Page 44 of Royally Wed
Asher deservedthe dressing down he’d gotten. He hadn’t appreciated the accusation of sabotage, but his playing had been lousy. Still, being interrogated as he stood next to a collection of cleaning supplies had been unpleasant enough even before Amelia decided to crash that gathering, too.
Jeremy had been dumbfounded. And more than a little suspicious.
Whatever Asher and Amelia had going on in the palacewas one thing, but taking it outside the castle walls was another entirely. He had a career to worry about. A career that was already on rocky footing, without adding rumors of royal nepotism to the mix. She’d been trying to help, he realizedthat. But he didn’t want an explanation or an apology or whatever she had in mind. He wanted to stay angry with her. That was the best thing for both ofthem.
“Perhaps you’ll be ready to meet with Princess Amelia in half an hour?” James said.
Asher leveled his gaze at the page. “I doubt I’ll feel differently in thirty minutes.”
“If I may, sir.” James cleared his throat. “I don’t think you want to miss this.”
Asher exhaled a tense breath. “Is refusing going to do any good at all?”
“Not really, sir. No. I have my orders.” James at least hadthe decency to look contrite.
“Fine.”
James nodded. “Very well. I’ll inform Her Royal Highness and return momentarily to escort you.”
Once he’d gone, Asher slipped back into his suit jacket, which he’d shed when he’d been under the assumption he was in for the night. The state rooms sounded formal, and Amelia had seen enough of him shirtless in pajama bottoms.
Maybe the summons was an officialthing. If she’d wanted to see him alone, why wouldn’t she pop into his room? It wasn’t as though she hadn’t done so before.
But exactly thirty minutes later, James walked Asher halfway across the massive building and opened a set of gilded double doors to reveal Amelia waiting for him. Alone.
“Hiya.” She gave him a little wave.
Asher didn’t say anything. Just the sight of her was enough totake his breath away, as always. But the surroundings wereso picturesque, he almost felt like he was looking at a portrait of Amelia.
Instead of being framed by four walls, the room was curved into a wide semicircle at the far end, swathed with plush red velvet. Black marble columns separated the row of tall, bowed windows that stretched from floor to ceiling. The ceiling itself was a huge dome,inlaid with shimmering gold leaf. A massive chandelier fitted with slender white candlesticks and draped ropes of crystal teardrops hung overhead.
Asher had thought he’d gotten a good glimpse of royal opulence during his first few days at Buckingham Palace, but he’d been wrong. Dead wrong. This was like nothing he’d ever seen before.
And yet, nothing in the lavish room compared to the sightof Amelia bathed in shimmering candlelight, leaning against a glossy black grand piano and grinning at him like the cat who’d gotten the cream.
The effect was rather dizzying. Asher wasn’t sure where to focus. The piano looked like it might be a nineteenth-century Steinway, but he couldn’t seem to tear his gaze away from Amelia long enough to search for the maker’s emblem.
She was wearing flowingblack satin pants and a fitted, plain white T-shirt, and her hair was piled haphazardly on top of her head. If not for her rich red lipstick and dramatic winged eyeliner—remnants from her earlier princess ensemble—she would’ve looked ready to crawl into bed for the night. Asher found the striking dichotomy oddly erotic. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he envisioned sweepingher off her feet,setting her atop the piano’s keyboard, and claiming her crimson mouth.
He swallowed. “Where are we?”
“This is the music room.” She waved a graceful hand at the piano. “I thought you might enjoy it. James mentioned you seemed uncertain, though. So feel free to leave if nothing here interests you.”
He had a good mind to turn around and walk out the door. He would have, but he couldn’t seem tomake his feet move.
“You got me. I’m intrigued.” She no doubt thought he was talking about the spectacular piano, which was only partially true.
She slid onto the piano bench and patted the empty space beside her.
For a split second, Asher hesitated. The leopard hunt had been a bad idea, no question. This seemed far worse.
But if he’d been capable of leaving, he would have already done so.He strode across the expansive parquet floor and sat down next to Amelia.
Immediately, he was enveloped in her heavenly scent. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was—something floral and clean, reminiscent of fresh peonies on a dewy morning. His thigh brushed hers, and even through their layers of clothes, he could feel her softness. Her warmth.
He didn’t dare look at her. She was tooclose. And Asher was already starting to forget why he’d been angry, why being in the same room with her was such a colossal mistake.
He swallowed and fixed his gaze on the black-and-whitekeys in front of him.
