gave him a speaking look. ‘I’m quite sure you wouldn’t let the inconvenience of a centuries-old rule book get in the way of your base interests.’
He took the flower basket off her, somehow making the most of the opportunity to brush his hand against hers as he did so. The nerves beneath her skin leapt to attention, her stomach pitching in delight at the warm thrill that coursed through her body. ‘So what’s the penalty for stealing a kiss from a princess?’
She held his gaze with a spark of challenge in hers. ‘Why don’t you try it and find out?’
His eyes went to her mouth and then back to her eyes. Back and forth. Back and forth. Will I or won’t I? he seemed to be asking himself. ‘Are you flirting with me, little princess?’
‘Of course not!’
He smiled again, a smug, self-congratulatory smile, as he flicked her cheek with an idle finger. ‘You want me so bad.’
Lottie jerked back with a roll of her eyes, which she hoped would in some way cancel out her betraying blush but she wasn’t putting any money on it. ‘Tell me something … does your ego have its own zip code?’
He laughed as he fell into step beside her. ‘Cute.’ His shoulder brushed against hers as they went through one of the rose-covered archways and a shower of shell-pink petals fell around them like confetti. ‘So … tell me why this wedding is so important to you.’
She gave him a sideways glance. ‘It’s my sister’s wedding. Why wouldn’t it be important to me?’
‘Fair point.’
They walked a little farther in silence.
‘I want it to be just as Madeleine wants,’ Lottie said. ‘I want everything to be perfect for her.’
‘Seems to me everything already is perfect for her.’
She glanced at him again but his expression was unreadable. ‘Yes, well, some people are lucky in life and in love.’
‘And you?’ He’d stopped walking and looked down at her. ‘Have you been lucky?’
‘I could hardly complain given all this.’ She waved a hand to encompass the palace and its surrounds. ‘I never have to worry about having enough money for food or rent. I don’t even have to wash my own clothes or cook my own meals.’
‘What about love?’
She gave him an ironic glance before she resumed walking. ‘That’s a funny question from you.’
‘Why’s that?’
‘You’re a notorious playboy.’
‘So?’
She stopped and looked up at him again. ‘Are you saying you’ve been in love?’
‘No.’
‘Are you saying there is a possibility you might fall in love one day?’
‘No.’
Lottie tilted her head at him quizzically. ‘What, are you really saying you have no capacity at all to fall in love? None at all?’
‘I thought we were talking about you?’
‘I’d like to unpick this a little further first.’ She put her hands on her hips. ‘What is it about loving someone that is so terribly threatening to you?’
His dark brown eyes locked her out as surely as a shutter coming down. ‘I didn’t say it was threatening. I just don’t think it’s likely.’
‘But why?’
‘I’m not wired that way.’
‘You’re human, aren’t you?’ she said.
‘We’re all wired that way.’
‘So when was the last time you were in love?’
Lottie had to give him points for outmanoeuvring her. She considered not answering but figured he would press her until she did. It was easier to be truthful and get it over with. She dropped her hands from her hips. ‘When I was eighteen. But don’t they say the first fall is the hardest?’
He shrugged noncommittally. ‘Maybe.’
‘I don’t think I was really in love.’ She fell into step beside him again. ‘I thought I was at the time. I’d had a lot of boys interested in me but I chose the one I thought was the most genuine. In hindsight I could have chosen a little better. But that’s teenage hormones for you.’
‘It ended badly?’
‘Don’t all break-ups?’
He gave her another quick inscrutable glance. ‘It depends.’
‘How do you do it? How do you move from one relationship to the next without amassing collateral damage?’
A corner of his mouth lifted wryly as if he found the thought of it so remote it was amusing. ‘I don’t believe in hurting people unnecessarily. I think it’s important to be honest from the get-go. I’m always straight about what I can and can’t give. That way no one gets their expectations up. No promises are made so none are broken. No rings, no strings is my motto. I don’t even hand out jewellery as a consolation prize. Waste of money.’
‘I suppose that limitless charm you’re so renowned for comes in rather handy when you’re wriggling your way out of a tricky hook-up.’
He gave her a sardonic look. ‘I thought you didn’t read unedifying gossip?’
Lottie looked away from that devilish glint. ‘Don’t bother trying your charm with me because it won’t work. I’m immune.’
She felt his gaze rest on her thoughtfully. She had a feeling that in spite of his layabout ne’er-do-well personality he projected, there was very little that escaped those intelligent dark brown eyes. ‘How long since you had a lover?’ he asked.
She turned swiftly to continue walking along the pathway. ‘I’m not going to answer that.’ ‘You just did.’
Lottie tried to ignore him walking beside her but her body wouldn’t allow it. Her arm tingled every time his shirtsleeve brushed against her and her heart would go off on another excited gallop. His tall warm presence so close to her made her aware of her body in a way she had never been before. She was livid with herself for being so easily unravelled by the first man who had showed an interest in her in years.
Gullible fool!
She had always prided herself on her cool inner reserve. She wasn’t called the Ice Princess for nothing. She had taught herself not to wear her emotions on the surface, to let no one see what she was feeling, even though at times it made her appear much more formidable and starchy than she really was.
But something about this incorrigible rake made every nerve in her body come vibrantly alive.
