Page 36 of Royal Charmer
He grins, takes my hand, and guides me in a wide arc around the puddle. I fill in the rest of the scene in my mind, substituting a grand ducal carriage for the limo we were just in. The luxury hotel is the duke’s estate. I pretend that Thor is our chaperone, the duke’s widowed aunt. Even I can’t imagine thick-necked huge Hercules as the aunt, though Thor is no slouch in the muscle department. Lucas has proved endlessly inspiring. I barely have to tweak his speech to take on a more romantic tinge. The deep timbre of his voice is pure duke territory too.
A few moments later, we’re all checked in at the hotel, and the guards escort us to the private elevator for the penthouse suite. The moment the doors close behind us, the guards leave, heading for their room on the floor below.
Lucas hits the button to go up.
I gulp, hyperaware of him standing next to me in his dark gray suit perfectly tailored to his large muscular build. My imagination takes a dirty dive into a middle-of-the-night seduction scene, and I flush with heat.
Think it through, Alice.He’s booked a suite withtwobedrooms, which means there are no expectations of anything remotely physical.Overactive erotic imagination stand down!I’m not in his league, something he acknowledged tonight and, even if I was, I’m not getting involved with someone with his kind of reputation, especially so soon after getting my heart annihilated. I probably don’t even have the capability of letting anyone into my blackened heart. And, though it would be more convenient given my growing attraction to my fake fiancé here, I have never been a casual-sex kind of woman. I know that about myself. I need some emotion to go with the physical, which I’m not ready for. Not even for a fun guy like Lucas, who did apologize for his earlier misstep, who makes me laugh, and who actually took the time to read my book and emulates the hero with chivalrous gestures.
I casually shift away from temptation. I’mnotmaking a move on him. I only have to think back to three days ago when I suggested a practice kiss. He was so stiff and uncomfortable I felt like a lech for suggesting it. So embarrassing. And he only gave me a kiss on the cheek tonight in front of Jules and Celeste. Obviously my romance mind is working overtime. Le sigh. Now that I’m into my new story, I have sex on the brain. It’s one of my favorite scenes to write. I like to have a nice big sexy scene at the end full of love and passion that is so very satisfying.
I catch Lucas’s eye in the mirrored wall of the elevator. His gaze smolders into mine. My breath catches. The hair on the back of my neck rises, every nerve ending in my body tingling to life.
I look away, my pulse kicking up, my breath coming harder. This isnotmy imagination anymore. He wants me.
Chapter Ten
Alice
“Are you tired?” he asks, breaking the sexually tense elevator silence.
Do not pass go. Do not hook up with the world’s most eligible royal bachelor.
I nod vigorously and fake a yawn. “It’s been quite a day, and that cognac really relaxed me.”
He rubs the back of his neck, glancing sideways at me. “I might stay up for a bit.”
“Sure. Whatever you like.”
Silence falls, and it’s more than a little uncomfortable. It’s downright awkward now like I said the wrong thing. Maybe he expects me to fall at his feet like every other woman on the planet.
“What will you do?” I ask, playing the casual friendly conversation game. I’m going straight to bed and staying there. Alone.
“Probably watch some TV. See if a movie is on.”
“What kind of movie?”
“The kind they play in French hotel rooms,” he snaps. “I don’t know.”
I stiffen at his tone. “It was just a question. Geez. I don’t care what you watch.”
“Sorry,” he mumbles.
The elevator doors open, and he gestures for me to go ahead. I grab my wheeled suitcase, but he says, “I’ve got it.”
“Thank you,” I murmur and walk ahead to the door.
He uses his key card and holds the door to the suite open for me. Another nice chivalrous gesture. The light is on for us, and I step into a spacious living room done in a modern style with a leather sofa, flat-screen TV, and geometric-patterned rug. Toward the back of the room, I spot a small kitchen. French doors on opposite sides of the living room open to the bedrooms. Perfect. I probably won’t even notice he’s here, sleeping on opposite sides of the suite.
I turn to him about to say goodnight, when he goes to check out the near bedroom and then heads across the way to the other one.
“I’ll take whichever one you don’t want,” I call. “I’m not picky.”
He returns, grabs my suitcase, and deposits it in the far bedroom. Okay, guess that one is mine. I join him in my bedroom, taking in the giant king-size bed all done in white with an abundance of cushy pillows.
His jaw is clenched, tension held in the set of his shoulders. “I gave you the one with the better view.”
I admit to feeling a little happy that he desires me (at least I think that’s what’s going on). He’s holding himself in check and irritated about it because he’s a man used to getting what he wants when he wants it. If he is restraining himself, that’s a princely thing to do. I could be wrong, though. I’m not sure how to explain our stiff-as-cardboard practice kiss if he actually wants me. Maybe I grew on him? Maybe he turned down Bella and now he’s revved up with nowhere to go? All I know for sure is I’m not going there.
