Page 22 of Some Like It Scandalous (Going Royal #2)

Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.

Her eyes hardened and heat seemed to shimmer in her gaze.

With a small scream of frustration, she whirled and stalked down the hall.

The door to her bedroom slammed shut a moment later.

Rubbing a hand against his forehead, he decided against following her.

Letting her cool off seemed the prudent choice.

Anna

In her room, Anna had to fight against opening the door to slam it again. She settled for kicking the edge of her bed and tears sparked in her eyes at the punishment to her toes. Of all the arrogant…pigheaded…overbearing…

She let out another little scream and clenched her fists. How the hell could he dismiss her—order her out of a room—and then act like he’d done nothing wrong? Fuming, she slammed into her bathroom, showered. He’d dismissed her—effectively told her to get out.

Bastard.

Bracing her hands against the tile, she bent her head under the spray and ignored the tears running down her cheeks.

Why? He’d been angry with his brother. Of course he’d been angry.

Sebastian told the press they were together.

The burning in her eyes doubled and she swallowed a sob.

“You two were good together. I do not believe he’s ever gotten over you. ”

Could have fooled her. She washed her hair twice and then leaned against the tile, letting the hot steamy water drown out her tears. Charlie never got angry. In all their years together, she’d never seen him behave…

Like what? A prince? A man who expects his orders to be obeyed?

When they were together, he’d been her Charlie.

Her best friend. Her soul mate. God, I am so stupid.

How could she continue to think of him that way?

Hadn’t that little episode demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt that he wasn’t Charlie?

So why then did he come to see me? He didn’t know Sebastian was there—I saw the shock on his face. Nikole’s ridiculous statement to the press had been the first thing he’d brought up. So why throw me out…?

Because Charlie didn’t lose his temper and he’d been furious. Anna straightened and shut off the water. Controlled. Everything about him was so controlled. Every word deliberate, every action—every reaction—he moderated them. He behaved in all things…

“Like a prince. Like he’s on display and he is very aware of the impressions he makes.

” Even to her. He’d been furious with his brother and he wanted to yell at him.

That said, he also hadn’t wanted to yell in front of her.

After climbing out of the shower she toweled off swiftly, pausing only to finger comb her hair.

Grabbing the first thing she found in the dresser, she dragged on an old sweatshirt and a pair of shorts. She had to talk to him—clear all of it up. Her courage flagged at the door, and she hesitated.

What if he didn’t want to talk to her?

Indecision rippled through her. Pacing over to the bed, she picked up the phone and dialed her sister.

“Hello, Blocked Number, you have reached the residence of ‘what the hell do you want?’ You have three seconds to answer or I hang up…”

“Good evening to you too.” Laughter escaped, she forgot that the private penthouse wouldn’t have caller ID. She should have used her cell phone.

“Well, hello, stranger. You sound suspiciously like my sister, but that can’t be. She’s been too preoccupied with recapturing the past to call and let me know she’s still alive.” The snarky tone belied the real concern echoing beneath the words.

The horrible rocks settling on her chest dislodged at Penny’s voice. “I have been busy and I am sorry, I would say you could’ve called me?—”

“Oh, I did, but calling you requires your cell phone to be on and since I ring straight through to your very full voicemail, I’m guessing it hasn’t been.

” Water echoed behind Penny’s words followed by a metallic thud.

“Okay, teakettle is on. I’ve got a soothing blend of chamomile waiting for me—give me the deets. What’s going on?”

“We’ve set up the fourteenth floor for the scholarship fund.

” She grasped on to the relative normalcy of it all.

She needed it. “Kate—she’s the new assistant is a Godsend—she’s more organized than I am.

Becca’s got some great design plans for the brochure.

I have some more numbers to crunch and it could take a while to make a real impact, but I think we have a lot of potential. ”

She rolled onto her back and stared at the texture of the ceiling. Penny was silent for a long moment. “And?”

“And what?” Anna fidgeted, sitting up and balancing the phone between her ear and shoulder. She’d hoped a shower would help the too-tight feeling of her skin.

