CHAPTER EIGHT
LUCCA WOKE TO a raging thirst. He reached for the lamp switch, grimacing as the sweat-soaked sheets clung to his body like plastic wrap. He raked a hand through the stickiness of his hair and gingerly swung his legs over the edge of the bed. His stomach gave a gurgle like a drain but that was as far as it went. Thank God and all his minions.
After a shower and a shave he felt marginally better. Not well enough to face food but a glass of water went down and stayed down, which was saying something.
He picked up his phone and checked out the newsfeed. It was laughably ironic that every paper was carrying the story of him holed up in the Chatsfield Monte Carlo with Princess Charlotte in a love-in.
Seasoned Playboy Spends Second Night with Prim and Proper Princess.
Is This the End of the King of One-Night Stands?
Could Wedding Bells Ring Twice for Preitalle Royals?
He switched off the screen in irritation. What was it with these people? Who made this stuff up? Did they seriously collect a wage for such drivel? He hadn’t even slept with Lottie.
She was not the sort of girl to have a casual fling. She’d already been exploited in the most appalling way. His insides twisted to think of how she must have felt to have her most private intimate moments exposed in such a sleazy way. He was pretty laid-back when it came to issues of modesty, but even so, any photos taken were with the consent of his partner at the time. He might be a little promiscuous but he still had some standards.
He picked up the drawing he’d started of her. He had to admit it was a good likeness. He’d captured that otherworldly look she had about her. It would look even better once he put some colour to it. That was the part he enjoyed the most, the detail going into a subject, the layers of meaning that each tiny brushstroke laid down.
There was a light rap on the connecting door. ‘Lucca? Are you decent?’
Good question, he thought. He hadn’t felt decent in a very long time. Maybe never. He opened the door to find Lottie looking up at him with those clear big green eyes sans glasses. Was she wearing contacts? Her eyes looked particularly bright. In fact, all of her looked particularly bright. She was dressed in a sundress with bright yellow daisies on it, a wide white patent-leather belt cinched around her waist. Her hair was loosely tied behind her head with a matching yellow silk bow. She looked fresh and young and...decent. He felt like someone had sucked the air out of his lungs. He couldn’t find his voice for a moment. ‘Wow.’
Her eyes sparkled. ‘Do you like it?’ She turned in a full circle and the skirt of the dress lifted just enough to give him a tantalising glimpse of her pretty knees and slim thighs. ‘I went shopping yesterday. There was this really helpful stylist at a boutique who showed me how to put stuff together. I maxed out my credit card. Actually, it was the paintings that did that.’
‘Paintings?’
Her look was sheepish. ‘I bought another three at the auction. I couldn’t resist them. I’d never seen a miniature landscape painting up close before. Do you realise the incredible detail that goes into them? They look like a normal painting only smaller but when you look at them with a magnifying glass you see the amazing detail....’ Her voice trailed off and her cheeks coloured up. ‘But I guess you already know that.’
Lucca couldn’t resist brushing a finger down the slope of her cheek. ‘Are you always this bright and chirpy first thing in the morning?’
Her small white teeth momentarily sank into the pillow of her lower lip. His eyes went to the tiny spot where his mouth had bruised her and his chest flinched as if someone had just kicked his heart with a work-booted foot. ‘Sorry, it’s just I haven’t felt this excited in a long time. I have my very own art collection. Of course, three paintings isn’t much, but it’s a start. Do you know of any other auctions I could attend?’
Lucca smiled at her fresh-faced enthusiasm. Smiled and yet felt that twinge of sadness he’d felt the evening before. She was so young, still a little naive. There were sharks out there that would circle her and gobble her up in a heartbeat. Only forty-eight hours ago he had been one of them. ‘Sure. I’ll email you some links.’
Her eyes drifted away from his. ‘The papers are saying a heap of ridiculous stuff about us.’
‘Yeah, I know. I’ll have to work extra hard to get my reputation back in the sewer where it belongs.’
Her lips twitched as if she were holding back a smile. ‘It’s funny in a way. What they’re saying.’
‘Hilarious.’
Her smile broke free along with a little giggle that sounded like a tinkling bell. He had never heard her laugh before. He had never seen her dimples before either. They made her look adorably cute. ‘I thought I’d be appalled but in a way I’m enjoying it,’ she said. ‘They think we’ve been up here swinging from the chandeliers when in fact I’ve been playing nursemaid and housekeeper. If only they knew.’
‘I’m glad you’ve found the irony of the situation so vastly entertaining.’
Her eyes danced with what suspiciously looked like mischief. ‘Apparently we’re the new “it” couple. Madeleine called me to tell me my popularity rating is through the roof.’
Lucca frowned. ‘You’re not worried about your reputation being besmirched by being associated with me?’
She gave a little up-and-down movement of her shoulders. ‘I’ve decided to get over myself. I’ve been hiding away for the past five years because some guy was a jerk. By staying locked away I’m letting him win. I’ve decided to come out. I want to party and who better to teach me how to do it than you?’
He held up his hands. ‘Uh-uh, I’m not going there.’
