Going Royal 01 - Some Like It Royal (12 page)

“No, but I buried my father when I was eight.” He tossed his napkin on the table. “I grew up in trailer parks and I ran away to video games because it was better than watching my mother try to drink herself to death. We lived paycheck to paycheck when she worked and on my father’s pension when she didn’t. I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Yeah, I’m lucky, I know
exactly
where I came from. I know what failure tastes like and every single thing I have I earned—by busting my ass.”

Exhaling hard, he tried to stuff his temper back in the bottle but like the genie it was out. Alyx stared at him and he clenched his hands, counted to ten and let them go again. “No, I don’t know what being a foster kid is like and I’m sorrier than you’ll ever know that was your childhood. But all I’ve done is try to help.”

“I—” Her voice hitched and a fresh sheen of tears sparkled across her eyes before she turned away. She gripped the back of a chair, and he was torn between going to her and leaving her be.

He kept screwing up with her.

“I’m sorry today sucked for you.”

“It pretty much sucked for you too.” She sniffled, wheezing a half laugh, half sob.

“I don’t know.” He raked a hand through his hair to keep from grabbing her like he wanted. “It had waffles.”

Her shoulders shook and the last dregs of his anger drained away, leaving a bitter aftertaste in his mouth. Taking a step forward, he started to reach out to her. “Alyx...”

But the face she showed him might have been damp with tears, but also watery laughter. “You’re right, it had waffles. I have a bit of a headache. You mind if I go on up?”

Yeah. He minded. But she needed a break. And maybe he did too. “Not at all. Sleep well.”

“You too.”

Moodily, he stared at the remnants of their uneaten dinner, then finally headed into his office. Maybe he should do what she asked—butt out of her personal life, keep it all a business transaction.

That way they both got what they wanted. Right?

* * *

He was asleep on the sofa in his office when a newspaper slapped against his chest. Opening his eyes, he found Victor glaring at him. A hard line knitted the man’s brows together. Sitting up slowly, he peered at him. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I could ask you the same question, since trouble has erupted in paradise.” He pointed to the photo on the front of the social section. Daniel sighed.

It showed Alyx marching away from him and his own confusion mirrored in the grainy photograph. The caption read “Has Spherecast billionaire already crashed and burned his secret romance with Russian princess?”

“Well, shit.”

“My thoughts, precisely,” Victor scolded. “You have made my job infinitely harder, Mr. Voldakov, and the two of you will have a lot to do to make up lost ground here.”

Daniel tossed the paper onto the coffee table and stood. “Leave it alone. We’ll take care of it.” He should have been paying attention for a photographer. Hell, he’d forgotten about the “job” in his worry for her. She’d shut him out but good.

“No, I will not leave it alone. I warned you that body language would sell or break this plan of yours. After an image like that, after the teases we’ve leaked for the last week, we’re going to have to dig deeper.”

“Dig deeper how?” Alyx interrupted from the doorway. Her pale face showed deep smudges beneath her eyes. Had her sleep been as bad as his?

“You’ll have to demonstrate the romance to repair this—”

“I can hold her hand, we can dance.” Daniel waved away the man’s concern, his attention focused on the woman drifting closer. She looked more waiflike than ever before. Her dark hair pulled back from her face emphasized the fragility in her features and that damn haunting sadness seemed to have taken up permanent residence in her eyes.

“It will take a lot more than some hand holding.” Victor eyed them both. “A great deal more. You should both have breakfast and then brush your teeth.”

Alyx swung her gaze away from him to stare at Victor in confusion. “Our teeth?”

“Yes, your teeth. You’ll be kissing today, and a lot of it, until you make me believe that you two can’t think of anything else. Then you’ll go out tonight and show the world just how much you want each other.”

Daniel froze.

Oh shit
,
indeed.

Chapter Fourteen

True to his word, Victor gave them time to eat breakfast, drink coffee and brush their teeth before he locked all three of them up in the study.

Alyx buried the disappointment of the day before—or tried to, at least. She wasn’t sure she wanted to keep up with this charade. Two weeks in and her soul was raw and shredded. What would she be like two months in?

“All right. We’re going to pretend that you’re both amateurs at this.” Victor carried his coffee cup over to a side table and set it down. He drew out a tin of peppermints from his jacket pocket, then placed them on the coffee table. “Every kiss tells a story.”

Perching on the edge of the sofa, she chose the spot farthest from where Daniel stood. No matter how rationally she reminded herself that the loss of all those personal items was hardly his fault, the hope to have them again was. He’d insisted on the trip. He drove her from the parking lot where her house used to be to social services and he got the ball rolling.

In all honesty, she was no worse off than she’d been before they went. She didn’t have any personal belongings outside of her bear. But she’d never known she missed that chance before.

Never knew that a clerical error sent the letter to the wrong address. Never knew she should have asked about it.

So why does it hurt to look at him?

“Princess.” Victor snapped her back to the present and she met his stern gaze while trying to stuff all that hope-deflated disappointment back into the Pandora’s box she’d inadvertently opened.

