Page 31 of Royal Cocktail

“You do? What for?”

His shoulders rose and fell as he sighed. Then he laid his hand on top of hers. “For letting you have the wrong impression. Talia’s part of my publicity team.”

“Oh.” She pulled her hand away, suddenly all too aware of the brush of skin against skin. She put her hands in her lap and twisted her fingers together. “Well, you should be careful.” She looked everywhere but directly at him. “Sleeping with someone on your team is the kind of thing that will draw bad press.”

He nodded slowly. “True, but I should have been more clear. I’m not sleeping with her. She was wearing my shirt because she spilled coffee all over her blouse. I lent it to her so that we could have it washed while she went back to her apartment. She’s not staying at the Driskill. She actually has family in town.”

“Oh. Then why did you—?”

“I let you think that we were together because...”

She frowned as he trailed off. “Because why?”

He drew a noisy breath. “Because I knew it would add distance between us.”

“Oh.” She stiffened. “You want distance.”

“No.” He leaned forward. “No, I really don’t. But I also didn’t want to hurt you again, and that was before I knew you were engaged.”

“Right. Of course.” She cleared her throat. “Well, that’s really sweet of you to protect me.” She kept her hands tightly into her lap, realizing after a minute, that she was squeezing them so tightly that she was at risk of cutting off circulation to her fingers.

“Later, it didn’t seem important to tell you. After all, you’re with Bart, so what did it matter? He seems like a nice guy, by the way. I’m happy for you.”

“Yeah. He’s one of the good ones.” She flashed a bright smile, as if she was in the best relationship ever. But she couldn’t sustain it.

“Skye?”

She sighed. “Look, he is nice. He’s a great guy. But he’s not mine.”

“I’m sorry?”

“I guess we think alike,” she said. “He’s a friend from law school. And he’s my roommate while his place is being remodeled. But there’s nothing between us. There never has been.”

“Well.” Leo sat back, his head slightly cocked. “Isn’t that interesting information?”

“Is it?”

He met her eyes, and she saw the depths of heat and longing there.

“Yes, Skye. I think it is.”

Chapter Fourteen

“A daiquiri?” Skye asked an hour later when she returned from the ladies’ room. “What about another loaded Corona?”

Leo shook his head. “We’ve moved from drinking for pleasure to drinking as part of your instruction. Not that watching you suck on a straw won’t be pleasurable for me...”

Skye rolled her eyes. “You want me to do oral motor exercises?”

“I can think of a lot of things I’d like you to do that are oral.”

Skye had just drawn a sip of daiquiri through the straw, immediately started to laugh, then almost ended up choking. She put her hand up to stop Leo from coming to her side of the table, then shot him a narrow-eyed glance. “Are you flirting, Your Highness?”

“I might be. Now that we’ve cleared the air about girlfriends and fiancés.” He grimaced. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t flirt.”

She bit her lower lip, knowing she should stay silent. But instead she said, “It’s okay. I kind of like it.”

“Kind of?”