Crown Jewels (Off-Limits Romance #1)(23)

“For you—ten forty-five.”

“Oh. Well that’s not so late. No wait, it is. It’s still pretty late for you.”

“Early,” he corrects.

A flash of heat sears through me. That Liam called me again. My system processes it like pure adrenaline. I sit up, feeling strangely energized and even slightly confident. “I think I’m mailing you some Ambien.”

“Trying to get rid of me?”

“Not yet,” I tease. “I just feel sorry for you.”

“Don’t feel sorry for me, Lucy.” His voice is rough and soft.

As his words spread into silence, my heart gives another little thump. “You have a pretty weird schedule, huh?”

“Lately. Yeah.”

“Are you a shitty sleeper? Like insomnia and stuff?”

“I didn’t think so, but…”

I want to pry. To ask what’s going on. But I don’t know him well enough. Despite our strange connection—my hand goes to my lower belly—I don’t know Prince Liam at all.

“So where are you? Like, when you go home—where is your home exactly?”

“I’m at my residence, in the city of Torr. It’s on the northern part of the island.”

“By residence,” I grin, “do you mean castle?”

“What do you think?”

“I think castles are awesome.”

Liam chuckles.

“Is it one?”

“It is.”

“So do you have a really big staff?”

“That depends on what you mean by staff, Lucy.” His voice is dead-pan, causing me to giggle like an idiot.

“No, not many right now,” he continues. “Sometimes they get off time in the summer.”

“But when they’re there, do people work day and night, like on Downton Abbey? Is the castle really big? Is there a dungeon?”

I hear the smile in his voice when he says, “I’ll never tell.”

“I’ll Wiki it!”

“We don’t have a floor plan online, Miss Rhodes. That wouldn’t be safe.”

I snort. “I’m not exactly worried about your ability to keep yourself safe.”

“How are you?” he asks abruptly.

“Mmm, I’m fine.” Just pregnant. I feel a tug toward telling him, but my instincts tell me it’s too early. I want to finish the first trimester before I spill the beans. If I’m going to upend his life with baby news, it seems considerate to be sure first.

“Is that why you called?” I blurt. “To check on me?”

“Do you want it to be?” His words are soft, and I can’t read the tone.

“I don’t have a want, one way or the other.”

He makes a sound that’s slightly sigh-like. “Truth?” he asks me.

“Truth.”

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“How come?”

“Mnn.”

“You males and your noncommittal noises.” I laugh. “You’re a brooder, aren’t you? You’re a brooding insomniac trying to pass yourself off as a partier/playboy.”

“You don’t think I’m a playboy?” He sounds hurt, but also like he’s smiling.

“You might be. I just don’t care about that part.” I smooth the blankets over my lap. “I want to know some things about you. The real Liam.”

“The real Liam.” He laughs. “What sorts of things?”

“Real people things.”

“So now I’m not a real person? This keeps getting worse.”

“Do you know Lucy Rhodes’ favorite kind of cereal? Favorite color? I think everybody knows about my obsession with Lucky Charms and adoration of the color red. They’ve seen me dressed up for parties, giving interviews at film premieres. But tabloid Lucy isn’t real.”

“I see,” he says softly.

“So where’s your favorite place? On Earth.”

“On Earth?”

“On Earth.”

He makes another soft sound. “I love Africa. Kili—Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Egypt and Tanzania are both amazing.”

“Is there an individual place? Like a particular spot that’s really beautiful or awesome, where you love to go?”

He’s quiet for so long, I wonder if he fell asleep. Then I hear him shift around. “I live between the ocean and a…lake. In the lake, there’s an island. My mum used to call it Pirate Island. We would take a canoe there and bring a picnic.”

Hearing him mention his mom makes my chest tighten. She died when he was little, but I can’t remember how. Some kind of sudden illness.

“That sounds beautiful. What was your mother like? Did she look like you?”

“You don’t know what she looked like?”

“No. I mean, I’ve seen pictures of her before, maybe. But I haven’t looked her or your family up any time recently. I kind of wanted to,” I confess, “after we met. But it seemed unfair.”

“Unfair?”

I laugh. “I don’t know why. I guess you know all about my family.”

“Your father’s dental implant.” He chuckles.