Page 36 of Some Like It Royal

“No, I will not leave it alone. I warned you that body language would sell or break this plan of yours. After an image like that, after the teases we’ve leaked for the last week, we’re going to have to dig deeper.”

“Dig deeper how?” Alyx interrupted from the doorway. Her pale face showed deep smudges beneath her eyes. Had her sleep been as bad as his?

“You’ll have to demonstrate the romance to repair this?—”

“I can hold her hand, we can dance.” Daniel waved away the man’s concern, his attention focused on the woman drifting closer. She looked more waiflike than ever before. Her red hair seemed so dark pulled back from her face emphasized the fragility in her features and that damn haunting sadness seemed to have taken up permanent residence in her eyes.

“It will take a lot more than some hand holding.” Victor eyed them both. “A great deal more. You should both have breakfast and then brush your teeth.”

Alyx swung her gaze away from him to stare at Victor in confusion. “Our teeth?”

“Yes, your teeth. You’ll be kissing today, and a lot of it, until you make me believe that you two can’t think of anything else. Then you’ll go out tonight and show the world just how much you want each other.”

Daniel froze.

Oh shit, indeed.

Chapter14

Alyx

True to his word, Victor gave them time to eat breakfast, drink coffee and brush their teeth before he locked all three of them up in the study.

Alyx buried the disappointment of the day before—or tried to, at least. She wasn’t sure she wanted to keep up with this charade. They were what? Just a couple of weeks in and her soul was raw and shredded. What would she be like two months?

“All right. We’re going to pretend that you’re both amateurs at this.” Victor carried his coffee cup over to a side table and set it down. He drew out a tin of peppermints from his jacket pocket, then placed them on the coffee table. “Every kiss tells a story.”

Perching on the edge of the sofa, she chose the spot farthest from where Daniel stood. No matter how rationally she reminded herself that the loss of all those personal items was hardly his fault, the hope to have them again was. He’d insisted on the trip. He drove her from the parking lot where her house used to be to social services and he got the ball rolling.

In all honesty, she was no worse off than she’d been before they went. She didn’t have any personal belongings outside of her bear. But she’d never known she missed that chance before.

Never knew that a clerical error sent the letter to the wrong address. Never knew she should have asked about it.

So why does it hurt to look at him?

“Princess.” Victor snapped her back to the present and she met his stern gaze while trying to stuff all that hope-deflated disappointment back into the Pandora’s box they’d inadvertently opened.

“Yes?”

“Are you listening?” He knew she wasn’t or he wouldn’t have called her on it.

Sighing, she crossed one leg over the other and folded her arms before sitting back against the sofa. “No. Not really.”

“Okay. You need to get your head in this game. I’m not going to ask what happened yesterday. It doesn’t matter. Do you remember the role you’re taking on?”

This time she reallylookedat Daniel. Exhaustion left dark circles beneath his eyes. His tousled blond hair and hint of stubble on his cheeks gave his normally good-boy, sun-kissed looks a rakish edge. The corners of his mouth turned up in a small smile. Her heart thudded a little harder. “Yes. I am his soon-to-be fiancée, and princess, or grand duchess, as is the proper title.”

“Excellent. And you, Mr. Voldakov? You do remember the part you play in your own masquerade?” Victor’s tone took a harder edge with Daniel, his words clipping off on the last syllable.

The photo was bad, she knew that—but that hadn’t been Daniel’s fault. It was hers.

“Victor, I appreciate the candor and the lessons, but don’t push too much harder.” The mild warning was the first she’d ever heard Daniel make and her thighs tightened at the tense quality of his voice.

“Good. You need to remember that in this situation you are the man. You take the lead. You set the tone.” Their coach seemed oblivious to the tension winding in the air, or maybe he just chose to ignore it. “Selling a romance requires understanding what that romance is—what the body language communicates. Kissing is a vital component to the whole package. You were doing very well with your touching. You brushed legs while sharing meals, you held hands and you sat close together. But yesterday’s events have now illuminated a schism…which is being repeated in this room right now.”

He looked meaningfully at the space between her and Daniel. Alyx sighed and stood as Daniel took two steps forward. She bumped into him and he slung an arm around her waist, steadying her. Her heart pounded hard against her ribs, but he didn’t let her go. “Is this really necessary?”

She hadn’t meant to ask the question. After all this was a job. Only a job.

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