Page 15 of Royal Catch
I grind my teeth. I should’ve locked the door. I turn off the shower, grab a towel, wrap it around my waist, snag the trousers, and march to the bathroom door, trying to tamp down my temper. He’s just doing his job. I poke my head out. “Andrew, here’s the…” I trail off, momentarily speechless.
Polly with the wild curls, with the perfect ass, is sitting on my bed, her legs crossed, looking completely at ease. She’s wearing a red satin robe that ends high on her thighs, with cheetah heels. My mouth goes dry. Is she naked under that robe? Is she here for what I hope she’s here for?
“Hello, handsome,” she says cheerfully, swinging one shapely leg. “I was hoping to see those shoulders. Just as magnificent as I imagined. And the water is just glistening—” she wiggles her fingers at me “—running in rivulets down spectacular pecs, six-pack abs, and a glorious happy trail.” Her eyes eat me up. Unbelievably brash. She stares at my rapidly rising cock through the towel. “Yup.” Her voice is hoarse.
I should be pissed that she dared breach the privacy of my rooms, but instead I’m incredibly turned on. Blame it on the shower. Blame it on the bikini. I blame her.
I toss the trousers on the dresser and approach her. “How did you get in here?”
She lifts one shoulder. “Door was unlocked.”
“How did you know which room was mine?”
She smiles, her teeth flashing white against luscious red lips. “It took a few guesses. I pretended I got lost and was looking for my room. I knew you wouldn’t be in the wing with all of us. And one of the servants told me the bedrooms were on the second and third floors. The floors above that are for servants, the nursery, and storage.” She frowns. “You grew up in an attic? That’s almost worse than the crappy places I landed. I mean, considering there was so much luxury all around you.”
A princess landed in a crappy place?My testosterone-flooded brain goes right back to the most important thing—Polly is practically naked, sitting on my bed, ripe for the picking. I should care why she’s here because she could be planning some kind of treachery, but with those big sparkling brown eyes, her easy smile, her soft-looking skin, her luscious curves, none of that seems to matter.
“Should I dress?”Or remove this towel?
She stares at my bicep. “Only if you want. I’m enjoying the view.”
I sit next to her on the mattress, my thigh close enough to brush the satin of her robe.
She looks up at me, her voice husky. “You might be wondering why I’m here.”
“Not really.”
Her eyes widen. “A woman appears in the middle of the night in your private royal room and you don’t wonder why she’s there? What if I had a knife? What if I planned an assassination?”
My lips twitch. “Do you have a knife?”
“No.” She purses her lips, sexy as all hell. “But you shouldn’t be so trusting.”
“You did hug me before.”
“True.”
I stare at her mouth, and her luscious lips part, her pink tongue darting out to lick them. A surge of lust rushes through me. She wants me to kiss her. “I thought it was pretty obvious why you’re here.”
She lifts a hand near my face and then drops it, muttering to herself about Polly. She’s a strange one, referring to herself in the third person. Ask me if I care.
I brush her curls over her shoulder. They feel springy like I could pull them and they’d bounce.
She stands abruptly and faces me. “I have a few things to say.”
She’s a talker. Great. Just what I need after hours of princess chatter.
“Go on.” I head to my dresser for some boxer briefs. If we’re going to talk, at least I can get out of this wet towel. I pull the briefs up under the towel, take off the towel, dry off as best I can, and set it on the dresser. She still hasn’t said a word. I turn. “Why aren’t you talking?”
Her gaze darts all over my body like she can’t decide where to look, but she can’t look away. This pleases me. “I am loving this view even more,” she says with great enthusiasm, her voice breathy. “Do you always wear just briefs in front of a strange woman who wanders into your private room for possibly nefarious purposes?”
I find myself smiling, a rare laugh bubbling up. “I don’t usually have a strange woman wander into my private room for possibly nefarious purposes, so I can’t say that I always do.”
She swallows, the movement in her long neck mesmerizing; then she lifts her chin and meets my eyes. “Oh, wow, nowthoseare bedroom eyes.” Her gaze drops to my tenting briefs. “And bedroom briefs.”
I bark out a laugh. She slays me.
She laughs too. “I’ve been wanting to make you laugh since I arrived. Maybe you’re not such a stick-in-the-mud.”
