Royal Protocol (Crown & Glory Book 3) by Christine Flynn

Author:Christine Flynn [Flynn, Christine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction, Forever Love, Bachelor, Single Woman, Sensual Story Theme, Hearts Desire, Multicultural & International, The Prince, Royal of Penwyck, Life-Changes, Second Chance Reunion, Honesty & Trust, Home & Family, Lifetime Love, Romantic Schemes, Beautiful & Feisty, Love-Family & Forever, Foreign Country, Action & Adventure, Crown & Glory Series, Multi-Author Collection, Royal Navy, Military Service
Publisher: Silhouette Special Edition
Published: 2010-03-04T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Gwen hadn’t noticed how quiet Harrison’s quarters were until she heard him hang up the telephone. With all the hard surfaces in the room—the marble, the black lacquered furniture, the glass—the sound of the receiver hitting the cradle seemed to echo through the decidedly masculine space.

The silence that followed turned tense as he walked back toward her.

“You told me about my husband to get me to cooperate, didn’t you.”

At the accusation in her voice, something like disappointment moved into his eyes. Feeling like a fool for having relaxed her guard around a man who’s job routinely employed all manner of maneuvers, she didn’t bother wondering why it was there.

“You’ve been cooperating all along,” he informed her flatly. “You haven’t been happy about it, but you’ve been doing it.”

That hardly made her feel better. “That doesn’t answer my question.”

“Then, the answer to your question is no. I didn’t tell you about your husband to get something from you, Gwen. I told you because I thought it was something you deserved to know.”

He told her because he sincerely felt she needed the information, that she had a right to it. Especially after these years of waiting.

He didn’t need to tell her that. She could see it in the depths of his eyes.

The knowledge surprised her. It also struck her as totally unfair.

She didn’t want him to be nice. She didn’t want him to be understanding. It made it too hard to keep her defenses in place, and she truly needed those defenses with him. He made her aware of him in ways she had forgotten she could feel with a man, made her aware of herself in ways she’d long forgotten, too. Just meeting his eyes caused sensations she didn’t realize she was still capable of feeling, and made her want things she’d begun to believe she no longer needed.

To be held.

To hold.

To be touched…the way he’d touched her when his knuckles had brushed her breast.

The memory pooled heat low in her stomach.

Disturbed by her thoughts, she reached toward her wine. Thinking better of it, she crossed her arms again instead.

“Who was that on the telephone?”

“Sir Cumberland,” he replied, identifying the minister of foreign relations. “I’d told him you and I were meeting tonight.”

“And we’re meeting because you want my influence with the queen,” she reminded him, repeating what he’d said when she’d first arrived. She tipped up her chin, tightened her arms. “What do you need from her?”

Harrison watched her glance move from his chest to his mouth before falling away. The play of emotions on her face in the last few moments had been fascinating. In the space of seconds she’d gone from defense to confusion—and what he could have sworn was a hint of longing.

“For her to attend a meeting,” he told her, wondering if she had any idea what it did to a man when a woman looked at him like that. “She can’t maintain the seclusion she wants and expect everything to continue without her. The ambassador from the United States is concerned about the stability of the negotiations right now.

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