Up for Heir - Stella Starling Page 0,25

to so much, if he was being honest—surely, he’d find out today.

“You’ll st-st-stick around, right, Ollie?” he asked, since it was Saturday and the older girls had afternoon plans and he didn’t like Astrid to be home alone, even though she was fifteen now and they all called him overprotective for it. Some habits were hard to break, though, and she’d been so darn young still, back when their parents had died, and so devastated by it—as they all had been, of course—that Edvin made no apologies.

Someday he’d grow out of being overprotective, but not today.

Oliver rolled his eyes. “Yes, mother hen. You’re allowed to have some damn fun, you know. I’ll be here.”

It was just an appointment, not… not fun, but Edvin bit his tongue to stop himself from lying and saying it wouldn’t be that, too. It was Leo, so of course it would be. And he didn’t really have to feel guilty for that fact when there were a million other things he could be doing for his siblings with his day off or selfish for saying yes to his prince, because not only had Leo’s unexpected help throughout the week freed up some of Edvin’s time, but they were also meeting to discuss a matter of royal importance.

Edvin still wasn’t sure what he could do to help, but even if he hadn’t been a loyal citizen of Rosavia, he would have wanted to help just because it was Leo. Because that was what friends did, and Leo… well, not that Edvin would ever be so presumptuous to claim him as a friend (even if it already felt that way), or to assume that a couple of weeks’ acquaintanceship meant they were close, no matter what kind of instant connection he’d found with the prince, but regardless, they were definitely something and Edvin had… had feelings for him. The kind of feelings that already made him want to do anything the prince asked of him, and—he gave another despairing look at the bland, slightly scruffy-looking clothing options he’d already laid out—to look his best while doing it.

He sighed, then shook it off. He could only work with what he had, after all.

“Sh-Sh-Should I wear my contacts?” he asked his siblings, pushing his glasses back into place when they started to slip and wishing he’d had time for a haircut and was taller and had a better wardrobe and was just more…

Well, just more.

“No,” all four of his siblings said at once.

“You squint too much when you wear them,” Tilde added, wrinkling her nose. “It makes you look like you’re going to sneeze.”

Oh. That was just… great.

“The girls are right, though,” Oliver said, spinning on his heel and raising his voice so they could still hear him as he left the room. “You’re definitely going to need to borrow one of my shirts. I’ve got just the thing. Leo will love it! You’ll look hot, Eddie!”

Edvin’s stomach fluttered again. That statement was highly doubtful and ridiculously improbable… and more to the point, wouldn’t matter, since they were getting together to talk about Leo’s engagement, not to go on a date, as he’d pointed out to his starry-eyed siblings a million times already. But still, he couldn’t quite quell the tiny voice inside that secretly hoped his brother was right. Not about the “hot” part, of course—because really, that was just never going to happen—but Edvin would really, really like it if Leo loved… the shirt.

And half an hour later, when the crown prince of Rosavia finally showed up at his door and greeted him with another one of those slow, sexy smiles that made it hard to remember the man would be marrying someone else soon—the kind of smile that made Edvin feel like he might have slipped and fallen into a real-life fairy tale—the way Leo gave Edvin a thorough perusal and then smiled even wider made it feel like… well, like maybe he did.

Love the shirt, of course.

“Zasfer isn’t just the n-n-name of the… w-w-wine?” Edvin asked, feeling foolish and a little overwhelmed, if he was being honest, as the prince helped him out of the helicopter they’d traveled to their lunch date in an hour later.

That’s right. The helicopter.

Edvin had just ridden in a royal helicopter.

He’d been trying not to squeal with excitement about it the whole way, but he wasn’t entirely sure he’d managed to keep it all inside.

“The Zasfer?” Leo asked, brushing Edvin’s hair back from his face.

Oh Lord, it probably looked even