"When?"My heart stuttered at his word choice.
"When."He kissed my forehead, a gesture that was somehow more intimate than everything that had come before."I'm not going anywhere, Betty.We have time."
I wasn't sure I wanted time.I wasn't sure I wanted to be sensible or proper or any of the things I was supposed to be.But he was right, and some small rational part of my brain knew it.
"Goodnight, Archie."
"Goodnight, Betty."
He stepped back, and the loss of his warmth made me want to grab him and pull him back.But I stayed where I was, leaning against my door, watching him walk away.
He paused at the corner and looked back, and the expression on his face made my knees weak.
"For the record," he said, "that wasn't a terrible idea.That was the best idea anyone's had in a very long time."
Then he was gone, and I was alone in the hallway with kiss-swollen lips and a heart that wouldn't stop racing.
I slipped into my room and leaned against the closed door, pressing my fingers to my mouth where I could still feel the ghost of his lips.
I'd just made out with a prince.My husband.A man I'd been determined to resent, who'd turned out to be kind and funny and protective, who kissed like he meant it and looked at me like I was something worth wanting.
This was either the beginning of something wonderful or a spectacular mistake.
Given my track record, probably both.
CHAPTER 14
Betty
Iwoke with my fingerspressed to my lips, still feeling the ghost of Archie's mouth on mine.
Morning light filtered through the silk curtains, casting the bedroom in shades of gold and cream.Beyond the tall windows, the Mediterranean stretched out in impossible shades of blue, and somewhere in the palace gardens, a fountain splashed in a rhythm that should have been soothing.But my pulse kept skipping, tripping over itself every time I remembered the way he'd pressed me against the door last night.The way his hands had moved into my hair like he'd been thinking about it for days.The rough edge in his voice when he'd said "when we do this properly."
When.Not if.
I rolled over and buried my face in a pillow that probably cost more than my monthly rent back in Oregon, grinning like an idiot at the silk pillowcase.
