Page 28 of All the Gossip from Paris (Royal Fashion #2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

“You are a natural, Sophie. The camera absolutely adores you,” said Liam, shifting the angle of his shot. “I’m surprised you haven’t made a career as a runway model.”

Sophie was standing on an overturned box in front of a pair of the atelier’s grand windows. The dark arches formed the perfect frame behind her. The beading of the gown glistened in the afternoon sun.

She couldn’t wait to see the photos Liam had taken. To see her design on a live human model. Even if it was just herself. But the notion that the camera thought she was photogenic was beyond her. The idea of her being a fashion model was absurd.

“It’s just a trick of the light. I could never walk. I’m not model size. Never was, nor ever will be. People mistakenly think runway modeling is easy, but it’s not.”

“What do you mean?”

“There is a lot riding on how well a haute couture model can walk. Make a mess of an outfit and you could cost a fashion house a great deal of money.”

They’d played around with her look, changing her hair from an upswept bun to leaving it long and draping down her back.

After raiding the accessory room Liam had taken shots of Sophie wearing different pieces of designer jewelry.

He was every bit the professional photographer, constantly offering her encouragement and helpful suggestions.

He glanced down at his camera. “That’s almost a hundred pictures I’ve taken. You should have plenty to choose from for your private portfolio. Any that you don’t like I’ll just delete. Were there any other angles you wanted to explore before we finish up?”

Sophie shook her head. The gown with its supportive boning was tight. After an hour of wearing it, the bodice had become uncomfortable. She knew the reason was nothing to do with her dressmaking skills. It had everything to do with her pebbled nipples pressing hard against the fabric.

Being around Liam shouldn’t have this effect on her. She knew better than to indulge her private fantasies about him. Everything about this was dangerous.

And yet there was nothing she could do to stop both mind and body working together to betray her. The thought of what she wanted to do with this man crossed all the boundaries of sense and reason.

“Sophie?”

She snapped out of her shameless daydream. “Um. Yes?”

He set the camera down, and walked over to where she stood perched on top of the box. “Would you like to come down from your tower sweet Rapunzel?”

Taking his hand, Sophie stepped carefully down and onto the floor. “If you are going to go with fairytales, you should call me Persinette. The original version of Rapunzel was written by a French woman.”

When Liam’s eyebrows rose in surprise, she gave him a soft smile. “My sister and I have a bit of a thing about fairytales. There’s a reason why Cami was thrilled with the Cinderella in the City theme for her New York show.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” he replied.

The photo session was over. Sophie was getting cold. “Could you please help me out of the gown. I’d like to put something warm on, apart from my socks.”

She turned her back to him, and lifted her long brown hair out of the way. “The zipper should be easier going down.”

Liam moved closer, and as he did, Sophie held her breath. The sooner she got changed, the quicker she could go for a long libido dampening walk along the river.

The touch of his fingertips on her bare skin had Sophie letting out a gasp.

“Oh! Your hands are cold.”

“Sorry, I didn’t realize they were that bad,” he said. She expected he would move his hands away, but Liam left them resting in the middle of her back. “When you’re ready, I’ll lower the zipper.”

Take a chance.

The voice whispered into her brain. Where it came from, she didn’t know, but she understood what it had said. Take a chance on being with Liam.

He slowly lowered the zip. She rested her hand lightly on the front of the bodice, waiting as Liam finished his task. When the zipper was fully down, Sophie let go. The gown’s heavy beading clattered as it hit the floor.

There was silence in the room. The hush of a moment when everything might change. She was done with being silent. With doing what was expected of her.

With her arms hanging loosely at her side, Sophie turned around.

His gaze flickered to her breasts, then quickly to her face. “What are you doing Sophie?” whispered Liam.

“We can take the back stairs down to my bedroom. No one will see us. No one has to know.”

The expression on his face wasn’t the one she’d been hoping for. It was guarded. Any moment now he was going to say no.

“You are gorgeous. And I want you, but…”

“But what?”

He raked his fingers through his dark hair, something she wanted desperately to do herself. Preferably when his cock was buried deep inside her.

“When I met you in the garden earlier, you were upset. In tears. You’d just had a fight with your dad. If I take advantage of how you might be feeling right now, it makes me that guy. And I never want to be him.”

He picked a fine time to be a gentleman, was all she could think.

Navigating a possible Christmas fling with a nice guy was harder than it looked.

Too many years of being treated as an afterthought by the sons of rich Parisian families had left its mark on her.

She could understand Liam’s position, but she also wanted him to understand hers.

“I’m not upset now. And to tell you the truth I was more angry than sad when you found me in the garden. I was going for a walk to J’allais me défouler. You know, blow off steam.”

The guarded look on Liam’s face softened. Relief coursed through her. He’d gotten the message. She wasn’t looking for sympathy—she wanted something entirely different.

“So we are going to revisit our mistake—is that what this is?” he asked.

“Yes. If you would like to come back to my bedroom. I’m thinking we could see how good that mistake was,” she teased.

Liam took her face in his hands, and kissed Sophie deeply. Their mouths met in a sweet kiss, and her eyes fluttered closed. He deepened the kiss, but still kept it soft. Tongues danced together in a loving embrace.

And then he drew back from the kiss. “I’m all for finding out how good things could be between us once more but not right now.”

It took a second for his words to fully register.

“Why?”

He brushed another kiss on her lips. “This thing between us means more than just a one night stand. There is more at stake. And I don’t just mean because your sister is now married to my brother.

That’s only a small part of it. I’m staying at the chateau for the next couple of weeks.

Why don’t we give ourselves this time to get to know one another a little better. ”

She fought the urge to pinch herself. This was really happening. Liam wanted to take things slowly. To invest time in exploring their connection.

A nervous laugh escaped Sophie’s lips. “Um. Ok. Wow. Um.”

His grin lit up her world. “I don’t mean we have to hold hands and only kiss. I just thought maybe you might want to spend some more time together. Share something about ourselves. And if later this evening you still want me to thoroughly ravish you, then I’m a solid yes for that too.”

Sophie was in.

If Liam wanted to know her better, then she knew the exact place where they should start. The staff of the estate kitchen were all gone for the Christmas break. She and Liam would have free rein to play without getting into trouble with the Royal family chef.

“Let me get dressed. Then I’ll take you back down to the main kitchen of the house. The only thing which comes close to my love of designing clothes is baking.”

She tapped a finger gently on the tip of Liam’s nose. “And if you are a good boy, you can put on an apron. I’ll let you play chef de jour.”

As she went to pull her hand away, Liam drew her back. The look on his face had turned less playful. “I haven’t been in a commercial kitchen for a while. I might need a bit of time to get my head around the idea.”

She didn’t want to pressure Liam into doing anything that made him feel uncomfortable. “We can go later. When you’re ready,” replied Sophie.

“Thanks. I’ll leave you to get dressed. I need to find Camille and check with her on something. It’s urgent.”

Liam headed for the door, leaving Sophie alone in the atelier. As she slipped her shirt back on, she pondered the obvious question. Why would he need to get his head around being in a kitchen?