“Yes?”

“Are you listening?” He knew she wasn’t or he wouldn’t have called her on it.

Sighing, she crossed one leg over the other and folded her arms before sitting back against the sofa. “No. Not really.”

“Okay. You need to get your head in this game. I’m not going to ask what happened yesterday. It doesn’t matter. Do you remember the role you’re taking on?”

This time she really
looked
at Daniel. Exhaustion left dark circles beneath his eyes. His tousled blond hair and hint of stubble on his cheeks gave his normally good-boy, sun-kissed looks a rakish edge. The corners of his mouth turned up in a small smile. Her heart thudded a little harder. “Yes. I am his soon-to-be fiancée, and princess, or grand duchess, as is the proper title.”

“Excellent. And you, Mr. Voldakov? You do remember the part you play in your own masquerade?” Victor’s tone took a harder edge with Daniel, his words clipping off on the last syllable.

The photo was bad, she knew that—but that hadn’t been Daniel’s fault. It was hers.

“Victor, I appreciate the candor and the lessons, but don’t push too much harder.” The mild warning was the first she’d ever heard Daniel make and her thighs tightened at the husky quality of his voice.

“Good. You need to remember that in this situation you are the man. You take the lead. You set the tone.” Their coach seemed oblivious to the tension winding in the air, or maybe he just chose to ignore it. “Selling a romance requires understanding what that romance is—what the body language communicates. Kissing is a vital component to the whole package. You were doing very well with your touching. You brushed legs while sharing meals, you held hands and you sat close together. But yesterday’s events have now illuminated a schism...which is being repeated in this room right now.”

He looked meaningfully at the space between her and Daniel. Alyx sighed and stood as Daniel took two steps forward. She bumped into him and he slung an arm around her waist, steadying her. Her heart pounded hard against her ribs, but he didn’t let her go. “Is this really necessary?”

She hadn’t meant to ask the question. After all this was a job. Only a job.

If nothing else, the explosion the night before drove that point home. Maybe if she repeated that to herself as a mantra, she’d make it clear to her out-of-whack emotions that they weren’t personally invested in this. She was still Alyx Dagmar, aspiring actress, and this was the opportunity of a lifetime.

Why were her nerves tingling and her stomach upset? He couldn’t possibly be a bad kisser and she’d already thought about what it would be like to—

Disaster lay down that track.

“That’s a fair question.” Oh, thank God. Daniel was on her side in this. He stared at Victor. “We don’t really need you to walk us through the kissing. I’m pretty sure we both understand how that works.”

“Well, then by all means, demonstrate.” Victor stared at them expectantly and her hopes dashed against the cold practicality of the situation. They couldn’t hope to sell a romance without passion.

Why did I agree to this?

She looked up at Daniel, half expecting to see her worried emotions reflected in his gaze, but what she found startled her more. Interest gleamed in his eyes. Intrigue and maybe a note of longing. All the moisture fled her mouth. He lifted his free hand and brushed a tendril of hair back from her face.

Every muscle in her body seized. Electricity skated across her cheek at the casual touch of his fingers. Her heart squeezed, pulsing in little beats as though afraid to interrupt. His head tilted and all she could see were his blue eyes staring into hers as he swooped in. At the last moment, her lashes fluttered closed and his breath tickled her lips, a promise of the moment when they would touch.

“No.” That single word interrupted the moment and Daniel jerked against her. Eyes flying open, she swung a look at Victor. “Your body language is wrong.”

“I thought we were kissing.” Frustration cracked a note in her voice and she grimaced at Daniel’s low chuckle.

“We were almost kissing, but apparently we needed to have some cut scenes for the blooper reel.” Daniel squeezed her lightly.

The wildly inappropriate remark sent a titter of amusement through her and she snickered. Victor frowned and the deeper his frown went, the more humor escaped. She turned her face toward Daniel’s shoulder and leaned into him—shaking with suppressed laughter.

He rubbed her back, his own chest reverberating with the hilarity of the situation. Glancing up, her nose bumped his and he kissed her.

Victor be damned on whether they were doing it right, but her smile faded as his lips caressed hers, the barest hint of contact—completely ruined when she leaned into it and their noses bumped.

Laughter erupted again.

Daniel caught her as she sagged against him, both fumbling until they ended up sitting on the sofa.

“Again.”

She barely had time to process the word when Daniel’s open mouth met hers and their teeth clacked. It was her turn to withdraw and she covered her mouth with a hand, embarrassment flooding through her. “I really do know how to do this,” she said from behind her fingers.

“I’ve got some experience myself, not that you can tell at the moment.” His self-deprecating humor set her free and the giggles spilled out. She leaned away, but her leg still rested against his. She couldn’t stop the silly sounds from escaping. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes and she spared a look at Victor.

That was a mistake. His disapproving scowl sent another wave of humor through her and she collapsed back against the sofa and drew her knees to her chest. Daniel stared down at her, his own grin widening. “Okay, maybe we do need lessons.”

“Maybe.” She rubbed at the corners of her eyes, trying to get a grip.

