In my most recent release, Her Royal Bodyguard, Rico and Angelina are pretending to be newlyweds. When they reach his aunt and uncle's villa, where they will be hiding out, things get a little more emotional than they expected.
“My daughter, Maria,” Rosa said.
Maria looked a little younger than Angelina. When she pushed away from Rico, she turned to Angelina. “Hi, I’m Maria. You’re so pretty. I wish we could have gone to the wedding.” She gave Angelina a quick hug. “I love your skirt.”
Angelina looked down at the thin cotton skirt she never would have chosen for herself. Pink rose buds were strewn over a background of dark blue and matched the simple pink blouse. “Thank you.”
“This is so romantic,” Maria went on. “We still should have been invited to the wedding. Do you have a picture of you in your wedding dress?”
“Sadly, no.” Maria looked so heart-broken, Angelina found herself embellishing the story. “Perhaps we were foolish to wed so quickly that we didn’t have time to think about things like photographers or fancy wedding gowns or give family time to attend.”
“You didn’t have a wedding gown?” Maria looked even sadder.
Angelina forced a smile. “I wore the dress my mother was married in.” She’d always thought it would be wonderful to wear her mother’s wedding gown, but knew she’d require a designer dress when the time came for her real wedding.
Both Maria and Rosa sighed. Rico shifted on his feet.
“What color were your flowers?” Maria asked.
Angelina had thought often of the flowers she would carry down the aisle, but a nosegay of white and red roses didn’t seem to fit the simple Lucia. “I carried a bouquet of wildflowers. Too many colors to count.”
“It sounds beautiful.” Maria frowned and punched Rico in the arm. “And I missed it. Kiss her.”
“What?” he asked, backing up a couple steps.
“I didn’t get to see you all dressed up.” Maria propped her hands on her ample hips and narrowed her eyes. “I didn’t get to see the flowers or see you walking down the aisle. I want to see you kiss your bride.”
Angelina’s gaze flew to Rico’s. Her pale skin must have been blazing red. “Oh…”
“Oh, yes,” Rosa said with a big grin. “Kiss her, Rico.” Giuseppe just laughed.
Rico shrugged. “We may as well give in, amore. They won’t give up until we do as they ask.”
Angelina’s heart fluttered wildly. If they were wildly in love, they wouldn’t balk at sharing a simple kiss. Her gaze zeroed in on his mouth as he slowly crossed the lobby until he stopped in front of her. She tipped back her head to look up at him and her tongue darted out to moisten her lips.
His strong arm snaked around her waist and tugged her tightly against him. He was so big. So hard. So hot. He slowly lowered his head, but instead of crushing his lips to hers, he brushed them softly over hers. “Relax,” he whispered, his mouth moving over hers. “You’ll like it. I promise.”
Like was too small a word to express the press of his lips against hers. Like could never describe his scent enveloping her, his taste bursting on her tongue when she parted her lips and he rushed in to claim her mouth. Angelina wrapped her arms around his neck. Shivers danced along her skin. Her knees trembled and she might have sunk to the floor if he hadn’t been holding onto her so tightly.
A moan she never expected rose from somewhere deep inside her. Rico froze then, broke off the kiss and snatched his hands from her as if he’d been burned. If they hadn’t had an audience she thought he might have pushed her away from him. Perhaps he got a little more lost in that kiss than he expected, just as she had. She lifted her arms from around his neck. He slowly stepped away, his eyes everywhere but on her.
“Oh,” Maria sighed. “I can see how much you two love each other.”
Angelina tried to calm her racing heart. She’d never been kissed like that before. Her body had never burned like this. She fumbled with the strap of her borrowed purse. Rico still wouldn’t look at her. Had the kiss been that bad?
“Take them up to their room before they embarrass themselves more,” his uncle grumbled.
Her Royal Bodyguard is book #2 in my Her Royal Romance series.
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Her Royal Masquerade, book #1 is also available now.
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Later this year you can expect more Royal Romance books, including Her Royal Mistake, Her Royal Scandal, and more. If you'd like to sign up for my mailing list to get info on these new releases and newsletter only contests, you can signup here.
And how about you? Any first kiss stories you'd like to share????
Natasha
www.natashamoore.com
1 comment:
Thanks so much for the virtual tour. I am writing about a historical manor house in my WIP. Your pretty photos and information will be very helpful.
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