself as an artist and live quietly somewhere other than New York City or London. Too many of the people who mattered to Muriel, and just plain mattered, knew who Jonathon’s parents were. And the general assumption was that he was a selfish grifter like them. Traveling with Muriel and allowing her to provide for him after he turned eighteen hadn’t helped, or the fact that Jonathon was an artist. But he would show them by making something of himself and never looking back.

“God, I was so naive,” he said, snickering at himself as Schönbühel faded. He returned to the Ashby’s kitchen and caught the tail end of their Easter debate.

It seemed that Giles had conceded that rabbits in human clothes could be disturbing and that giant animals in general were horror fodder.

Jonathan nodded in agreement. “I told you, Muriel’s not that eccentric. She’s sharper than people think.”

In hindsight, Jonathon should have confided in Muriel. She might have reined matters—and Jonathon—in before they got out of hand, or she might have helped Jonathon prepare for the wild turn his life was about to take and navigate the heartbreak that had followed. She understood men like Leo and the world they inhabited far better than Jonathon ever could.

Most importantly, she would have protected Jonathon. She wouldn’t have allowed Leo to cast him aside and ignore him the way he had. Jonathon hadn’t wanted to embarrass Leo or cause him trouble at the time. Now, Jonathon no longer gave a damn about Leo’s reputation and would have preferred to have some closure.

“We should all listen to Muriel more,” he told them. “In fact, I intend to consult her before making any decisions from now on.”

Six

The rain let up briefly on Sunday morning so Leo took a long walk in Central Park with Markus following, grumbling two paces behind him.

“I need to think and I will go mad in that suite,” Leo told Markus as he strode over a bridge, ignoring the other pedestrians.

“I can certainly sympathize, sir, but we should be making preparations for the trip home. Your flight leaves in the morning and Sabine would be?—”

Leo spun and planted a hand in the middle of Markus’s chest, halting him before they collided. “Cancel everything. I’m not leaving. And I don’t want to hear about Sabine.”

“You need her,” Markus stated firmly. “I am deeply disappointed by what she’s done—if it’s as bad as we suspect,” he qualified. “But you still have responsibilities and obligations and we can’t manage those without her. I’m not sure if we can make it back to Austria without Sabine, if I’m being honest.”

“None of it matters if I don’t find Jonathon and make this right,” Leo replied slowly and loudly, in case Markus hadn’t understood the first dozen times he had said it. “I will think about hearing Sabine’s apology after Jonathon and I have talked and figured out what the hell happened. I will hear her apology after Jonathon has accepted mine.”

Leo glared at Markus when he started to argue, then turned and marched onward, taking the path on the left. His eyes were dry and burned after a night spent staring at the ceiling and cataloging his crimes.

It was Jonathon who had stepped over the line first, catching Leo off guard in a moment of weakness. The quiet friendship that had formed between them those early days had its tense moments, leaving Leo flustered over a lingering look or an accidental touch. But he’d told himself that Americans flirted more and that Jonathon was just younger and more comfortable with his sexuality, not to take his remarks too seriously.

Then, Jonathon had boldly challenged Leo, one gray, chilly day at Schönbühel, throwing down a scandalous gauntlet and igniting an obsession. Leo had been wandering the terrace, hoping to find Jonathon with his aunt on one of their walks. He had come around the corner and smiled when he heard the theme song from Indiana Jones, only to spot a pair of Converse dangling above his head. His first instinct had been to panic and Leo had reacted, snatching Jonathon off the ladder and demanding an explanation.

“Are you going to entertain me…sir?”

God help Leo, but he had been more than ready to take Jonathon right there on the terrace. From that moment on, Leo thought of little else and could come up with only one sane explanation: Jonathon was joking.

That was the only explanation Leo could accept. Would accept as he pretended to read an email from Andreas the following morning. Jonathon had acted like nothing peculiar had occurred between them at dinner the prior evening and then he had smiled and chatted blithely with Muriel about the overcast morning and their plans for the day during breakfast.

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