Page 19 of Twelve Nights In The Prince's Bed

‘I didn’t... I don’t know if I thought that was going to happen. But what I really wanted, what I really wanted toknow,’ she corrected, ‘is why you kissed me the other time.’

‘Which other time?’

Her heart stammered. He hadn’t forgotten. Sheknewhe hadn’t forgotten because she’d mentioned it again at her twenty-fourth birthday. ‘You know which night.’

‘Yes,’ he agreed after a moment, eyes dropping heavily to her lips.

‘You followed me to the rose garden. You pulled me against you and you...you kissed me. Why?’

Without intending it, Poppy had leaned forward, her body so close to Adrastos’s their faces were only an inch apart.

‘Why do you think, Poppy?’

‘I don’t know. I’ve wondered ever since. Was it because I’m a woman and you’re, well, you? Had you been drinking? Were you bored?’

His lips tugged to the side. ‘Perhaps it was all of those reasons.’

Poppy’s eyes dropped to the console between them, her brows knitted together. She didn’t want him to read the disappointment in her face. She couldn’t make sense of it herself.

‘That was a mistake too.’

She needed to change the subject before she said something stupid, like how much she’d liked being kissed by him, how much she’d liked sleeping with him, how no other man had ever made her feel even a hint of what he did. ‘I hate the idea of this.’

His eyes roamed her face and, while it felt as though he was looking right into her soul, she had no idea what he was thinking or feeling. ‘It will be over soon.’

‘I’m so angry at whoever took those photos.’

‘It’s not their fault.’

‘Then whose fault is it?’ she demanded, disagreeing with him entirely.

‘Mine.’

‘Yours?’

‘Of course.’

‘Why? You didn’t sell those pictures to the tabloids.’

‘But I erred, Poppy. I was indiscreet. I should not have kissed you like that, there, of all places.’

‘You couldn’t have known—’

‘Yes, I could. Don’t forget, I’ve had a lifetime of having my every move monitored. I shouldn’t have let this happen.’

Poppy’s lips pulled to the side. Perhaps he was right. Unlike Poppy, Adrastos had bags of experience with living a very public life. ‘Then why did you?’

His eyes probed hers, his features a mask of iron. ‘Does that matter now? The point is, I should have been more guarded. Kissing you in the first place was a bad idea, but to do so at a party—it’s unforgivable.’

Her heart twisted.

There was some logic to what he was saying but Poppy hated hearing him describe the kiss in that way.

‘I asked you...’

‘And I could have said no.’

The palace staff were waiting by the doors. Poppy’s stomach was in knots. ‘Forget about it. Let’s just...get this over with.’

---