Page 41 of Royal Catch
I step closer, wanting to hold her again, erase the pain from her eyes. “Polly.”
“Don’t do that,” she whispers. “I don’t deserve your love.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your dance is done already?” Phillip asks, appearing out of nowhere. “My turn.” He offers his hand to Polly, and she takes it with a tight smile.
I stalk away and pour myself a whiskey from the liquor cart. It’s not that I care that Phillip is slow dancing with Polly. Okay, I do. Too much. It’s that she won’t even consider love as a factor bigger than all the other trappings that go along with my life. Of course she deserves my love. She’s everything I could ever want, everything I need.
Oscar and Lucas join me by the liquor cart. “Hello, prince charming,” Lucas drawls.
“Why, hello,” Oscar replies.
They laugh. Lucas elbows Oscar. “You know who I mean, Mr. Stick-Up-His-Ass.”
My eyes are glued to Polly. “Fuck off,” I snarl at my annoying little brothers. When neither of them moves, I glare at them.
They blithely ignore me. Lucas pours himself some scotch. Oscar holds up his glass and Lucas splashes some in for him too. They sip and turn to watch Polly. I do too. She is undeniably sexy dancing under the moonlight, her body sensuous in every movement as Phillip takes her hand and leads her in a slow twirl. Phillip has always had women falling at his feet with his warm easy charm. Too bad he’s a monogamist at heart because that didn’t work out for him so well. His five-year relationship ended in a spectacularly public way for the former golden couple. He was a wreck, which is probably why he rutted his way through Europe, inciting a firestorm of media attention. He’s settling down again; maybe he’s ready for another relationship. It will not be with Polly.
“Polly’s great,” Lucas says.
I stiffen. I’m in no mood for their teasing.
“Oh, yeah. Fantastic,” Oscar puts in.
I glare at them. “Stop talking about her.”
Lucas stage-whispers to Oscar, “He likes her.”
Oscar grins. “Does helikeher like her?”
“Shut up.” I give Oscar’s head a shove. Such a smartass.
“Seriously,” Lucas says, “anyone can see the lust in your eyes where she’s concerned. And I get it, but she is not queen material. She actually has a personality instead of a proper princess mask.”
“And her clothes are hot,” Oscar says. Lucas agrees.
I ignore them. They’re trying to get a rise out of me.
Lucas goes on, waxing philosophic. “Even if you gave her a complete queenly makeover, I’m not so sure she’s Gabriel material either.”
“Better match for Phillip,” Oscar puts in.
Polly and Phillip do look good together, comfortable and natural, even though they just met. They’re talking like old friends.No.Everything in me rebels at the thought. I’ve never been such a rebel until I met Polly. Maybe I never needed to rebel before.
I turn to my brothers. “You’re both idiots.”
Lucas rubs his beard thoughtfully. “I don’t know. Phillip is a little too much like Gabriel, and Polly looks young.”
Phillip turns Polly in a slow circle, and he’s smiling like she’s the best thing to happen to him in years.
Lucas goes on. “I’m thinking a better match would be—”
“Me,” I grind out. “I don’t care what—”
“Your Highness, I would like to dance now.”
The hair on the back of my neck stands on end, and I slowly turn to see Francesca standing there. How much did she overhear? Fuck. I thought she left. She’s alone now, no chaperone. She must’ve only taken a brief break from watching me dance too closely with another woman. Guilt pricks my conscience. I haven’t given her a fair chance. My heart is already taken. Who knew it could happen so quickly, so thoroughly? The least I can do is treat Francesca decently. She probably ditched her chaperone just so she could dance with me.
