Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
His lips curved. “Good girl.”
She rolled her eyes, saying dryly, “I’m over thirty now, remember? I’m far from being a girl.”
Marcus only smiled, knowing that Anneke was wrong. She would always be his girl – the first girl he had fallen for, and the only girl who would own his heart.
Drinks at the patio followed after dinner, and when the Queen announced she’d be retiring to her room because of an early morning engagement the following day, Marcus also stood up to leave.
As Anneke walked him to the front door, he invited her to a nightcap in his hotel room, and she agreed even though she was feeling more than a little tired and sleepy. Addictions were called addictions for a reason, after all.
“What do you want me to get for you?”
“Something hot maybe?” His lips twitched, and she grimaced. “I know. It makes me seem older than my grandmother—-”
This time Marcus laughed outright, knowing exactly what she meant. To say that the Queen could hold her liquor well would be an understatement. “It’s fine. I’ll be back with you in a second.”
As Marcus turned his back to call for room service, Anneke covered her mouth as she yawned. It had been an especially tiring day, and yet she was only halfway done fine-tuning the latest proposal that had landed on her lap. She ran the numbers through her head while fighting to keep her eyelids from drooping. On her way home later, it would be better if she made a call to Jaak. Perhaps her other brother could lend her a hand...
When Marcus turned to face Anneke again, he was surprised to find Anneke half-lying on the couch, her head against the armrest. She was fast asleep, and Marcus frowned when he noticed the dark bags under her eyes. Had she been overworking herself?
He hesitated for a moment on what to do next, but then he saw her stir and burrow deeper into the couch, and his mind was made up for him. It was clear she needed rest.
After requesting for a new set of linens from housekeeping, he used the blanket and carefully pulled it over Anneke’s body.
The softest sigh escaped her, and his heart clenched.
He loved this woman so damn much, it was getting harder and harder each day to tear himself from her side and ensure she still had the space she needed.
Bending down on one knee, he brushed his lips against with her forehead—-
And realized it was a stupid mistake.
Because now that small kiss was no longer enough.
Before he could think of what he was doing, he had already moved down, covering her mouth with his—-
Accidenti.
Marcus wrenched himself away with a silent curse.
Over half an hour had passed since the sound of Marcus leaving the suite before Anneke cautiously opened her eyes bit by bit, trying to ascertain that she was truly alone. When it was so, she sat up quickly, her breathing shallow, her heartbeat frantic.
She unconsciously reached up to touch her lips, which still tingled from the aftereffects of the kiss.
His kiss.
Marcus’ kiss.
Anneke sucked in her breath hard. What could it mean? But more importantly, what did she want it to mean?
Five
The beachside restaurant was only sparsely occupied by the time Anneke arrived, and she spotted her friends right away. Alyx Marshall, a voluptuous brunette, was sipping a Shirley Temple, while beside her Fredericka Spears, a petite redhead who had made headlines for being the country’s youngest state attorney, was pouring hibiscus tea into a dainty teacup. Albeit opposite in looks and temperament, the two were actually cousins and Anneke had been friends with both for some years now.
“Sorry I’m late,” Anneke apologized as she reached their table. The flight from Amsterdam to Miami had been far longer and more tedious than usual, with Willem’s flight crew suddenly having a bit of a problem with its landing clearance.
“Don’t sweat it,” Fredericka assured her readily. “We just got here ourselves.”
“You look absolutely stunning, Anneke.” But Alyx’s tone was more sly than complimentary, and the voluptuous head-turner waited only for Anneke to take a seat before asking with a naughty grin, “Is it because of your Italian stud?”
Anneke choked, and Fredericka Spears sighed. “You totally did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
“Naturally,” her cousin admitted without a qualm. “Otherwise, we would get nothing out from her. She’s not Willem de Konigh’s baby sister for nothing, you know.”
“I’m not saying anything about him,” Anneke countered stiffly, “only because there’s nothing to say.” But that was a lie, of course. It had been a month since the kiss, and she still didn’t know what to do about it.
The morning after, Marcus had invited her for breakfast in his other suite, which she deduced he had booked after seeing her conked out on his sofa. She had joined him nervously, but he had acted perfectly normal, and not once had he mentioned anything about the kiss. It almost made her wonder if she had imagined the entire thing.