She canted her blonde head, those familiar green eyes locked on him. Then she headed into the living room without answering him. He followed her, studying her closely. She acted like a regal queen and held her head high, but she wasn’t as standoffish as he’d expected.
Like mother, like daughter, apparently.
She trailed her fingers over his couch, then perched on the edge. “Why did you tell her that you took the money?”
“She needed to hear that.” He sat across from her on the loveseat. Georgie jumped up and laid his front paws on Gordon’s thighs, then rested his head on them. His eyes were locked on the queen. “I wanted her to move on without any doubt in her mind that it was the right thing to do. To make it easier on her.”
Nodding, she pursed her lips and lowered her brows. She looked as if she was measuring him, and he had no doubt he’d come up short. After all, she was a fucking queen. “Did you think it would be hard on her?”
“We’d bonded. I grew to care for her, enough to want to marry her to help her out, and I think the feeling had been…mutual.” He stared down at Georgie. “I thought it best for her if that door was firmly shut in all ways.”
“I see.” She tapped her finger on the arm of the couch. “So you acted like an opportunistic jerk to protect her? That’s what you’re saying.”
Refusing to act ashamed, he met her eyes and shrugged. “Yep. Pretty much.”
“How did that make you feel?”
“Not good,” he admitted. No point beating around the fucking bush. “Like an ass—” He cut himself off. “—jerk.”
She smiled. “I liked the first one better, though I’d never utter such a word. Queens don’t use foul language.”
Well, now he knew where Isabelle got all her rules.
“Of course not.” He cleared his throat. “Not to be annoying, but you didn’t answer my question. Is she happy?”
“Are you?”
“No.” He narrowed his eyes. “Is she?”
Her lips twitched. “I hate to say it, but no. She’s not happy. That’s why I’m here.”
“You came to me because she’s not happy?”
“Indeed,” she said.
His heart raced full speed ahead, and he moved his leg impatiently. Knowing that she wasn’t happy made him want to jump on a plane and show her just how happy he could make her, if she gave him a second chance.
But that wasn’t possible. He was too late.
“I fail to see how I can help. She’s engaged to another man. One who your country chose.” He locked gazes with her. “One who your daughter chose over me.”
She lifted a dainty shoulder. “She did not choose him.”
“What do you mean?” He sat up straighter, and Georgie moaned. “She’s not engaged to him?”
“She turned him down that night, and then went to see you.” She traced a pattern on his couch, never dropping her scrutiny of him. “When you did what you did, she came back to the hotel defeated. She told us to talk to George and fix everything, but we held off. We wanted to see if she got over you first.”
“It’s only been four days. Hardly enough time to really see if someone is okay.” He paused. “But did she?”
“She smiles. She laughs. She’s every part the perfect princess, despite the turmoil that has been brought to life after her…time…with you,” she said.
He swallowed hard, collapsing against the back of the couch. Georgie rolled over onto his back. She’d forgotten all about him. His plan had worked. She’d moved on.
“She got over me.”
Too bad I never got over her.
“I didn’t say that.” She sat forward. “She’s only been home a day. There’s still time to bring you over and go with our original plan of you two being married in a whirlwind romance. We can make the announcement through my husband while we’re on the plane, and all the world will be waiting for us.”