The Royal’s Pretend Wife Read Online Free PDF Page A

man in front of her as the cool sophisticated man she had spent the evening with. There was something wild in his eyes, something needy in the way his hands reached for her before he forced them down to his sides.
    “That was…unexpected,” he said. “Are you all right?”
    “Yes, of course, I am,” she said, but she knew how unsteady her own words sounded. “I am,” Trinity said with a little more confidence. “That was unexpected though.”
    “You're a very good actress,” he said, and though there was no hint of censure in his voice, she felt a slight pang at that. There had been no acting on her part, nothing but a genuine heat she had never felt before.
    “Thank you,” she said after a moment. “But perhaps we should wait until the cameras are rolling before we do that again…”
    “I don't know,” he said. “I was thinking that practicing might be important…”
    She looked up, startled before she saw the slight humorous quirk in his lips.
    “But you're right,” he said with regret. “We…we shouldn't forget ourselves. Goodnight, gata.”
    “Good night, Apolo,” she said, slipping into her bedroom.
    Closing the door behind her was surprisingly hard. As she undressed and got ready for bed, she realized that the only thing that separated her from Apolo was a wall—a wall with a door in it.
    For a moment, Trinity wondered what it would be like to open the door that joined the rooms. She wondered if he would be startled as she appeared in the doorway, wearing only her silk nightie. Perhaps he would be stunned silent as she crossed the floor, or perhaps he would only smile at her with a knowing look…
    Trinity shook her head hard. She had always prided herself on her professional ability and her ability to separate herself from the role that she was playing. She knew that Apolo was a wildly desirable man, but she needed to remember that she wasn't really in love with him. It was fine to desire him, to flirt and to be loving, but to be in love was a mistake of epic proportions.
    “Get your head in the game,” she said to her reflection.
    Her platinum hair had started to come out of its tidy plait. Her green eyes were dark with remembered desire, and her cheeks were rosy. She looked like a woman who had been teased or perhaps a woman on her way to a dire fate.
    “I will be in control,” Trinity told herself. “This will be the role of a lifetime!”
     
     

Chapter Four
     
     
    The next morning, she woke up bright and early. Trinity lay still, savoring the cool light that suffused her room. She could hear Apolo stirring in the next room, which told her she should get up and face the day. She showered and brushed out her hair. Today, she gathered it into a loose bun that gave her a startlingly sweet look. It went well with the bottle green linen sheath dress she wore. After a moment of deliberation, she left her shoes off.
    When she made her way down to the kitchen, she realized that Apolo had beaten her there. He stood at the stove, dressed in loose linen pants that hung almost shockingly low around his hips. He glanced up when she approached, and then she saw him tear his eyes away.
    “I didn't think I looked that good,” she said teasingly, taking a seat at the marble kitchen island.
    “Then you didn't look in the mirror,” Apolo said lightly. “You look like a nymph who has come out of the water to play on dry land.”
    “Romantic. What are you cooking that smells so good?”
    “Well, there are plenty of eggs, so I thought I'd try my hand at a breakfast that I had in Budapest years ago. It's an egg dish smothered in a yogurt, paprika, and butter sauce.”
    He served her breakfast with a chunk of dark rye bread, and she closed her eyes, inhaling the scent before digging in.
    “Smells as good as it looks,” she said. “This is so much better than my traditional breakfast of donuts and leftovers.”
    Apolo glanced at her curiously as he ate his own meal.
    “Have you always eaten