Page 10 of Royally Wed
“Very well. Thank you again for your hospitality, ma’am.” He bowed to the queen.
Then he turned his attention to Princess Amelia one last time. “It will be an honor to play for you, Princess.”Again.The word floated, unspoken, between them. “I’ll see you at the ceremony.”
But as the royal page ushered himout of the queen’s sitting room, Asher couldn’t help but wonder if he’d see her before then.
After all, they were neighbors.
THREE HOURS AFTER THEunfortunate encounter with Asher Reed in her mother’s sitting room, Amelia was situated between Holden and Eleanor in the Palm Court at the Ritz. Holden held her hand under the table, but somehow she still felt like he was the third wheel in theirlittle gathering.
Amelia was accustomed to being out and about with Eleanor. Try as she might, she still couldn’t seem to get used to Holden’s presence.
A white-gloved waiter poured tea and delivered a fresh tray of finger sandwiches while Eleanor chatted animatedly and Amelia listened.
Well, pretended to listen.
She was still reeling at the thought of sleeping under thesame roof as AsherReed. Inhersuite—the room right next door. He may as well climb into bed beside her.
Amelia’s face grew warm. She glanced at Holden, took note of his loving smile, and then gulped a sip of champagne. Thank God tea at the Ritz traditionally included copious amounts of Dom Pérignon.
Holden’s phone chimed. He looked down at it and frowned. “I’m afraid something’s come up at the office. I needto dash. Will you two be all right without me?”
As if Amelia and Eleanor had never been alone together before.
Amelia smiled. She really needed to get her attitude under control. “We’ll miss you obviously, but we’ll be fine.”
He winked and kissed her hand. “Sorry, love. Duty calls.”
Amelia resisted the urge to wipe her hand with her napkin while he bid good-bye to Eleanor. Once he’d gone,Eleanor resumed her monologue. Amelia did her best to pay attention, but soon found herself humming a tune. To her great mortification, it sounded an awful lot like the song Asher had played for her in the Abbey.
She cleared her throat and refocused on Eleanor.
“Have you heard a single word I’ve said?” She glared at Amelia from across the table.
No.“Of course I heard you.”
“So you have noreaction whatsoever to the news that the Duchess of Silva is being stripped of her title?”
“What?” Amelia choked on a sip of Dom. “Renata? Why?”
“I just explained why. I knew you weren’t listening.”Eleanor popped a macaron into her mouth.
“Sorry, I’m a little distracted. To be honest, I’m sort of losing it. Between the wedding and the...”The stranger who probably knows exactly how I feelabout marrying your father.She cleared her throat. “... the leopard. It’s just a lot.”
Eleanor’s hand paused as she reached for another macaron. “There’s a leopard?”
“Yes. It’s a whole thing.” Amelia forced herself to smile. She was getting married. She had a fiancé who kissed her hand. Who didn’t love that sort of thing? She was happy. Why did she keep forgetting? “Never mind. Tell me whathappened to the duchess again. Please?”
Eleanor shrugged. “There’s a sex tape.”
Of course there was. The Duchess of Silva had been infamous for her wild behavior since their days at university. Her latest scandal had involved a game of naked beer pong that had ended up on the cover of every tabloid in Europe.
But a sex tape?
“It’ll blow over. They won’t really strip her of her title, willthey?” Amelia picked up a sandwich, eyed it, and put it back down.
“Spain doesn’t mess around, you know that. King Felipe’s sister isn’t even a duchess anymore. If he stripped his own sister of her title, he won’t hesitate to do the same to Renata. She’s a minor royal.”
“Not anymore, I guess.” Amelia tried to imagine Renata living a regular life. She couldn’t quite picture it. The last timeshe’d seen Renata, she’d been drinking Veuve Clicquot out of a red-soled Christian Louboutin stiletto. So had Ameliaherself.
