Page 22 of Forbidden Lord
His skate park had sweet new memories of mutual pleasure that he wouldn’t forget.
He turned and hugged her.
She folded into his arms like she belonged there as she said, “It’s getting dark.”
He tucked his hand in her back pocket and walked with her toward the main house. “Do you turn into a pumpkin at midnight?”
She laughed and patted his chest as she stayed close. “No. And I don’t think you need a bride-finding ball.”
Neither one of them were on the market anymore. With Sheena that didn’t feel like a punishment. They passed by green olive trees. “Technically, every noble in Avce is related to the throne, so we’re all princes and princesses. I think I’m 200thor so in line for the throne these days but I was never tracking. Not all the nobles have reclaimed their number yet though, so I could be moving up.”
Staff opened the door for them but stayed out of sight. She must have spoken to them because he was usually the recipient of half-hidden sneers. “In school you and Stefano joked that you were rebelling together. What were you rebelling against?”
Inside, their feet echoed on the marble steps as they climbed upstairs to their private suite. “Our fathers hated each other. We agreed that was silly so we decided to goof off and be friends.”
“See, that’s good.” She gazed up at him.
Something in that gleam made him feel taller and stronger. He opened the bedroom door for her as he said, “I was jealous to find out that you were on his list.”
Once inside she kicked off her shoes and headed right into the bathroom. His arms felt empty without her. “But why?” she asked. “I never talked to him except through Chelsea.”
He went into his closet to pick out something to wear for dinner. They’d have to stop at his secretary’s office to discuss the art benefit. Sheena’s phone rang as he said, “He understood that you were a lady, long before I did.”
The ringing continued. He reached to the side of the bed and read the caller ID. Charles. His heart stopped.
She called out, “But I wasn’t a lady until we married.”
Part of him wanted to answer and tell this man to never call his wife again. However, he dialed back the caveman response and just denied the call. “You already were, in character.”
She walked out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel like she was about to take a shower. He put her phone down. She leaned against the frame and said, “See, that’s nice. Give me a minute and then show me this maze so I can plan the benefit.”
Matteo grew harder thinking about touching her again, but she turned back into the bathroom and he heard the water go on. He crossed the room and peered in to see her behind the glass door of the shower. “Tomorrow at the latest. First you have to meet with my secretary to send out the invitations.”
She lathered her hair in shampoo. “I’ll email him a list that has preprinted labels to make it easy.”
His clothes itched. Why not join his wife? He tugged his shirt off. “So, not just the Avce neighbors?” Next he ditched his pants and underwear.
“I want a few artists here so people know I can arrange patrons with talent—we’ll choose a theme to show your neighbors that we’re respectable.”
Matteo slid the shower door open and joined her inside, helping her lather her hair. Her eyes widened, but he continued talking as if this was nothing unusual. “Sounds good to me, though to be honest my old parties here… they weren’t for the respectable nobles.”
She pressed into his chest and then stepped back and took some of the shampoo. She lathered it in her palms while he stared in fascination. “Chelsea told me.”
“Other than the party incident…” She gestured for him to lower his head and she ran her slender hands through his thick hair as he asked, “What did she say about me?”
She tapped his back so he turned around. Sheena poured liquid soap onto her pink sponge. “Before or after she thought you were my fated true love?”
Wow. None of that seemed real. Matteo stepped into the shower stream. “When was that?”
Sheena laughed. “After she got married herself. Done?”
“Yes.”
She stepped out of the shower and grabbed her towel. He turned off the faucet and followed. Sheena handed him another towel as he said, “Quit stalling, Sheena. What did Chelsea say?”
She combed her wet hair and her eyebrow quirked upward. “Before you were my ‘fated’ true love, she thought you and Stefano were partying as if your world was going to end before you turned thirty.”
“Probably true.” His stomach tightened while he dried himself. “Chelsea talked too much.”
