âDo I make you nervous?â Leo asked from behind her. She could hear the laughter in his voice. Deliberately she turned, dropping her hand away from her neck. Calm, cool.
âOf course not,â Anna said.
He winked. âGood. Because Iâm afraid the jeans are next, darling. I canât abide wet clothing.â
Anna held her breath as his long fingers flicked open the button of his jeans. She couldnât have looked away if her life depended on it. Her heart kicked up as his hip bones appeared, but she forgot all about it as the jeans slid down his long, strong legs, revealing tanned skin and acres of muscle. Anna couldnât breathe.
Could this day be any more surreal? Just a few minutes ago, theyâd been fully clothed strangers. And now they were marooned together and Leo was stripping out of his clothing.
âKeep staring, darling, and the show is bound to get more interesting,â Leo said, his voice a growling purr that slid over her nerve endings and made her shudder.
âIâve seen naked men before,â she said with a sniff. âYou canât shock me.â
It was only a small lie.
Royalty has never been so scandalous!
STOP PRESSâCrown Prince in shock marriage
The tabloid headlines⦠When HRH Crown Prince Alessandro of Santina proposes to paparazzi favourite Allegra Jackson it promises to be the social event of the decade âoutrageous headlines guaranteed!
The salacious gossip⦠Mills & Boon invites you to rub shoulders with royalty, sheikhs and glamorous socialites. Step into the decadent playground of the worldâs rich and famousâ¦
THE SANTINA CROWN
THE PRICE OF ROYAL DUTY â Penny Jordan
THE SHEIKHâS HEIR â Sharon Kendrick THE SCANDALOUS PRINCESS â Kate Hewitt THE MAN BEHIND THE SCARS â Caitlin Crews DEFYING THE PRINCE â Sarah Morgan PRINCESS FROM THE SHADOWS â Maisey Yates THE GIRL NOBODY WANTED â Lynn Raye Harris PLAYING THE ROYAL GAME â Carol Marinelli
LYNN RAYE HARRIS read her first Mills & Boon>® romance when her grandmother carted home a box from a yard sale. She didnât know she wanted to be a writer then, but she definitely knew she wanted to marry a sheikh or a prince and live the glamorous life she read about in the pages. Instead, she married a military man and moved around the world. These days she makes her home in North Alabama, with her handsome husband and two crazy cats. Writing for Mills & Boon is a dream come true. You can visit her at www.lynnrayeharris.com.
For my in-laws, Larry and Joyce Harris. Fifty
years together is quite an accomplishment. You are proof that love can last forever. Iâm so happy youâre a part of my life, and I love you both.
ANNA CONSTANTINIDES stood at the edge of the gathered crowd and hoped the serene countenance sheâd practiced before the mirror for the past week was holding up. Tonight was, without doubt, the most humiliating night of her life. Her fiancéâcorrection, former fiancéâwas marrying another woman.
It would not have been so bad, perhaps, if her fiancé wasnât Prince Alessandro, heir to the Santina throne. She should have been his queen, yet she was currently the jilted bride.
A fact the media took great delight in reporting.
Again and again and again. Sheâd hardly had a peaceful moment since Alex had dumped her so publicly and humiliatingly for another woman. He hadnât even had the courtesy to inform her personally. No, heâd let her find out in the pages of the tabloids. Simply mortifying.
The pity sheâd had to endure. The knowing looksâeven, surprisingly, a hint of censure. As if it were her fault somehow. As if she were the one whoâd been caught kissing another man while engaged to someone else, as Alex had been photographed with Allegra Jackson.
Anna wanted nothing less than to be at his engagement party tonight, but sheâd had no choice. âAnna,â her mother had said when sheâd refused, âyou must. Protocol demands it.â
âI donât give a damn about protocol,â sheâd replied. And she hadnât. Why, when sheâd dedicated her life to protocol and duty and been so spectacularly punished for it?
Her mother took her hands. âSweetheart, do it for me. Queen Zoe is my oldest and dearest friend. I know she would be disappointed if we were not there to support her.â
Support her? Anna had wanted to laugh, to shout, to rail against the unfairness of lifeâbut she had not. Ultimately, she had done precisely what her mother asked because, for pityâs sake, she felt guilty.
Anna stiffened her spine as the king began to toast the happy couple. But she lifted her glass of champagne along with everyone else, and prepared to drink to the health and happiness of Alex and Allegra, the woman whoâd turned her preordained life upside down.
At least, thank goodness, she could be certain there were no photographers present tonight. They would be waiting outside the palace gates, naturally, but for now she was safe.