AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Maybe.”
“You’re doing great. Really,” Rick said, encouragingly. “It suits you.”
“Honestly?”
He nodded. “You are a decent dancer.”
“You don’t have to take pity on me.”
“One, I have fun with you?—”
“Because you have no one else to hang out with?—”
He chuckled. “Yes, but I do have fun. I realised how much freedom I’ve had and how little you had. I am honoured to be your partner in crime, Alexandra. I’m putting my devious powers to good use.”
I smiled, feeling faint as I had when he’d kissed me hours before. I was running on a high. I couldn’t put anything into words. We stopped. I held his hand. We stood staring at one another, my mind racing, hoping he might kiss me again. Rather, dying for him to kiss me again.
Just when I felt his face coming closer to mine and we were moments from a genuine, real kiss, it all fell apart. My hopes were dashed. The fuzzy feeling turned to fear, and it all faded away.
Sixteen
Rick
Alexandra’s eyes stared deep into me again. This time, I held her so near. My hand moved down her back to rest just above her ass. An urge to kiss her rushed over me. I knew I shouldn’t. I knew it was bad for us. I suspected staring at her now that shehadcaught feelings, regardless of what she said. Maybe she had gotten her wires crossed or maybe there was something there?
The truth was, I was a sucker for a girl dressed down—much more than a woman all buttoned up. Somehow, in a pair of shorts and a tank top, Alexandra was more appetising than I had previously credited her to be. She was cute in a girl-next-door sort of way.
We were bonding, yes, but damn if I didn’t want to kiss her. I suspected she wanted the same. With a whoosh, the doors opened. The Dowager Queen entered, flanked by footmen. She looked unamused.
“Alexandra, what are you doing?”
“It’s my fault,” I said. “She couldn’t dance. I was teaching her a waltz.”
Alexandra, by now, stepped back. She’d panicked.
“Need I remind you that he’s not your husband, Alexandra? That he’s not even your fiancé! He would drag your reputation through the mud as all men are wont to do.”
I set my jaw in anger. “I swear. I was just teaching her to dance.”
“Did you or did you not kiss her at the polo match, Your Royal Highness?”
“We kissed each other,” Alexandra insisted. “He and I chose to kiss ahead of time. To give them something to talk about—rile them up, Grand-Mama.”
“I do not like this,” Celeste said. “He can do everything he wants to you, and you have?—”
I cut her off, unable to stand seeing Alexandra twisting in the wind. I couldn’t take it anymore.
“We’re going to do the announcement. We’ve decided it is time, Celeste. But it’s late. We didn’t want to bother you.”
Alexandra looked at me, eyes wide.
“Not sure how you handle things. But, generally, back home, we’d do engagement photos and an engagement interview with the press—all to do with that release.”
“We do all those things. Of course, it has been so long,” Celeste murmured. “You are getting engaged?”
“Yes. I planned to speak with you in the morning before I notified my father and decided on a ring.”
“You needn’t do that. Her mother’s ring remains in the royal collection. It was willed to her,” Celeste said. “That will do.”