“Helloooo—hot ex-boyfriend—hot, royal ex-boyfriend. What’s up with you and Charlie?” The kettle whistled in the background.

Shrugging, she scrambled to catch the phone when it fell and grimaced as her foot impacted the edge of the bed. “Dammit.”

“Hey, you called me,” Penny pointed out.

“No, I hit my foot on the bed.” Again.

“Oh, are you in bed with him right now? Wait—if you’re in bed with him, why the hell are you calling me?” Her sister’s tease didn’t help the cramp twisting her insides up.

Scrubbing a hand against her face again, Anna sighed. “We’re not in bed together.”

“Bummer. Why not?” She slurped her tea noisily and Anna stared up at the ceiling.

“Penny, I didn’t call you to talk about Charlie.” Liar. “How’s school going?”

“It’s fine and boring. You did too call me to talk about Charlie—I can hear the tension in your voice.

I bet your nostrils are flaring and your mouth has that pinched, sucked-on-a-lemon look to it.

So, what did he do?” Blithe, carefree Penny didn’t stand on ceremony with anyone and certainly had no concepts of privacy.

“Does it really matter?” He’s breaking my heart and I don’t even know why. We’re not really together and then it feels like we are. How can this stranger be so damn familiar? Her life was not this bag of insanity—she liked everything in its place. She kept it in place.

“Hey, if I need to fly to Los Angeles and kick his royal tushy, I will head to the airport right now. So come on, sis—let the anxiety out. It has to be giving you heartburn by now.”

The acidic bile in the back of her throat confirmed her sister’s assessment, but she didn’t need to tell her that.

The sweatshirt was too hot, and her skin itched.

After rolling off the bed, she walked back over to the drawers and rummaged through them—she wanted something of her own.

It seemed a number of the “guest” clothes had been intermingled with hers. “It’s nothing like that.”

“So what is it like? You know I’m not going to stop asking and if you don’t tell me, well, I’ll just call Mom and tell her he broke your heart again and she’ll tell Tommy and Dad and?—”

“You do realize it’s rude to blackmail your sister, right?

” She fished out a worn, three-sizes-too-big T-shirt and stared at it.

The simple black shirt with the silver Yale on the front was Charlie’s favorite—he’d worn it everywhere.

When she returned to the States and arranged to move out of their apartment, it ended up in her boxes—probably shuffled into their mixed laundry.

She’d never returned it. She always meant to do it, but sometimes after a particularly horrendous day, she would slip it on and remember.

When did I become such a sap?

“Pfft. It’s not blackmail when you’re related.” Penny intruded, but Anna traded the sweatshirt and shorts for the T-shirt before answering.

“Oh?”

“Nope. It’s leverage. So, spill. What’s going on with you and Charming Charlie?”

Anna’s eyes widened. “Oh my God. Do not call him that.”

“I kind of like it, it’s got a good ring to it and it comes with bling—heh heh.” Penny chortled, but her laughter was short-lived. “And stop being so evasive. What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. Nothing. Everything. I started this week like any other on a new project, one hundred percent focused on making it a success.

Now I’m living with a man that is so damn familiar it hurts and I’m not even sure I ever really knew or know now.

” She exhaled, sitting on the edge of the bed.

The little girl lost was not her—nor was this horrible loss of options.

“Maybe I should suggest I move to a different place, get out from underfoot. I don’t have to be here to be secure and I can’t think this is making it any easier to say we’re not involved when?—”

“One. You’re involved. Two. You’re babbling. Three. What happened?” Penny’s voice sharpened, all of the playfulness evaporating.

“We kissed.” There, she said it.

“Sweet.” Excitement bubbled in Penny’s voice. “Who kissed whom?”

“Does it matter?” She flopped against the pillows. Her lips tingled when she thought about their kisses.

“Of course it matters. Did he kiss you? Did you kiss him?”

“The first time?—”

“First time? You’ve been holding out on me, that’s multiple kisses.”

Anna let out an exasperated huff. “It’s not like that.”

