Page 14 of Royally Wed
Asher shot the dog a wary glance. “Is there a trick to getting him to move?”
“Her,” the princess said. “It’s a girl. Her name is Willow, and she’s a bitch in every sense of the word.”
“I can see that, although I’m going to refrain from name calling when her teeth are so close to my face.”
“Her bark is much worse than her bite, and she’ll moveif you prod her hard enough.”
He cast a wary glance at the gilded corners of the posh bedroom.
The princess followed his gaze. “There are no cameras in here, if that’s what you’re looking for. None that I know of, anyway.” She shrugged. “I could be wrong.”
Not exactly encouraging, but Asher took a chance. He scooped his hands under Willow, ignored her snarls of protest, and pushed her to theside.
He flashed Princess Amelia a victorious grin. “You were right. Thanks for the advice.”
Asher hopped out of bed before Willow could scramble on top of him again. It wasn’t until he was standing in nothing but a pair of pajama bottoms that he thought about his state of undress.
The princess’s gaze lingered on his bare chest.
Asher cleared his throat, and she promptly looked away. “Right.Anytime.”
The air in the room felt thick all of a sudden.
Asher’s body grew tense. The strange pull he’d felt toward her in the darkened church began to wind its way through him once again.
He fought it this time. He fought it hard, because he couldn’t be attracted to the very royal, veryengagedprincess.
“You’re unhappy I’m staying here,” he said. It was both overly blunt and overly familiar,considering who she was.
If he made her angry, so be it. She’d been rude to him the day before, and he wanted to know why. It was time they had a real conversation.
She let out a distinctly nonregal snort. “Of course I’m unhappy.”
“Why?” Asher crossed his arms.
Her gaze dropped to his bare chest again, and Asher was suddenly very aware of the massive unmade bed that stretched between them.“Do you really have to ask?”
He lowered his voice, just in case the walls did indeed have ears. “Is this about what happened at the Abbey?”
She looked away, and in her downturned gaze, Asher caught a glimpse of the woman he’d seen bathed in moonlight and stained-glass shadows. Wistful. Lonely.
She glanced back up at him, and her expression returned to its neutral state. Her lips curved intoa placid smile. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mr. Reed.”
Bullshit. They both knew what he meant.
Asher’s jaw clenched of its own volition. He wasn’t sure why he cared so much about the princess’s opinion of him. A psychologist probably would have said it had something to do with Serena and the multitude of reasons she’d given for leaving him for Jeremy. Of course Asherwould have denied it. Then he would have told the psychologist to go to hell.
“What happened at the Abbey stays between you and me. I won’t tell anyone, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Did she really think he’d say something about the state she’d been in?
Yes. Apparently she did, because she was still intent on acting as though he’d imagined the entire ordeal. “Again, I don’t know whatyou’re referring to. Just the same, it’s probably best that you sign a nondisclosure agreement.”
Asher’s eyes narrowed. “You’re seriously asking me to sign an NDA?”
He’d signed all sorts of the things the day before—hisofficial bio for the wedding publicity kit, release forms for the media circus that was expected to turn up for the wedding, visa forms allowing him to work in the UK—but a nondisclosureagreement hadn’t been in the mix.
Asher wondered if Yo-Yo Ma had signed an NDA. Somehow he doubted it.
“You’re a guest of the royal family. It’s quite common. This is Buckingham Palace, but it’s also our home.” She shrugged, but didn’t quite meet his gaze. Maybe because her attention was once again fixated on his bare chest.