She gave a little pout that did crazy things to his heartstrings. ‘Oh, come on, Lucca. You do nothing but party. You’d be the best one to show me how to have a good time.’
Lucca found himself in the unfamiliar role of responsible adult. ‘Listen, sweetheart, I’m not sure you’re ready for the party scene. It’s a jungle out there. You could get into all sorts of trouble.’
She smiled at him with a knockout sparkly smile. ‘But not if I have you as my bodyguard.’
* * *
After talking to Lucca about her disastrous love affair Lottie felt a weight come off her shoulders like throwing off a heavy suit of armour. She didn’t like admitting it but he had been right. She had been acting like a coward. Scared of life. Scared of stepping out of her rigid routine in case life threw up something she couldn’t handle. How would she know if she could handle stuff if she didn’t even try?
She had gone back to the dungeon and survived, hadn’t she?
She had flown in a helicopter again and survived.
It was time to reclaim her life. She didn’t care what the papers said. She was going to have a good time doing all the things girls her age would do. Dancing, drinking delicious cocktails, flirting with handsome men, kicking up her heels and feeling normal.
Lucca proved to be as wonderful an escort as he had been listener the night before. He hired a top model sports car and drove her down to Nice where they had dinner in a fabulous restaurant overlooking the beautiful turquoise blue of the water and the startling-white sand of the beach.
After dinner he took her to a nightclub owned by a friend of his. The music was loud and the patrons hip and übersophisticated, but after her second champagne cocktail she felt herself loosening up a tiny bit. But while Lucca went to the bathroom, his friend the barman insisted on her having a vodka chaser ‘on the house.’ Worried she might offend him by refusing, especially since he was Lucca’s friend, she politely drank it.
It was like drinking a magic potion, an instant cure for introversion. The potent brew flooded her system, giving her a boost of confidence and gaiety. There would be no wilting daisy petals tonight. No way. She was ready to stand up and party!
She grabbed Lucca’s hand as soon as he got back and pulled him towards the dance floor. ‘Come on. Let’s dance.’
His expression was more in line with an elderly guardian than a promiscuous fun-loving playboy. ‘Do you think you should’ve had that last drink?’
Lottie couldn’t remember feeling so deliciously relaxed. She hadn’t had so much fun in ages. Probably ever. Her limbs felt all squishy and melting, and her usual inhibitions about dancing in public had completely disappeared. ‘Don’t be a spoilsport. I’m supposed to be letting my hair down. Why are you acting so headmasterish all of a sudden?’
He rolled his eyes and allowed her to tug him to the cluster of gyrating bodies. ‘One dance and then I’m taking you home to bed.’
She swayed on her feet and tried to focus on one of the two of him that had appeared in front of her gaze. She couldn’t work out if it was because she wasn’t wearing her glasses or the third drink she’d had. Maybe a bit of both. ‘Ooo, that sounds like glooorious fun. Do you really mean it?’
His brows snapped together in a frown. ‘You’re drunk.’
She tiptoed two of her fingers from his sternum up to his chin but her fingers weren’t travelling in a straight line. ‘Do you think I wouldn’t want you if I wasn’t a leetle teeny bit tipsy?’
He captured her fingers before they could get to his mouth. ‘I’m not sleeping with you, Lottie. Drunk or sober.’
She made a little moue with her mouth. ‘I know you want me. That day we kissed—’
‘Was a mistake that won’t be repeated,’ he said in a clipped tone.
‘I liked you being rough with me.’ She pressed up against him brazenly. ‘It made me go all fizzy inside. I’ve never felt like that before. I thought I was going to come on the spot.’
‘Will you shut up, for God’s sake?’ His expression had gone from stern to exasperated.
Lottie giggled and wriggled her hips against him again. ‘I’ve never done it with a partner. Come, I mean. I’ve only pretended. I’m really good at it. I bet you couldn’t tell the difference. Do you want to hear me?’
Lucca swung her so quickly towards the exit she tottered on her skyscraper heels. ‘Not right now,’ he muttered.
‘I know why you don’t want to sleep with me. You’re worried you might want to sleep with me more than once, aren’t you?’ Lottie was enjoying this newfound freedom of speech. She could say whatever thought popped into her mind and she didn’t blush or cringe in embarrassment. ‘You might want to have a proper fling with me, like for weeks and weeks, maybe even months and months.’ She grinned at both of him. ‘You might even fall in love with me like it says in the paper. Wouldn’t that be a hoot?’
He let out a very rude word and tugged her towards the car.
* * *
Lucca carried the now-sleeping Lottie into the hotel. It was a relief to have her finally shut up. He couldn’t imagine what the paparazzi would make of her tipsy ramblings about him falling in love with her. Sheesh! Luckily there was no one about. In fact, the place looked a little deserted. There weren’t the usual crowds of guests checking in or checking out or people having drinks in the bar. It looked like a ghost-town hotel instead of the usual hub of activity even though it was only just past midnight.
A staff member came over hurriedly. ‘Oh, dear, Mr Chatsfield, is Her Royal Highness unwell too?’
‘No, just a little, er...tired. I’m taking her up to—to the suite.’
‘We left several messages on your phone,’ the man said. ‘We’ve had to quarantine the hotel.’
