‘Yes...’ Ruby bent down to pick up a stray rose petal from the floor and held it to her nose, sniffing the clove and peppery smell of an old English rose.
‘Are you okay?’
Ruby put the petal on the table nearest her and turned to look at her friend. ‘I’m fine. Tired, though. I barely slept last night.’
Harper raised her eyebrows. ‘Let me guess—not because you’re nervous about the wedding, but because you were in Lucas Rothwell’s bed, having amazing sex till the wee hours?’
Ruby’s cheeks were so warm they threatened to wilt the rose petals. ‘I know you don’t approve, but I can’t seem to help myself.’
Harper let out a heartfelt sigh. ‘I do know what that feels like. That night I slept with Jack...’ Her brow furrowed into a frown of self-disapproval. ‘It was like I had zero self-control. I still can’t believe I had a one-night stand with him—with anyone, for that matter. And at a wedding, for God’s sake. A wedding where I was supposed to be working—not cavorting with the best man.’ She blew out a breath and side-eyed Ruby. ‘I left one of my favourite earrings in his hotel room.’
‘Have you got it back?’
‘No.’
‘Why not?’
Harper’s expression tightened. ‘Because he insists on giving it back to me in person, and I don’t want to see him again.’
‘Do you want me to get it for you?’
Harper aimed her camera at the bridal table and took a couple of shots. ‘I’ve already suggested that, but he was pig-headed about it and said I could only get it back if I agreed to see him. So—goodbye, favourite earring.’
Ruby had known Harper long enough to know how stubborn she could be when she made up her mind about something. ‘You’re not only being hard on Jack, you’re being hard on yourself,’ she told her. ‘You’re only human, and heispretty darn hot.’
Harper made a scoffing noise and took another round of photos. ‘I’ve taught myself to resist hot men.’
‘Good luck with that,’ Ruby said in a wry tone. ‘That’s not quite working for me at the moment.’
Lucas could hear the wedding in full swing downstairs but he stayed in his study, trying not to remember the wild celebrations of his parents as they’d repeated their mistakes time and time again. If that was love, then he wanted nothing to do with it.
There was a tap at the door and he stiffened in his chair. He had told Ruby no one was to be allowed in this part of the castle. Was a member of the press snooping about in his private quarters? It reminded him of being chased by the media as a child, cornered like a terrified animal, cameras pointed at him like guns.
Would he be tomorrow’s biggest headline? Would his health issue be splashed over every media outlet? Why had he agreed to this damn wedding being hosted here? He should have known it would come to this. That some sneaky journalist would hunt him down and—
‘Lucas? It’s me,’ Ruby said. ‘I’ve brought you something to eat and drink.’
He breathed out a sigh of relief and rose from his chair to go and unlock the door. But his emotions were still in disarray. Emotions he didn’t want to acknowledge. Vulnerability being at the top of the list.
Ruby was carrying a loaded tray of delicious-smelling food and he suddenly realised he was starving. Not just for food but for her company. It had been hours since she’d left his bed that morning. Long, boring hours of him aching for her. Wanting her. Needing her and being angry with himself for it. Furious that he was finding it so hard to resist her. Annoyed with himself for being more in lust with her than ever.
He moved out of her way so she could put the tray on his desk. ‘You shouldn’t have bothered. Aren’t you supposed to be working?’ His tone was brusque and unwelcoming, but he couldn’t get his heartrate back to normal.
Ruby put the tray down and turned to look at him. ‘My team have got everything under control.’
Unlike him. He was so out of control emotionally he could barely think straight.
‘Are you okay?’
Lucas scraped an impatient hand through his hair. ‘Of course I’m okay. There’s a freaking celebrity wedding downstairs that sounds exactly like my parents’ ones. Whywouldn’tI be okay? I just hope they’ve drawn up an ironclad prenuptial agreement, because we both know how this is going to end.’
‘They have,’ Ruby said matter-of-factly. ‘Have you heard of Drake Cawthorn, the celebrity divorce lawyer? He’s an expert in prenups. He’s a friend of Aerin’s older brother. He drew up a prenup for Delphine, given her assets are worth so much more than Miguel’s. In fact, it was Miguel who insisted on it, so that proves how much he loves her.’
‘Does it?’
‘Maybe I shouldn’t have bothered bringing supper up to you.’
He heard her pick up the tray again. ‘I’m sorry, Ruby.’ He let out a long sigh. ‘When you knocked on the door just now I was convinced a journalist had hunted me down. There were so many times in the past when the press followed me, looking for an exclusive on my parents’ relationship. I hated the attention, the intrusion, the exposure. The thought of that happening again under my current circumstances—well, you can probably imagine how it feels to be cornered and unable to escape.’