Royal Ruse - Emma Lea Page 0,36

smile at me. My breath stalled in my chest with the way her face lit up and if I wasn’t driving, I could have stared at her all day.

I dragged my eyes back to the road, but kept her hand in mine as we made our way toward the estate.

“Um, Lucas,” she said. “What’s going on?”

There was a line of cars waiting to turn into the estate, and my body vibrated with nerves.

“I don’t know,” I said as I followed the line of cars down the driveway and then pulled up at the valet stand at the front of the house.

“Your mother organized valet parking?” Frankie hissed. “Just how many people did she invite?”

“I don’t know,” I repeated as I got out of the car and handed over my keys.

“Mr. Andino?” a woman said to me, clutching an iPad to her chest.

“Yes?” I said, turning to her.

“Oh good. And this must be Ms. Davenport,” the woman said as I walked around the car to join Frankie.

“That’s me,” Frankie said.

“Excellent. You’re both a little late, but no matter. If you’ll come with me, we can get the receiving line started.”

Frankie looked at me with raised eyebrows and mouthed, “What?”

I tucked her hand through my elbow and shrugged. We were here now, and there was nothing I could do to but grin and bear whatever it was my mother had done to ruin my life yet again.

Francesca

I gripped the stem of my wineglass in one hand and gripped Lucas’ arm with the other. There weren’t five hundred people at the engagement party, but there were over a hundred and there were members of the press, specifically picked by Maya to attend.

It was my biggest nightmare come to life.

Okay, not my biggest nightmare. It was definitely Lucas’ biggest nightmare and I could feel him tremble beside me as we greeted each and every guest that came through the door.

After that arduous task had been completed, the waiters dispersed through the crowd with trays of champagne and hors d’oeuvres. I’d swiped a glass of champagne as Maya led Lucas and me around the room, but I’d only taken one sip of it. I did not want a repeat of the other day in the club, especially not with all the photographers and reporters in attendance.

I still didn’t understand why our engagement was such a big deal. As far as the rest of the country was concerned, we were nobodies. But Maya had been hyping up the royal angle so much that we were suddenly celebrities and I couldn’t wait until we left for Kalopsia to get away from it.

Paparazzi followed me now. That was all Maya’s doing, of course. I hated it, but I gritted my teeth and bore it for Lucas. I knew he hated it too, but it was only for one more night and then we were out of here.

I lifted the glass to my lips and took a sip, grimacing at the now warm and flat champagne.

“Please tell me this will be over soon,” Lucas muttered under his breath to me.

“We’ve only been here an hour,” I whispered back.

“Oh god, kill me now,” he groaned, and I grinned, hiding my smile behind my glass.

He steered me away from the current group of people who had clustered around us. They didn’t really want to talk to us; they wanted to talk to Maya and Demetrius, so they barely acknowledged our departure. Lucas found a quiet corner and angled his body so no one could see us.

“Are you doing okay?” he asked, his concerned eyes raking over my face as if the answers were written there.

I smiled up at him. “I’m okay. It’s just a couple more hours, right?”

He groaned and leaned his arm on the wall behind me, bringing him impossibly closer. He smelled really good, some citrusy aftershave that was no doubt designer. Not that Lucas cared about labels, but I knew he didn’t do his own shopping and I doubted Maya would allow any normal drugstore products into her house.

Our eyes locked, and we were impossibly close. I tilted my head up to him and his gaze dropped to my lips and my body flushed in anticipation.

What?

No. No, I didn’t want him to kiss me.

Except, I really, really did. I was tempted to stretch up and brush my lips across his. Just once. Just to taste him. Just to see if his lips really were as soft as they looked. The kiss we had when he proposed to me