Page 50 of American Royalty

“Dani,” Margery said, a smile blossoming on her face, before hurrying back into the kitchen.

His gaze flew to meet hers.

Dani.

Such a sweet, simple name for a woman who invoked feelings in him that were anything but.

“I didn’t mean to be rude earlier,” he said. “Of course you should be here. I was surprised you were awake. I expected the jet lag to fell you.”

She unrolled the cloth napkin and placed it in her lap. “It’s always better to get on your new time zone as soon as you can. I may be sluggish the first couple of days, but if I spend that time sleeping, it’ll make it more difficult to get acclimated.”

He nodded. Margery came over, placed a cup in front of her, and began pouring the steaming hot brew into it.

“Thank you.”

Margery beamed and placed the coffeepot on the table. “Help yourself. And if you’d prefer something other than what’s been prepared, let me know.”

“I’m good. This looks wonderful,” Dani—the name so perfectly fit the woman before him that he couldn’t think of her as anything else—said, adding some of the bacon, eggs, and mushrooms to her plate.

Jameson didn’t know why he was surprised to see her doing something so commonplace. He didn’t know quite what he’d expected, but this normality wasn’t it.

Without pausing from what she was doing, Dani said, “Don’t worry. I only wear my thong to dinner.”

He dropped his fork. “Pardon?”

“You’re looking at me as if you thought I was going to eat while hanging upside down from a stripper pole,” she said.

That image immediately seared itself on his brain. But in the fantasy that began running on a loop in his mind, the pole was in his bedroom and he was the only one there to enjoy the show.

Unaware he’d been staring, and annoyed he’d been caught, he frowned. “Such vulgarity isn’t necessary.”

He sounded like a rigid prick, but he couldn’t help himself.

“Maybe you should tell yourself that,” she said, before taking a bite of her food.

The sound of pleasure she made shot straight to his dick. Onceagain, his gaze flew to hers, except this time, the tiny twitch at the corner of her mouth let him know she’d made the sound on purpose.

“This is delicious, Margery,” she said.

“Thank you. I’m glad you’re enjoying it. If you have time when you’re done, I’d like to discuss what you may want for lunch. Prince Jameson is usually only home for breakfast and dinner.”

Irritation filled him. He knew Margery was referring to him by his official title because they had company, but he needed to tell her it wasn’t necessary.

“Of course,” Dani said. “But there’s not much on my agenda.”

Another thing he hadn’t considered.

He picked up his fork, then placed it down again. “Whatdoyou have planned for today?”

She shrugged. “Nothing. I haven’t had a true day off in about four years. My iPad is full of downloaded books, movies, and TV shows I’ve missed because of work. I figure I can find a few secluded nooks to just hang out and relax.”

“Feel free to make yourself comfortable anywhere.”

“Except the west wing?”

She wanted to make herself comfortable in the west wing? Near his office? Or his bedroom?

“Like inBeauty and the Beast?” she attempted to clarify.