We’d been chatting about our day, laughing over Juno’s absolute disregard for royal etiquette and how my grandmother seemed to love her more for it.
The driver dropped us off at the hotel and Lily and I got into the lift alone. “She seemed to defend me,” Lily suddenly said, confusion coloring her tone as I pressed the button for her floor. “Your grandmother. When that man got all snotty about my accent.”
“That was my cousin Grant. He is a complete arse and nobody likes him.”
“I don’t understand your grandmother. She tried to break us up and now she’s defending me?”
“Mum says she agreed to keep out of our relationship when she learned how Zac had gone about trying to break us up.” I gestured for Lily to get off the lift first as the doors opened on our floor. “Now that she’s decided not to be a villainous royal caricature, she won’t let you be insulted. She has a strange sense of honor that way.”
“You forgive her, then?”
“Not quite. I did enjoy watching her put Grant in his place. Granny might have her own set of standards regarding the institution’s public face, but she hates people who act superior to others. And she has a lot of Scottish friends. She didn’t like his tone.” I let us into the room.
After I shut the door behind us, I stopped Lily, looping my arms around her waist to pull her back to my chest. The thick skirts of her dress rustled with the movement, and I pressed my lips to a spot on her nape that turned her to jelly.
“Oh,” she moaned softly, melting into me.
I brushed my mouth over her ear. “You know I love your accent, right?”
Lily sighed happily. “I love yours too.”
“And you know I know you hated every single second of this event and I’m so grateful to you for coming with me?”
She turned her head toward mine. “I know.”
“We never have to do it again. I am under no obligation now to attend royal events.”
“But won’t that cause problems with your family?”
“Very doubtful.”
“We can go to the events,” she replied half-heartedly.
“You were so uncomfortable, which makes me even more uncomfortable than I already was at these things to begin with.”
“They’re your family.”
“We can visit them in private.”
“Sebastian—”
“Unless twenty-nine members of the royal family are struck down by some fatal mysterious plague, there is no need for my attendance.”
“Well, if that’s what you want. But know I can pull up my big-girl knickers and attend one of these things … once in a blue moon.”
I kissed behind her ear, grinning. “Thank you for the generous offer.” My hands slid down her poufy skirt. “Now, how do I get underneath all this fabric?”
Lily giggled and the sound made me grin with wicked intent.
“Is this an attempt to challenge my skills?” I teased, pressing a kiss to her bare shoulder. “A kinky version of Where’s Wally?”
She let out a cackle of laughter, making me grin harder. I patted down the skirts, pulling at the fabric.
“Seriously? Are we playing a sexy version of Hunt the Thimble?”
“Hunt the What?”
“You’ve never heard of Hunt the Thimble? Well, in the usual version, there’s a thimble or a small object involved. In this version”—I raised my head to whisper hoarsely—“I’m referring to your pussy.”
