Free The Royal's American Love by Sophia Lynn Page A

way he had a few times in the past. While it
might be amusing to imagine his mother’s assistant confronted with his
ghostwriter still in bed, it wasn’t really something he would allow to happen.
    Be there in forty minutes,he texted back, and
sighed.
    He slipped out of bed and ran through the shower quickly.
When he came back to the bedroom, it was even harder to pull himself away from
Marianna. She had shoved off the covers while she slept, and now she was
sprawled on her back. She was uncovered to the waist, and her glorious,
flame-colored hair spread out over her pillow.
    It took all the willpower he had not to climb back into bed
with her. He comforted himself with the fact that as soon as he was done, he
would be able to come back and spend the entire weekend with her. That thought
alone put a spring in his step.
    He wrote her a note and placed it on her phone. Then, with
a gentle kiss to the top of her head, he made his way to the door.
    This could be the start of something ,he
thought with a grin. What, he couldn’t say, but he knew that he hadn’t been
this happy in a very long time.
    * * *
    Marianna awoke with a feeling that something was wrong. She
realized the bed was empty. Nikolos was gone. She looked around, briefly alarmed,
but then she saw the note on her phone.
    Good morning, beautiful!
    I’m sorry I was not here when you woke up. I was
unexpectedly called to the palace to deal with a matter that I have been
putting off for too long. Don’t worry, it’s nothing interesting or I would have
woken you up. As it is, I should be back some time in the midafternoon. You are
of course free to go wherever you like, but I would dearly love to find you
waiting for me when I get back.
    In the meantime, feel free to order room service from
the restaurant below, to investigate the shops in the neighborhood, and to
snoop as you like. I figure this is a grand opportunity for my ghostwriter to
dig up the real dirt.
    Do as you please, and I cannot wait to see you again!
    — Nikolos
    She smiled at his brash, bold scrawl, as she tucked the
note securely into her purse. It was a glimpse at a more playful version of
him. Though she certainly would not be putting their encounter into her
article, she realized their night together had brought her to a much better
understanding of who he was as a man. Underneath the careless playboy facade,
there was something deep and enduring. There was something that responded to
kindness and patience, that she suspected could love fiercely.
    I want him ,she thought before she could stop
herself. She realized that it was true. There was something that drew her to
him, and now she knew that it was more than his looks or his money. It was the
essence of the man she was growing to know.
    She pushed the thoughts away, because she was, after all,
still lying naked in his bed.
    Instead, Marianna made her way to his bathroom, which she
had only seen in passing. It was a marvel of marble and gold, and when she
slipped into the shower, she found that the entire ceiling above her dropped  rained
down upon her. It was like showering in a gentle thunderstorm, and it took a
great deal of willpower not to sink into the tub itself, where she could see
jets that would turn the tub into a whirlpool. Perhaps Nikolos would be
interested in showing the whirlpool to her later…
    She got out of the tub to find that she was ravenously
hungry. Timidly, she found the menu next to the phone, and to her dismay, there
were no prices.
    Well, if worse comes to worst and I order something to
expensive, he can tell me how much it costs ,she thought. Even as
she said it to herself, she realized he never would. The woman on the other end
of the line seemed completely unsurprised to hear a young woman’s voice; she
responded that the food would be up very quickly.
    While waiting for the food, Marianna took time to wander
through the penthouse. She had seen modern design articles that discussed its
graceful lines and