Lady? Her heart stopped and her eyes widened though in the distance she heard Leo singing in the bathroom. A shot of adrenaline raced through her that she was now here, with him as she told Pierre, “That sounds strange coming from you.”
Pierre laughed and typed on his computer while he said, “His Highness says you’re sweet.”
He’d talked about her? Anna smiled and then cleared the table so the staff had a place to set their food. “Well, that’s good to hear. I’m glad you’re working well together. Leo’s in the shower. Can I take a message?”
Pierre said, “Tell him not to worry about anything. Francesca seemed interested in the next Earl of Pascal.”
She held Leo’s cup—only the fear of spilling hot coffee kept her from dropping it. “Oh. Was Leo worried about her?”
She pressed her lips together and hoped he wasn’t still thinking about Francesca.
Had that been why he hadn’t kissed her?
Was she being a fool?
“He didn’t want her interfering with your happiness like she almost did on your wedding day,” Pierre informed her, “showing up unannounced and sneaking into his suite.”
“What happened on my wedding day?”
“Ohh… I meant before, not the day off.”
Wow. Was there more to the story? She guessed it didn’t matter as he’d married her, but she was usually at his right hand.
Now she was useless instead of useful she thought as she put the coffee cup back on the table. “Well, I’m glad she’s moved on.” Anna didn’t share her feelings with Pierre—they had been friends at the palace and she couldn’t be now that she was a princess. Just like she couldn’t exactly call Maria either, who would have calmed her down with a cookie and a joke. “I’ll let Leo know.”
The moment she hung up the phone, Leo let out a small cough and her skin zipped. She turned around and noticed Leo’s hard muscles glistening from the shower.
“What’s going on?” he asked. “Are you upset?”
Energy buzzed through her and she stepped toward him. “Why are you keeping tabs on Francesca?”
His gave her his “caught but still sexy” smile that normally got him out of trouble. Her adrenaline rushed as she stood taller, refusing to fall for his charm. “I thought to divert her attention to a different noble because I am happily married.”
Her eyes widened. That meant he thought about Francesca. The truth was written on his face. “That’s why Pierre called. He said she’s interested in Lord Pascal.”
His gaze narrowed and his curt nod hopefully meant he was satisfied. “Good.”
Anna Camila lowered her eyes and twirled her wedding band. “You’re happy?” Her heart pounded and she couldn’t look up at him.Whyhad she just asked that?
Leo came closer. First she saw his bare feet, and then the white towel around his sculpted waist. He took her hand and she got so hot inside that her skin almost melted off her. Finally she glanced into his deep brown eyes. “You make me happy.”
“Why?” She ignored the bubbles that grew inside her chest as she waited for an answer.
He came closer and his towel loosened on his hips as he said, “When you were helping me file paperwork for the noble women to inherit and not just sons, for once in my life I felt useful. My sisters shouldn’t have to give up on being a princess because they married, and my oldest sister, Katherine, she’d have been a better monarch than me.”
That was his idea he’d sent to parliament. She ignored the goosebumps growing on her body and asked, “Why do you say that?”
He shrugged, capturing her attention with his display of muscles across his wet, naked chest. “No one takes me seriously.”
Her pulse thrashed as she met his gaze. “That’s not true. I do.”
“I like who I am with you Anna.”
Boom. There he was. The man who could get whatever he wanted. She ignored the drum in her heart from the sparks of his touch and focused on her words as she said, “Well, if you’re pushing for women’s reform, how about allowing women to inherit without needing a will. A fifty/fifty split for the rest of the us.”
He stroked his chin like this was news. “What do the women get now when their parents die?”
“Twenty-five percent of whatever the brothers equal portion is or less. I had no brother. But if I did, my brother or brothers would in reality get eighty percent of the insurance money and I’d only get less than twenty. I used the money to pay for their funerals so it wasn’t much, but seriously, that’s an unfair law.” Anna couldn’t change everything, but it wasn’t right that women were still considered property and expected to marry for their security.
