“Holy shit—sorry, Your Highness.”
Despite my mood, I burst out laughing. “I don’t curse, but I don’t faint if I hear one, Josephine.”
“I couldn’t think of another word! The man is gorgeous! Why would he need a wife of convenience? I get the title thing, but still, why not just do it the normal way?”
“Maybe he doesn’t want to. Maybe it’s just for show.”
“Oh, come on. Do you think a man like that is going to marry a woman without touching her? He must be a scorching sex god.”
My face heats instantly. “Don’t be nosy. This is none of our business.”
“If you say so . . .” she teases.
“What does that mean?”
“It means what I already said: there’s something between you two. You should’ve seen your duke’s face when he found you unconscious.”
“Because he’s my brother’s friend and feels responsible for me.”
“Maybe. Or maybe not. I might be overthinking, but he looked furious. And when he punched Richard—”
“He did what?”
“Punched him. The guy who supposedly drugged you. Only stopped because you started waking up and I told him we needed to get you out.”
“I had no idea,” I whisper. Then I remember something. “By the way . . .this part you won’t like. When I got back from Scotland, the head of my security told me Rodrick assigned guards to watch me on campus at all times now. And . . .” I swallow, embarrassed. “There’s one assigned to you too.”
I wait for her to explode, but instead she laughs.
“And you thought I’d be mad? Jazmina, I work late shifts at the library. I’m relieved someone will be watching out for me.”
“Oh good. I felt terrible involving you.”
My phone rings with the ringtone I set for Rodrick. I frown. He never calls. He only texts.
“Jazmina?”
“Hi.”
“How are you?”
It feels like someone’s hit me over the head and dropped me into an alternate universe. This is not how he usually speaks to me. Is this guilt from kissing me? Regret?
I decide to test it. “I think you called the wrong number, sir. Based on the ringtone, I thought it was a moody duke, but this formal tone doesn’t match him.”
I hear a sigh on the other end—could be a laugh or a grunt—but anything is better than cold misery.
“What am I supposed to do with you, girl?”
“Ah, yes. Now I know it’s my duke talking.”
My duke?
Oh God! Why did I say that?
Josephine covers her mouth, trying not to laugh.
“What did I do this time, Rodrick? I haven’t left my apartment since I got back to London except for classes, and now I’m in a café, being perfectly well-behaved with my friend. As your security must’ve told you, I’m having lunch with Josephine.”