A Princess for Christmas - Jenny Holiday Page 0,76

pair of wingback chairs positioned near the fireplace. “Have a seat.” He overshot the chairs himself, and for a moment she thought he was going to the bathroom to get dressed, but he only grabbed a small box of truffles from the nightstand.

He held them out to her, but she shook her head.

Leo plopped down in the chair opposite hers and popped a chocolate in his mouth. She always ate those truffles in two or three bites. You could really savor them that way, notice the subtle textural differences between the bittersweet coating and the sweeter, softer filling.

But not Leo. He just popped the whole thing in his mouth like it was a piece of popcorn. He was sitting there with his legs splayed—not enough that she could actually see anything, but enough that the edges of the towel came away from each other.

“What can I do for you?” he said with his mouth full.

Was it her imagination, or did he let his legs splay a little more as he spoke?

And what if they had? That would be a sign her overture was likely to meet with success, would it not? She straightened her spine. “I am here with a proposal.”

He raised his eyebrows.

She straightened her spine some more. “I propose we embark on a sexual affair for the duration of your time in Eldovia.”

He choked. Pitched forward in his chair and coughed like a cat trying to expel a hairball.

“Oh my goodness!” She shot to her feet and crossed the short space between them. Once there, though, she didn’t know what to do. “Are you all right?” she finished weakly.

The coughing tapered off and he gradually got himself under control. It occurred to her that this was the first time she’d ever seen Leo not in control.

She tried to retreat to her chair now that she was assured he was all right, but one of his hands shot out and grabbed her forearm.

“Say that again.”

Had she not made herself clear? She didn’t know how to be any more direct. “I propose we embark on a sexual affair for the duration of your time in Eldovia. That’s what? Five more days?” The siblings were scheduled to fly home on Boxing Day.

Leo huffed a disbelieving laugh and let go of her in favor of running a hand through his hair. She took the opportunity to retreat. Which was, perhaps, not the wisest course of action given her aims. Retreating wasn’t very . . . seductive, was it?

“Why?” he asked, finding her gaze when she was back at her chair.

“Because eventually I will have to marry, and it won’t be someone I get to choose.”

“You know this sounds like something from another century, right?”

“To you I am sure it does. I, however, have been aware from an early age that my eventual marriage will have to benefit my country. Ideally, I’ll be fond of the person, too.” She was fond of Max.

Should she tell Leo about Max? No. Max had no bearing on what she was proposing.

“What about your parents?” Leo asked.

“Their marriage was arranged by their parents.”

“But to hear you tell it, they were in love.”

“They were, but that came later.” She gave a sigh of frustration. “The point is that I don’t have an endless amount of time left, and I would very much like to . . . enjoy myself while I can.”

“I see.” He looked amused. She didn’t know what to make of that. “And have you . . . enjoyed yourself before?”

“Are you asking if I’m a virgin?”

“Yep.”

“Does it matter?”

“I’m sure as hell not in the business of deflowering any virginal princesses.”

“You’re not?” He didn’t seem like the kind of man who would care about such antiquated notions of sexual purity.

“I know how that fairy tale ends. With me facing a royal firing squad.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Eldovia outlawed capital punishment in the 1950s.”

“Still.”

“Well, I’m not a virgin.” Leo raised an eyebrow. “I . . . enjoyed myself while I was away at university.”

“Oh, you ‘enjoyed yourself,’ did you?” He was teasing her, but not in a mean way.

She tamped down a smile. She had enjoyed herself. She’d set out to do so, in fact, just as decidedly as she’d set out to study engineering. “Eldovia is . . . it’s hard to explain. It’s like a small town where everyone knows me. Everyone thinks of me as the princess first and foremost. At Oxford, I’m sure people still thought of me as a