He winked at her, then canted a look at Victor. “Want to tell us what we’re doing wrong?”

“In general or specifically?” The arid tone tickled her further and she hiccupped a choked laugh. “The humor is good. You’re both relaxing. The second kiss was better than the first and the third was just dreadful.”

“What was wrong with the first kiss?” Alyx sat up abruptly. She’d actually been looking forward to that one. Daniel caught her hand and she curled her fingers around his.

“He pursued you, but you just stood there, waiting for it to happen—terrified.” As quiet as his voice was, Victor’s tone rang with judgment.

“I wasn’t terrified.” Not exactly. “I was nervous. We’ve never kissed before.”

“Precisely my point.” Victor rose and held out a hand to her imperiously. She sneaked a look at Daniel and he shook his head slightly. He didn’t know what the coach planned to throw at them next.

Accepting Victor’s hand, she let him pull her to her feet and away from the sofa. Unfortunately, that meant letting go of Daniel. Victor led her into the center of the room and set a hand on her hip. If he hadn’t been correcting her posture and stance for the past several days, she might have slapped his hand—as it was, she obeyed his directions. He slid an arm around her.

“When Mr. Voldakov went to kiss you earlier, this is how you stood—he had the control and the lead, but you were neither inviting nor seeking. You merely stood.” Victor lowered his face toward hers and unlike with Daniel her lashes didn’t flutter nor did her heart pick up speed. “Not even when you could feel his breath on your lips did you reach out to touch him. He caressed your face, he sought an invitation and
still
you didn’t move.”

As if to illustrate his point, he touched her cheek and closed the final gap to touch his lips to hers. It was a cool, almost impersonal peck and felt about fifty shades of wrong. She caught her lower lip in her teeth as he drew back. From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the look on Daniel’s face—a scowl that could have mirrored Victor’s earlier frown.

“When a man wants to kiss you, you have to let him know it’s not only welcome, but demanded.” Victor instructed, picking up her hand and putting it on his shoulder. He glanced meaningfully at her feet. “She takes a step forward, into the man.”

Reluctantly, she slid her foot forward and that left her off balance until she practically leaned on Victor, draping into his arms, and he was the only thing standing between her and falling on her ass.

“Now smile, just a hint of one, and you look at his mouth, or his eyes, but you watch as he swoops in. Just before he arrives, you lift up onto your toes and meet him—offering both invitation and demand.” Victor dipped his head and watched her expectantly. Did he really want her to kiss him?

A cough interrupted. “I think we have it now.”

She tossed a grateful look at Daniel and stepped back, regaining her balance. He held out his hand and she took it. Daniel tugged her to his side of the study and glanced down at her. “Just forget the coach over there.”

His jaw tightened with a tension she hadn’t seen there before. He gave Victor a hard, territorial look. “And no comments from the peanut gallery. If you want us to get this right, you let us do it our way.”

Victor spread his arms and retreated a few steps.

Heart thumping, she fought another wild grin as Daniel slid his arm around her waist. A glint of humor twinkled in his eyes and her grin grew. “We’re going to clack teeth again,” she warned him.

“No. We’re not.” He brushed his fingers down her cheek and her pulse leaped.

She slid her hand up his shirt to his shoulder, the fabric warm and soft against the taut muscle beneath. Her stomach clenched. “We’re going to bump noses.”

“No. We’re not.” A hint of a smile creased his lips as he gave her a light tug and she slid her foot forward, gliding into him until her breasts pushed up against his chest. Her body sizzled at the contact.

He dipped his head, his blue gaze holding her captive. She couldn’t think of a single objection and remembered to push up on her toes as his lips settled against hers. Her fingers closed on his shirt, fisting the fabric, and her mind soared. His mouth worked magic, massaging her lips apart, and when his tongue glided against hers, a wildfire raced through her blood. He made a low sound in his throat and his arm tightened on her waist. Somewhere between the first brush of his lips and his tongue gliding over hers, she threaded her fingers into his hair.

The masculine scent of him filled her nostrils and a curl of liquid heat skated from her nipples to her sex.

Good God
,
the man can kiss.

When his palm smoothed over the curve of her ass, she pulled back, startled. She stared at him, breathing ragged, her thoughts a wild cacophony of regret and longing.

“Much better.” Victor’s voice intruded and she withdrew further, aware of the branding hand shaping her bottom and the fingers curling into the back pocket of her jeans. He wasn’t going to let her go. That light, possessive touch burned through the denim.

Now what?
she wanted to ask, but the words wouldn’t quite come out.

“And again,” Victor instructed, resuming his seat in the chair.

Her gaze flew up to meet Daniel’s and she saw the promise in them as he tugged her closer and her fingers slid back into his hair. He fit against her, perfectly, and her breath caught just before his lips touched hers. Knowing what to expect didn’t prepare her for the explosions rioting in her senses.

Just a kiss.
Just a kiss.

But she couldn’t disguise the small moan that slid out nor miss the throaty masculine murmur of sound that matched it.

It was a hell of a lot more than just a kiss.