The Girl behind the Throne (Editing)

Chapter 10

'I didn't want to worry you. I was all the way up in Scotland and there was nothing you could have done. Besides, I didn't want our weekly phone calls to be dominated by discussions about Liam and his wandering penis.'

Jamie laughed at that, but he still looked like he wanted to murder Liam using his own viscera. He exhaled heavily, pushing his hair back with his hands, and clasping them around the back of his head, so that he was stretched out, that magnificent torso on display.

If a photographer caught this on camera, the teenage population of the country would be devastated. Jamie looked like a Michelangelo sculpture, an alluring combination of tanned, golden skin and hard jutting muscles.

I had to close my dropped jaw, but caught Jamie smirking slightly at my reaction. I sniffed, looking away, seeing three horses lingering over near a hay barn on the edge of the woods.

'Looks like Andrew found Sloane, then.' I said with a wry smile, Jamie followed my pointed gaze until he noticed Duchess and her two stable mates furiously gorging on the grass outside the stable.

Laughing, he pulled on his shirt again, his jogging anger dissipated. I leaned a hand down, pulling myself up in the saddle, and Jamie took it, placing one foot in the stirrup and heaving his bulk into the saddle behind me. Arms clasped on either side of me, he urged Garfield on to a light canter, meaning that I bobbed up and down on his lap. Thankfully, the lovebirds were nearby, and our jiggling close quarters ended almost as quickly as it started. As we neared the barn the other horses whickered to Garfield, their long lost friend, who cheerfully returned the hello. This roused Andrew, who suddenly appeared from behind a round hay bale.

'Hello James and Therese. What a happy coincidence. I found Sloane, erm, who had been stopping to feed and water the horses, and I thought, erm, that I should do the same. That's just what we were doing, helping the horses. That's all.' Andrew's spiel was said in a startlingly high voice, sounding alarmingly like his mother, Princess Brigit.

I didn't need to look at Jamie to know that he was noticing the same thing I was.

'Andrew, your trousers are on backwards.'

Andrew jumped as I spoke, and looked down at the black skinny jeans he was wearing, which were pulled up to his mid-thighs.

'Actually, Andrew, aren't those Sloane's trousers?' Jamie called out, and Andrew looked up slowly.

'At least that explains why they wouldn't do up. I was worried there that I had suddenly put on a lot of weight.' Andrew laughed to himself, pulling the black jeans off, to reveal jaunty yellow boxer briefs.

I looked away, Andrew was the closest thing to a brother that I had ever had, and I didn't want to see his royal jewels. I focused on the left hand corner of the barn, adjusting my attention just in time to catch Sloane sauntering out of the barn, clad in Andrew's jodhpurs.

'Sloane and I got caught in a very bad shower. We just stopped off to dry our clothes.' Andrew offered, but he made the sentence sound like a question.

'Right.' Jamie said, in a tone which clearly stated that he didn't believe his cousin one bit. I looked up at the blue sky, knowing well that there hadn't been a shower, or rain, in this part of the country for at least a week.

Andrew looked up too, tongue on his lip and his hands on his hips, looking hilariously bizarre.

'Look, we had sex. Is that what you want me to say, we had sex. Twice!' Andrew's roaring and exasperated voice was hilariously worn down, and Jamie and I both spluttered with laughter.

Andrew caught sight of Sloane as she slinked past, Andrew's tight riding breeches looking like a second skin on Sloane's sloping curves.

'Sloane, darling, I appeared to have picked up the wrong trousers.' He called out, and Sloane carried on walking, stopping only to fling herself up onto her large bay mare.