He tucked his hand back into his trouser pocket.
Don’t push, Leo. Not yet.
She reminded him of an unbroken colt. What she needed now was persuasion, not pressure.
‘And I want a chance to take it further,’ he added, gratified when her cheeks coloured. ‘Much further. But I will allow you to set the pace.’
‘Really?’ she said.
‘Yes, really,’ he concurred, prepared to give her the time she needed.
‘But what if I don’t measure up?’ she said. ‘As Queen, I mean. To your people?’
He frowned. What an odd thing to say. Of course she would make a good queen. She’d been trained for the role her whole life, just as he had. And she was already doing an exemplary job with her own subjects. ‘I doubt that will be a problem.’
‘You don’t think so? After the scandal I’ve already caused?’ He detected the note of vulnerability he’d found so fascinating the night before.
‘We caused,’ he corrected her. ‘And the results of which we both enjoyed, so I’m not going to lose sleep over it,’ he said, because he had lost enough sleep already over the memory of her lips opening for him, her nipple engorging under his tongue, that soft sob of...
For goodness’ sake, focus, Leo.
‘Okay, I’ll do it. I’m come to Severene,’ she said, as if they hadn’t already agreed on it. ‘But if the visit is a disaster, there’ll be no more talk of marriage. Okay?’
It sounded as if she thought she was striking some kind of bargain.
He nodded, deciding to humour her. ‘Absolutely. Not another word on the subject,’ he said.
Because he intended to ensure, at the end of those seven days, their decision to marry would be nothing more than a formality.
CHAPTER FOUR
HOW DID I get here? And how do I get away again without messing everything up?
Juno stepped out of the private jet and stopped dead.
The barrage of flashes from the herd of press photographers held behind a cordon blinded her. The shouts and clicks became deafening.
How does Jade stand it?
‘Jade, is there a problem?’ Leo’s steady voice interrupted her thoughts—until his palm landed on the base of her spine to direct her out of the plane and a whole new level of panic exploded along her nerve-endings.
‘No, not at all,’ she said, forcing herself to move.
He took her arm to lead her down the steps to a series of dignitaries lined up on the tarmac. She shook their hands, her mind dazed and her body far too aware of Leo’s nearness.
Since he’d pressed her into going on this trip approximately five hours ago, he’d ignored her, while she’d been bombarded with instructions and information from her staff. But she’d taken barely any of it in, because she’d been completely unable to ignore him in return.
He’d greeted her at the airport and then spent the forty-minute flight over the mountains being briefed by his advisors while she was going over the schedule of events that had been arranged for her in Severene with Serena.
What the heck did she know about how to conduct herself during a walkabout of Severene’s old town or a carol concert in the cathedral or the state opening of the capital’s famous Christmas market? She wasn’t a queen. She was a fraud.
But as Leo did the introductions, keeping her close by his side, her concern over all the things she did not know about her new role was nothing compared to the major pheromone freak-out going on because his big body and that tantalising scent were totally invading her personal space.
Having introduced her to the last of the dignitaries—all of whose names she instantly forgot—Leo directed her to the waiting limousine.
A uniformed chauffeur bowed and opened the door.