“Uh-huh.”

Anna groaned. “Penny, you’re killing me here.”

“Killing you? You’re the one holding on to all the juicy details.”

“He kissed me first.” She was never going to get her shut up about it until she answered. “But he was mad—I think.”

“Why do you think he was mad?” Bless her, instead of the a-ha Anna had expected, Penny sounded quiet, thoughtful.

“Because he kissed the hell out of me and walked away.” Her body hummed. The heat spreading from her face to her chest and across her belly—she would have made love with him right then and right there, but he walked away.

“Okay, angry kisses are good.” Relief bumped her voice up a notch. “That’s untapped passion aching to be released. And the next kiss?”

“Well, technically…he kissed me again.” Did the gym kiss really count? The firm affection in his manner and his lips left the butterflies in her stomach in an uproar.

“That you have doubt means you need to give me more details…”

She sighed. Penny really was impossible. “We were working out and talking, he had to go. He gave me a quick kiss because he had to go.”

“With or without tongue?”

“None of your business.”

“Definitely means without. Go on.” Something squeaked in the background, followed by a clicking noise and a long inhale.

“Penny, are you smoking again?”

“Nope.” She blew out a breath. “And we’re not talking about me, we’re talking about you and Charming Charlie. So we have one and a half kisses on his side. What’s next?”

She promised herself to get after her sister later. “Next Nikole let it slip in some interview that she and Charlie were engaged…” Even though she’d realized it wasn’t true, the words had hurt.

“That bitch.” God love a sister who immediately championed her cause. Anna summarized the rest—Sebastian’s confession, Armand’s dismissal and her confusion over it all.

She didn’t know whether they were coming or going. Less than a week ago, he was still a relic of her past—a huge relic—but that was where she kept him, safe and secure in a memory box that she could take out late at night. But now, he was here in her present, so alive, virile and strong.

“What was I supposed to do?”

“What do you want to do?”

Kiss him. Slap him. Scream. Leave. Stay.

I don’t want a death threat forcing him to keep me close when clearly we are better off apart.

But she said none of that. She hadn’t told anyone—particularly her family—about the threats, she didn’t want her family to know. “I don’t know.” Anna sighed. “I don’t know what I want. We were done—dead and buried.”

“Bullshit.” The flat tone cut off her self-pity. “You two haven’t been over since the day you came home.”

“Penny!”

“No, you know it was one thing when you were moping around and refusing to talk about it. Everyone danced on eggshells because you looked like hell. You missed him so bad, my heart hurt. But it was your business and we all took your side because he lied—but Anna, come on, you’re smarter than this. You want something, you go after it.”

“He’s ordering me around like I’m some servant, that doesn’t say he wants me, Pen.”

“No, it says you burned him and he doesn’t want to be burned again.” She didn’t mince her words. “You know what your problem is?”

“I’m guessing you’re going to tell me.” Were they really sending each other mixed signals?

“Yup. You think too much. You forget that half of a relationship is how good the other person makes you feel—and Charlie makes you feel great. You’ve sounded more like you in this last week with all the insanity than you have in years.

You know what your other mistake is?” Penny continued without waiting for an answer.

“You’re on the phone with me instead of going out there and making your prince come. ”

Anna sat straight up. “Penny!”

“Yeah, you were thinking it, I just said it. So now I’m going to do you the best favor of your life. I’m going to hang up now?—”

“Penny.”

“I hear an orgasm calling your name. Ta-ta for now!” The phone clicked in her ear and Anna stared at it. Every time she thought her little sister couldn’t shock her more, she dispensed her own peculiar blend of wisdom and snark.

She could sit here and continue to feel sorry for herself or she could beard the lion in his den. Anxiety twined around the fear in her gut. What if he really didn’t want her anymore?

Then I’ll know—we’ll both know—and we can stop hurting each other once and for all.

Leaving the phone in the middle of the bed, she crossed to the door and headed out. This called for a bottle of wine and two glasses.

Time to rip the Band-Aid off…