Up for Heir - Stella Starling Page 0,74

sexy, low laughs that would have made Edvin’s toes curl if he hadn’t been busy feeling miserable about letting Leo down at the moment. “Eddie, you are very responsible, aren’t you?”

“I suppose so,” Edvin said with a sigh.

Responsible. Boring. Forgettable. Hans used to say the same things.

Oh Lord, what on earth could Leo possibly see in him?

But then—

“It’s sexy, love. Keeps me on my toes. I like it.”

“Y-Y-You do?” Edvin asked, clutching the phone with both hands and feeling a bit breathless all of a sudden.

“Very much so.”

Edvin bit his lip, but it couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across his face. No one but Leo had ever called him sexy before, but somehow, even when Leo was just talking about Edvin’s work ethic, of all things, it sounded like he really meant it. He made Edvin feel sexy, as if he was actually attracted to all the things that made Edvin… well, Edvin.

Edvin moved up to the head of the bed so he could sit with his back leaning against the wall.

“You really don’t mind?” he asked, his tongue deciding to flow around the words as smooth as silk this time. “About tomorrow, I mean?”

“As long as I still get you on Sunday,” Leo said, his voice dropping down to a low, sexy timbre that made Edvin feel wanted.

“Yes,” Edvin agreed promptly, smiling so wide this time that it actually hurt his cheeks. “I’ll be at the ball.”

“I want you Sunday night, too,” Leo said, still using that sex-voice that sent delicious shivers through Edvin’s body. “In my suite.”

All Edvin’s blood rushed south, his breath hitching, and he cast a furtive glance at the door just to double-check that it was locked. It was, so he reached down and adjusted himself.

“Um, y-y-yes,” he said, sort of forgetting to remove his hand because unnnnnnghhh, just thinking about being in Leo’s bed again had him ready for it. He gave himself a squeeze through his pajama pants, stifling a moan.

“What was that, love?”

Edvin yanked his hand off his swelling shaft, blushing furiously even though he knew Leo couldn’t see him.

“I, um, I said… s-s-said yes. You can… can have me Sunday night, too.” Even though he should really check with Oliver first to find out if he’d be okay staying home with the girls that night before making promises like that.

“I’m having Hugo set up rooms at the palace for your siblings to stay over the night of the ball as well,” Leo said, removing that concern almost faster than it could form. “I know you don’t like leaving them at the apartment on their own, and I think they’ll enjoy it, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Edvin breathed out softly, a wave of warmth washing over him. It really did feel like Leo could read his mind sometimes, but since that wasn’t possible, it could only mean… well, it meant Leo paid attention to what mattered to Edvin.

“And we’ll have to talk about making that more permanent at some point, won’t we, darling?” Leo said, taking all that burgeoning warmth inside Edvin and adding flutters to it, as well.

“We will?” Edvin asked, clutching the phone tightly. “You… you really want us to live at the palace? All of us?”

“Of course I do,” Leo said, sounding almost surprised by the question. “I’m marrying you, Eddie. Your family is my family. Where else would I want you all to be?”

“Oh,” Edvin said, which was a completely inadequate response but honestly all he was capable of. Because yes, Leo was going to marry him. That was why they were announcing their engagement. That was what getting engaged meant. But for some reason—for a lot of reasons, actually, all of which fell under the “doubts and insecurities” umbrella that Edvin was frankly getting a little tired of carrying around all the time—Edvin kept expecting his prince to change his mind. Come to his senses. Tell Edvin that it was all a mistake and that the fairy tale wasn’t real. Because… because fairy tales weren’t. And even if they had been, Edvin was going to a Royal Ball, for heaven’s sake. Could he really be blamed for assuming that once the clock struck midnight, everything would turn back into pumpkins and mice?

Edvin sniffled, his eyes suddenly stinging with the hot prick of tears. And not even because of that persistent undercurrent of fear that it would all disappear someday, but because when Leo kept saying things like “your family is my family” and “I want the chance to