Page 20 of Her Lion Lover

Then Alicia opened the door, insisting Leo move into the middle, and the moment was broken. "Well, I think that went well. I saw a selection of the photos he took, and they are perfect for a news story about a secret wedding. Lily, I don't know how we can possibly repay you, aside from doubling the sum we'd already agreed upon, of course, which I'll do the moment we get home. I wouldn't dream of asking you to serve dinner after a day like this. I'll see to dinner, and you're welcome to join us, if you wish. Sher said he'd prepared one of your favourites for us all, so it's only fitting."

Leo's side, warm and hard as he pressed against her, suddenly became rigid as he strained to put some distance between them. Ah, the act was over, and he was himself again. As gay as Dick's hat band, and more attracted to the chauffeur than he was to her.

"No, it's fine. I'll deal with dinner. Especially if it's something I'm more familiar with. I'll know how to prepare it properly," Lily said. She glanced down. "I just need to get out of this dress. I wouldn't want to damage it." There were already a couple of grass stains on the train, which the photographer had insisted on laying on the damp grass for some pictures. Lily much preferred it folded and tied up, making the skirt even more fairytale-like with its added volume, which had made dancing in it surprisingly easy. The woman in the bridal shop had been absolutely right about the dress being a marvel of engineering. Definitely deserving of first prize. "I would prefer to send it out for dry cleaning instead of washing it myself. I don't have much experience with silk."

"Of course, dear," Alicia said. "We'll need to arrange a suitable wardrobe for you, for when you're accompanying Leo to events, too. Would you prefer to visit the designers in person, or have them come to you?"

Neither. Wedding dress shopping had been weird enough. Lily was much more at home in practical clothing, or a business suit when circumstances required one. "Maybe we should wait to see if there are dress requirements with the invitations before we order anything?" Lily suggested. "I'd hate for you to waste money on a dress I won't get to wear." The cost of the wedding dress had been eyewatering enough, but Alicia had been adamant that Lily look like as much like a princess as possible, and as she was paying...Lily hadn't been willing to argue. Besides, the wedding dress was rather lovely. If she ever got married for real, she might have picked something just like it. If she could afford it. Maybe Alicia would let her take the dress with her when it was time for the inevitable divorce.

When they arrived back at Moray Castle, Leo stalked off without a word. Probably in need of some alone time, after today's marathon acting role. Lily didn't blame him.

It had to be hard to pretend you were in love with someone, for all the world and the photographer to see, when your tastes ran elsewhere.

Of course, as she watched his shapely backside perfectly outlined in his suit pants as he stalked off, she had to suppress a sigh. A wedding night with a man like Leo King would be wonderful. She hoped when he found the right man, he appreciated the well-muscled perfection properly.

Meanwhile, she had to get back into her maid's uniform, and see to dinner. Back to reality. It was for the best, Lily told herself, as she stroked the silk skirt one last time.

TWENTY-FIVE

Leo flexed his claws around his cup of coffee. He'd never gone so long without shifting before, but he'd promised Mother he wouldn't, with Lily in the house, so the Felix 5000 had stayed in the cupboard and he was frustrated in more ways than he could count. Saturdays were Lily's day off, so he had to make his own breakfast today, but it wasn't like putting smoked salmon on toast was hard, so he wasn't going to complain. Well, until the gate intercom buzzed.

Three women who looked like they'd stepped out of a beauty salon got out of a car. The driver then unloaded a stack of suitcases, before driving off in a spray of gravel, leaving them standing at the gate.

Leo imagined that rideshare driver wasn't going to earn five stars, or whatever the top rating was. The women did not look happy. Instead, they looked huffy.

He pressed a button so he could hear what they were saying.

"Of course this is the right place. It said in the paper that she's the new lady of Moray Castle. It has hundreds of rooms. Plenty of space for us. She has to take us in – we're the only family she has!" the platinum blonde said. Or maybe it was just grey. She dressed like one of the members of Mother's tennis club, but her voice betrayed the fact that she didn't share Mother's aristocratic breeding. Actually, he suspected she had more in common with the rats they hadn't been able to eradicate in the old stables.

"Do they even have internet this far out? I barely have one bar on my phone, and I need to make a video for my channel or my views are going to plummet." One of the girls held her phone up in the air, as if searching for a better signal.

Something clattered to the floor and shattered. Lily stood in the doorway, staring at the intercom, her face whiter than the broken china shards at her feet.

"Do you know these people?" Leo asked.

Lily looked like she wished she didn't. "That's my stepmother, and my two stepsisters. How could they know I'm here?"

"I think our wedding photos finally hit the front page of the tabloids. I imagine everyone knows where you live now. Now, I don't know if Mother mentioned this, but our staff normally don't bring guests to the castle without asking us first, and while it's a little different for you, being the lady of the castle, at least on paper, it would be nice if you'd mentioned your family were coming to visit. Mother's been the lady of the manor so long, she'll want to greet them properly, and she'll be most put out that they arrived before she was up this morning. Next time you invite them..."

"I didn't invite them! I came here to get away from them!" Lily blurted out.

Leo understood that family could be complicated. Look at Uncle Jeremy. But he wasn't sure what to do in this situation. He'd had women try to stalk him at home before, and a quick run up to the gates in his shifted form usually scared them off quickly enough. His mother would kill him if he shifted in front of Lily, though.

Not to mention...he didn't want to scare her away. He'd reminded himself dozens of times a day that theirs was a marriage of convenience, and not the real thing, not to mention she was technically his employee, so it was all kinds of wrong for him to lust after her, but his dick had other ideas, and his dreams...oh, god, if Lily knew about his dreams...

"What do you want me to do?" he asked her. He knew what he wanted to do, and it definitely involved ignoring the women outside the gate.

"I don't know. Get rid of them. I don't want to see them. They probably just want me to come home and clean up after them!" Lily snapped.

This was the first time he'd seen her angry, and by god, she was beautiful. But she was his employee, he reminded himself.

"Clean up after them, like you do for us here?" Leo asked.

She made an angry sound in her throat. "No, not like here. The contract I signed with Alicia provides me with room and board, fair pay and time off. They want to leech off me the way they did my dad. Until he died."

"I'm sorry about your father," he said.

Lily shook her head. She looked lost. "And I'm sorry about yours, too. But I...can you just get rid of them? Trust me, you do not want them in your house."

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