Page 24 of Moonshine and Magnolias (Just Add Peaches #1)
Wendy’s hand clenched in Rob’s grip, but he didn’t let go. He must be insane. Even with the memories of her curves, her soft breathing, her warmth while she lay across him seared into his body, there was no other explanation. She was supposed to be a goal, not a lifetime.
But in the last ten hours, he had a glimpse of the woman she could be, if she stopped trying to fit her preset mold. That was the woman he wanted. And even with the reek of stale cigarettes, a messy ponytail, and makeup streaked on her face, he still had to fight the craving to kiss her.
Well, damn. If he was telling her to stop hiding, maybe he should listen to his own advice. He leaned down, eyes focused on her sensual mouth, which opened slightly at his approach.
She backed off at the last moment and held up a hand between their bodies. “Don’t. It’s too much.” The whisper was practically a plea.
Rob stood up and stepped away from the sofa. “I’m sorry.” He rubbed his hands down the legs of his jeans.
“I can’t be that person. I’ve seen what happens when people fall into their passion and it never works out.” Her voice cracked and she lifted her chin, her green eyes darkening with tears. “I can’t. ”
“You can. I’ll help you.” He cupped her head with his hand. When she finally looked at him, he inched closer to her lips. Just one kiss, and she’d see she had it wrong.
She shuddered, her gaze filled with fear and longing, as she scooted away from him “I can’t.” She bolted from the library.
Rob followed, but he stopped at the doorway as she sprinted up the grand staircase and disappeared. He had to slay his own dragons before having a go at hers.
A flash of red hair streaked down the stairs and then Casagnes was in his face, pushing Rob into the library before connecting his fist with Rob’s chin. He stumbled over a chair and hit the display case for the Chippendale secretary.
The other man followed, leaping over the fallen furniture. “What did you do to her?” Sebastien roared, grasping for Rob’s shirt. His accent, barely a hint when they had talked before, charged the words with his emotions.
Rob hit the incensed man’s arms out of the way and retreated to the bookshelf, trying to keep the sofa between him and Sebastien.
Rob wasn’t about to go at it with Wendy’s friend, no matter how much he wanted to punch the shit out of the guy for attacking him.
Lo?c vaulted over the couch to get between them, and the other hulking beast slid in front of Sebastien, preventing either man from striking.
“Your Highness!” the bodyguard shouted.
Rob straightened from his defensive position and released his fists.
Your Highness? He studied the man struggling against being restrained.
The accent made his familiar face fall into place.
An image of Sebastien in a tuxedo donating his sketches for charity flit through his mind, followed by one of him with a socialite on his arm, smirking in the pages of those entertainment magazines his mother was always reading, another of him in a service dress uniform at some formal reception.
Christ, the man was a prince? What the hell was he doing here?
Sebastien glared at his man, who had an arm wrapped around his waist. “Massimo, if you don’t unhand me, I’ll have you arrested for treason.
” He fixed his rage on Rob and tried to lunge, fingers reaching, his voice growling, though in French.
He finished his tirade in English. “What did you do to her, vous enculé ?”
Lo?c held up a hand to Rob, and he remained silent.
“My belief, sir, is that Ms. Marsh and Dr. Upshaw fell asleep while she was still getting alcohol out of her system,” Lo?c said. “They were both in here last night.”
“So you took advantage of her?” Sebastien struggled more. “I’ll kill you.”
“We talked. Probably about things she didn’t want to talk about.” Damn, the man could punch. Rob refrained from raising his hand to his stinging lip to assess the damage. “I like her, your Highness. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.”
Other than what he’d already done, even if she didn’t know yet.
Sebastien flinched at the use of his title and jerked out of Massimo’s grasp, but didn’t advance again. “Wendy is special.”
“I look forward to finding that out for myself. If she’ll let me.”
Sebastien’s heels clicked together and he offered Rob a small bow that would seem ridiculous if done by anyone else. “My apologies, Dr. Upshaw. I hope that you are not too badly hurt.”
The pain wasn’t the most pleasant thing Rob had ever experienced, but he wasn’t going to give this prince the pleasure. “You did nothing more than defend a friend. There’s no fault in that.”
Sebastien nodded in acknowledgement and stiffly held out his hand.
Rob took it without hesitation, surprised at the sturdiness of his royal grasp.
Sebastien left the library, his movements sharp.
