He’s right; his grandmother is glaring at me now.
I turn around and hurry after Lars. I glimpse Stellan talking very intently with two of the palace staff just outside the doors. Lars quickly heads the other way, trying not to draw attention as he opens another door.
He hurries me inside what looks like an ill used study. Light pours in the window, spilling across several large pieces of furniture that have been draped with protective white cloth.
Lars looks around, one brow raised. “I don’t think I’ve ever even been in this room before.”
I walk over to a cloth-draped desk, lifting the corner to peek at the massive oak shape below. “We are honestly just lucky that you chose this room and not a mop closet.”
“You are right about that,” he agrees. He looks around the room and then shrugs. Taking a seat on the cloth-covered couch, he coughs a little from the dust released.
I wrinkle my nose and plop down beside him. A plume of dust rises, landing in a fine sheet over both of us.
Lars shakes his head at that, sipping his champagne. “Now you’ve done it. We are both ruined. If we go back to the dinner, we’ll both look like we rolled around in a pile of ashes.”
I scrunch my face up. “Maybe that’s what I was going for.”
He flashes me a smirk. Slipping a finger under his necktie, he loosens it. “Might as well get comfortable, then. Once everybody has had a few glasses of wine, they are less likely to notice a pair of sewer rats in their number.”
I laugh at that. Lars grins; he’s always trying to make me laugh and only sometimes succeeding.
“Okay. Well, I’m taking off my heels. They are absolutely killing my feet.”
I stand up and take my shoes off, letting them fall on the ground. When I sit back down, I realize that I am close enough to Lars that our knees knock together. Instantly I start to get up again, thinking to give him some space.
But Lars grabs my wrist. “Where are you going now?”
Heat sizzles along my skin. I look up at him, blushing.
“Nowhere, really.”
He leans closer to me, giving me a delicate sniff. “You smell good. I mean, you always smell good. You smell of roses right now, though.”
I give an awkward titter. “And what do you smell like?” I sniff his chest. “You smell like pine trees and…” I give another sniff. “What is that called? Like right after it rains?”
He throws me another smirk. “Petrichor.”
I nod, leaning back. “Of course you know the name for that smell.”
He grins. “Well, Ja. It is a natural phenomenon.”
I pull a face, sipping my wine. “Sure.”
He seems amused. “I see you’re back on the champagne then. I could swear you avowed never to drink again after New Year’s Eve.”
I squint down at my glass, shrugging. “Well, I definitely thought that I was going to die on New Year’s day. Which, by the way, you conveniently disappeared for.”
He smiles. “I thought I would just do us both a favor and get dressed. And then I had time to think about how I should work out…”
“You didn’t just want to avoid me, then?”
He shoots me an innocent look. “No. Why would I?”
I blow out a breath. “Because… we made out the night before?”
He rolls his eyes. “I make out with a lot of girls, Pippa. It’s perfectly natural.”
I tilt my head at him. “Is it?”
He arches a brow. “For two people who are as close as we are and as attractive as we are to kiss? I would say so, yes.”
My cheeks redden. I bite my lip, playfully eyeing him. “You think I’m attractive?”
He scoffs. “Oh, please. It goes both ways. Don’t think I don’t notice you staring when I take my shirt off.”
I squint at him. “Do not.”
He sets his glass aside, leveling me with a look. “Look. It was just a kiss. I can kiss you right now. It doesn’t mean anything.”
Before I know it, he’s grabbing me around the waist. My heartbeat skyrockets. I try to bring my hands up to block him, but he captures both of them and brings his lips down on mine.
He tugs at my waist, pulling me into the kiss. I soften against him, under the heat of his lips pressed firmly against mine.
My cheeks feel hot as I let my eyelids slide closed.
22
Pippa
Lars leans down, cupping one breast and pulling the nipple to his mouth. I immediately groan at the sensation of