Page 44 of A Royal Disaster
The real question is, what’s next for the happy couple? And can their budding romance withstand the pressure of the crown? We always hedge our bets, but we’re pulling for Willena (and not just because we want invites to the royal wedding)!
Chapter Thirteen
Lena hung up the phone and did a happy dance. News of Liam’s visit to the studio—and his participation in the after-school program—had spread like wildfire, thanks to Fin. He’d put out an honest-to-God press release after the event, and the phone had been ringing off the hook ever since. Lena had signed up so many new students, she’d lost track, although she was definitely going to sit down this afternoon and run the numbers.
EVA had to be in the black again. Or would be soon.
The studio had even managed to book several events, most of which had been bridal or bachelorette parties, but there had also been a few corporate team-building activities and birthday parties sprinkled in.
For the first time in, well, forever, Lena was starting to think things might actually work out. Despite all the craptastic events of the last couple of weeks (and, yes, okay, her entire life), things were finally going her way.
For now, at least.
No.
She wasn’t going to let doubt and fear spoil her good mood. The studio was back on track, the press had stopped referring to her as Mad Eyes Murphy, and she hadn’t received a single one-star review in three days.Three!
It was progress, dammit.
Even if she didn’t exactly know where she stood with Liam.
Lena dropped onto a stool behind the counter and chewed her thumbnail. Were they a real couple now? Was it too much to hope he would want to keep seeing her after he returned to Valeria? Or would this—whatever it was between them—end when he left in a few weeks?
The thought of losing Liam pierced her, a sharp pang of regret lodging itself deep in her chest.
They hadn’t really discussed what would come next. Not before and certainly not after. They’d pretty much let their hormones do the talking.
Rookie mistake.
Honestly, she ought to have known better. But even if they’d tried, she doubted her sex-addled brain would’ve been in any condition for real talk. Just putting her clothes back on had taken a Herculean effort and even then, she’d later discovered that her T-shirt was on backward.
She could only imagine what Jack and Ethan had made of their quickie in the office.
Her cheeks heated, though she couldn’t be sure if it was due to the fact that the bodyguards had likely heard her coming or the memory of sex with Liam, which had been…incredible. She’d never had back-to-back orgasms before and now that she knew what she’d been missing, she had zero interest in going back.
Sex with Liam had been electrifying. Intense. Satisfying. He’d done more than worship her body, he’d touched her soul, putting her needs and desires above his own. It had been so unexpected, and yet it was everything sex was supposed to be. It was everything she’d never known.
How the hell had she gone her entire adult life without this kind of connection?
Because she’d been settling for guys like Chad, that’s how.
Well, no more. Now that she knew what she’d been missing, there would be no more settling. So what if she was cursed with the world’s worst luck? It hadn’t scared Liam off.
Yet.
And technically she wasn’t sure he was hers.
Elena groaned, cursing her brain for instantly reverting to old patterns of behavior. Clearly this whole “staying positive” and “no settling” mantra was going to take some practice.
The bell over the door rang and Nia burst into the shop, a bakery bag dangling from one hand as she slammed the door behind her, shutting out the shouted questions of the paparazzi.
“Those assholes are multiplying faster than a family of cockroaches in Pelham Bay,” she said, glaring at the paps and giving them the one finger salute. “Don’t get me wrong, I like my celebrity gossip as much as the next girl, but come on. It’s like, enough already.”
Lena quirked a brow and shrugged. “Could be worse. It could beyourface plastered all over the news.”
“Touché,” Nia conceded, tossing her the bakery bag. “I brought donuts. Figured we should celebrate all the new business with loads of sugar.”
“Best. Friend. Ever,” Lena said, unrolling the bag and helping herself to a sprinkled double chocolate. She took a bite and for possibly the first time in her adult life, didn’t question whether fried dough was better than sex. Maybe she’d been doing it wrong before or maybe she’d had the wrong partners, but Liam had proven donuts were a distant second to toe-curling orgasms.