Lo?c exchanged glances with Massimo and jerked his head.
The other man followed his prince and closed the library door, leaving Lo?c behind.
“I would ask discretion, Dr. Upshaw, about the prince’s whereabouts,” he said.
“He is young, attractive, and unattached. The media likes to follow him, and where the media goes, single women without scruples follow. It’s highly disruptive to him and his friends and makes their lives unnecessarily complicated. ”
The history geek in Rob was ready to get out a digital recorder and interview Sebastien on his family history and royal life. The saner part of him knew the man wouldn’t appreciate the onslaught of questions from a near stranger. “The prince of what?”
“A small principality tucked between Italy and France. Most people can’t locate it on a map.”
That explained the European accent and slipping into another language. “The royal family lets a prince travel without guards? Without any protection?”
“He has me.” Lo?c’s flat lips curved upward, but his black eyes were lethal.
“His Highness is far removed from the line of succession, being the second youngest of six and an uncle multiple times over. He spent many years arguing for his freedom with his family before they finally gave in. Massimo and I are the compromise.” He ditched the attempt of humor, which didn’t make him any less deadly.
“He is a good man, regardless of what you saw this morning. He and Ms. Marsh have been friends since college. Just friends.”
Was that a hint of approval from the stoic man? “I meant what I said. He thought he was protecting her.”
“Thank you for your understanding, sir.” Lo?c gave a small bow and left Rob alone in the library.
What a night.
Rob stretched, the awkward sleeping position making his joints crack in unusual places. He wasn’t complaining. Spending the night with a beautiful woman was a fair trade.
When he was sure no one was going to interrupt him, he touched his lip and made his way to the display case to scope out his reflection.
That altercation would leave a mark. He climbed the staircase and paused outside his room, bracing himself for his brother’s opinions on how Rob had spent the night.
The strong coffee aroma hit him as soon as he opened the door. “Good morning, big brother. Have you been with Wendy this whole time?” Hal held up his filled mug in a toast. “Congratulations. I wasn’t sure you could pull off a planned seduction.”
The idea rolled Rob’s stomach. “Get your mind out of your pants. Nothing happened.”
“The mind isn’t what goes in the pants.” Hal shook his head in mock sadness. “No wonder you struck out.”
“You’re such an ass.” Rob left his brother to his morning brew and jumped into the shower.
The pelting water helped clear his thoughts. If there was any chance of something happening between him and Wendy, he wasn’t going into it with the sword of Uncle Damocles hanging over his head. She’d probably hate him. Maybe throw things. Get Lo?c and Massimo to literally kick him out on his ass.
And he’d deserve every part of it.
But she deserved more than what he would be giving her if it wasn’t the truth.
He got out of the shower and dried off. He didn’t relish the thought of being in the Georgia humidity in a button-down and tie for the tour, but it was the sacrifice he made for his love of history and shaping young minds.
“When you had Wendy in the library this morning, the old woman was in the kitchen, and I saw Brandi walking away from the house,” Hal said. “I went up to the third floor to see if I could get to the attic. That’s where they all sleep, right? The door’s locked at the top of the staircase.”
Rob made some non-committal noise that he left up to Hal’s interpretation.
“If we don’t find Louis’s lost treasure soon, we’ll have to break into the third floor. Like during that Pansy Hamilton thing.” Hal grinned. “Unless you can get up there sooner.”
Rob grunted again. There would be no more searching, not unless Wendy condoned it.
“You’re awfully silent,” his brother said.
“The tour is today.” Rob picked a green tie and laid it on the bed to put on after breakfast. “I have to get ready.”
“Hey, who used your face as a punching bag?” Hal circled his lip with a finger. “You walk into a mantle?”
“No, a book jumped off a library shelf and attacked me.” His mouth had stung when water hit it in the shower, but the mirror had been too steamed for him to see anything.
“You should have seen it. Pages flying everywhere. I’m going to tell Wendy the real reason we’re here.
Binding laying in pieces. It was brutal.
And now I’m going to get something to eat.
” He was halfway to the door before his brother processed what he had said.
“Oh, hell no. Hold on there.” Hal leapt across the beds and blocked Rob’s exit. “You can’t tell her. I don’t care if you’re suffering from balls bluer than Elvis’s suede shoes, but it won’t get you into her bed and it won’t get the job done.”