‘What?’
‘There’s been an outbreak of a virus.’ The staff member gave a very good impression of hand wringing. ‘The medical authorities want to keep things contained until they identify the cause. We’re not sure if it’s food poisoning or a highly contagious rotor virus. We’re not taking any more bookings until we know for sure and we’ve been advised to keep all the guests on-site for forty-eight hours to stop the spread of infection.’
Lucca mentally rolled his eyes. He’d planned to fly back to Preitalle as early as possible the next morning. He didn’t want Lottie under the same roof as him in case he was tempted beyond his endurance. ‘Do my father and his CEO know about this?’
‘Yes, we’ve informed them both. They’ve probably been trying to contact you. Have you had your phone off?’
‘On silent.’ Lucca hadn’t wanted to face the fallout from his father or Christos when the news broke of his ‘affair’ with Lottie. He could just imagine the spraying he would get. Not that he wanted their approval. Far from it. He enjoyed creating drama. It served them right for trying to control him.
Lottie opened her eyes and blinked at him owlishly. ‘Have I been sleeping?’
‘Yes, cara mia,’ Lucca said, conscious of the staff member watching intently.
‘I had the bestest time, Jean Rene,’ Lottie said to the staff member who had remained nameless to Lucca up until that point. ‘Lucca took me dancing. I had champagne cocktails that tasted yummy scrummy. And I had my first ever vodka chaser.’
Jean Rene to his credit didn’t blink an eye. ‘That is wonderful, Your Royal Highness. I’m so glad you had a good time.’
‘I had a marvellous time!’ Lottie crowed as she seesawed her lower legs up and down like an excited child while Lucca tried to hold her steady in case he popped a disc. ‘Lucca’s in love with me, aren’t you, Lucca?’
‘But of course, ma petite,’ he said, mentally grinding his teeth.
She touched his bottom lip with her salty fingertip. ‘You can’t resist me, can you? I’m not like your usual floozies. I’ve got class.’
‘You sure do, baby girl.’ He edged towards the lifts. ‘Keep me posted on the situation, er, Jean Rene, okay?’
‘Yes, sir.’ Jean Rene smiled a man-to-man smile. ‘Have a wonderful night.’
* * *
Lottie woke up with a blinding headache and a mouth that felt like she’d been sucking on a gym sock. She gingerly sat upright, wincing as the morning light threatened to laser her eyeballs. She reached for her glasses and blinked a couple of times to clear her vision.
Lucca was sitting in a wing chair in her suite...slumped would be more accurate. He was soundly asleep, his head lolled to one side, his feet crossed over at the ankles. He was still in the clothes he had been wearing last night; the top three buttons of his shirt were undone showing a rather delicious display of hard male muscle and wiry chest hair.
Why had he spent the night watching her sleep? Had he put her to bed? She looked down at her bra and knickers. Had he undressed her? She frowned as she tried to recall last night.... It was all a bit of a blur. A nice blur, however. She knew she’d had a good time. Lucca had been wonderful company. He’d made her laugh and he’d taken her dancing.
She carefully swung her legs over the side of the bed and tested her balance. Her head swam a little but she didn’t feel too bad, all things considered. Nothing a hot shower couldn’t fix.
She came out of the bathroom a few minutes later to find Lucca going through his messages on his phone. He looked up as she came in, his gaze running over her dressed in the hotel bathrobe and her hair in a towel turban on her head. ‘How’s your head?’
‘Did you undress me last night?’
‘Yes, but I didn’t lay a finger—’
‘Why not?’
He frowned at her. ‘What do you mean “why not?” You were off your face, that’s why not.’
Lottie tilted her head at him. ‘I never took you for the chivalrous type. I thought you’d make the most of an easy lay.’
He stood and shoved his phone in his trouser pocket, his expression tight with reproach. ‘There’s something you need to learn, young lady. You don’t need to be drunk to have a good time. You don’t know what sort of creeps are out there waiting to take advantage of you.’
‘Don’t you find me attractive?’ Lottie knew she was revealing her insecurities by asking but she couldn’t seem to help it. He’d had the perfect opportunity to seduce her and he hadn’t done so. Surely he’d had a little grope? Stolen a kiss?
He raked a hand through his hair and turned swiftly to leave. ‘I’m not having this conversation.’
‘Why did you spend the night in my room?’
He drew in an audible breath and swung back to look at her. ‘I was worried about you. You were acting a little out of character, to put it mildly.’
‘I wasn’t that tipsy...was I?’
He gave her a hardened look. ‘You were pretty smashed.’
Lottie screwed up her face for a moment. ‘I don’t remember much after that vodka chaser.’ She relaxed her features into a bright smile. ‘The nice man behind the bar—your friend—gave it to me on the house. Wasn’t that sweet of him?’
His expression still had that pained tinge to it. ‘I’d stay away from champagne cocktails and men you don’t know in future.’
‘How I am going to meet anyone new if I only associate with people I know?’
‘Not my problem.’ He strode to the connecting door. ‘I’m going to have a shower.’
‘So, what time do we leave?’
He turned back to look at her, his mouth pressed into a thin flat line. ‘We don’t.’