I glanced down at my hand. Sure enough, a smear of blood was on both the razor and the side of my index finger.
“Oh-shoot-oh-shoot.”
Ava rushed over to me, clearly unaffected by the fact that she’d just barged into my bathroom while I was in there nearly naked. She put her hand on the back of my head and jerked me down.
“Easy!” I cried.
“Sorry! Just want to see. Does it hurt?”
The shock of seeing Ava had been greater than the pain of the injury. I glanced toward the mirror, noting that it was nothing but a simple red line about four centimeters long down the right side of my face.
“It’s fine,” I said. “Just… here.”
I stepped back from her, grabbing a cloth and dabbing the blood from my face. Once that was done, I took the styptic pencil from my shaving kit and used it to seal the cut. Within no more than ten seconds, it was done.
I sighed, leaning back against the sink.
That’s when it hit me. I was still standing half naked in front of the Princess of Edoria.
“Jesus, girl!” I said, my eyes flashing with anger. “Don’t you Americans know how to knock?”
Chapter 11
Ava
Ididn’t know what I was more taken aback by, the gorgeous, sculpted body on display in front of me, or the fact that I was staring at Luc nearly naked.
Seeing Luc without a shirt on was a delicious sight. His shoulders were round and wide, his chest like two square slabs of granite dusted with just the right amount of silver hair. His abs were shredded, not a trace of fat to be found. His body was the built, powerful body of a man who put that physique to good use.
On top of it all, his towel hung just low enough on his hips that I could make out the notches of his pelvic bones, the part of men’s bodies that I’d always considered the yummiest. It took all the restraint I had to not rip the towel off and get a good hard look at the rest of him.
The anger on his face, however, brought me back to the moment. Not to mention everything else that had been on my mind.
“I’m sorry, I was looking for you and I just walked in. I didn’t stop to think this might be your bathroom.”
Whatever anger remained on his face vanished, replaced by concern. Luc reached forward, placing his huge hand on my shoulder.
“You were looking for me?”
I closed my eyes, a single tear forming in one of them.
“I don’t know if I can do this.” The words came out in a whisper. As soon as they were spoken I realized the truth behind them.
“I’m sorry?” he asked.
I opened my mouth, trying to find the words.
“Sorry,” I said. “This kind of thing, it’s new for me.”
“This kind of thing?” he asked. “What kind of thing?”
I swept my hand toward the room around me, a gesture meant to encompass the entire royal palace.
“This! Being here, not knowing who the hell I am, what I’m supposed to be doing.”
He smiled slightly. “You’re the princess. If anything, your role is clearer than it’s ever been.”
“But it’s not something I earned or decided for myself. I don’t know how to handle everything just beinggivento me like this.”