photos on my socials, dating back to before we ever met.
I knew I was on his mind as much as he was on mine.
This was a very dangerous area. His spell was powerful. I was forgetting by the day why I couldn’t go sailing into his arms and throw all caution to the wind.
Sometimes I even forgot why it was such a big deal in the first place. So what if the relationship had an expiration date? It was my last hurrah before settling down into single adulthood, and I got to have a wild, globetrotting affair with an actual prince. What would it hurt to have one night?
But then I would go online and go baby shopping or house hunting and remember that the world I now inhabited wasn’t real. It was all a dream. Did I really want to risk my heart on something I knew wasn’t going to last?
Roman Holiday was a great movie, a personal favorite in fact, but I was pretty sure I didn’t want it as my reality.
I let Fern have enough fun for the both of us. She had fallen hard like a rock for Gavin, and who could hardly blame her? He was an incredible man. She was a dancer who could follow him the world over if she wanted.
Me? I was in it for one book.
If I wanted a happily ever after, I had to keep my heart protected, much as it sucked to be a responsible adult about it.
Fast forward to Friday, when I knew I would be seeing him again, and I stood in front of my new wardrobe, finding something suitable to wear, and I suspected I was only kidding myself. I was walking a tightrope and I knew it.
This time when I went into the box suite, I did it alone. Fern had worked her ass off for the past few days getting prepared to join them onstage, so she was with the troupe. I couldn’t wait to see her hit the stage. She was talented and graceful and beautiful… and she deserved her big break.
I looked forward to watching her from above.
Audra poured me a cup of steaming hot liquid while we waited for the show to begin. I took a big, grateful sip. “They tell me you like ginger tea,” she said with that brilliant smile.
It soothed my tummy and my nerves. “You’re an angel, thank you.”
She chuckled softly. “No angel. Just proficient and prepared.” She studied my face. “How are you feeling, by the way?”
She was one of the few people who knew about the baby, mostly because she had to help me set up appointments with Dr. Hamish. “Better,” I told her. I looked around, making sure we were alone. “The morning sickness has been brutal. But taking it easy this week has helped.”
She nodded. “You’ll have plenty of downtime on the tour. Auggie is a dedicated professional and a true perfectionist. He will be working a lot.”
“Makes me wonder when we’re going to have any time at all to write this book. I think he knows more about me than I do about him at this point.”
She chuckled again. “That sounds like Auggie.”
I studied her. I knew I wasn’t supposed to ask her any questions. “Have you worked for him long?”
Her eyes met mine. I watched her debate the choice of answering. “In a way. We were essentially raised together.”
My eyebrows arched. “Oh?”
She nodded. “My mother was lady-in-waiting to Princess Mariel, like I said. We were always at Shimmering Falls.”
“The Queen’s palace,” I clarified. She nodded again.
“Back then it was the King’s palace. This was before Evander took ill. Auggie and I studied together for years while his parents tried to make it all work. After he died, Auggie and his mum returned to the States. Rather than watch Roan’s downfall, Mariel moved on to Castlewick,” she said, mentioning yet another royal palace. “Mother and I went with her. I stayed there. Finished my education. After… everything,” she said, glossing over the painful—and public—details, “and Auggie decided to make a break for it, he leveraged the Queen’s many requirements by assigning me a position in the royal court to be his personal assistant. Mother had died by then, and Mariel convinced the queen it would be in his best interest to have someone familiar with him, who was loyal to Aldayne. Someone he wanted, respected and trusted. Aside from his Aunt Mariel, that honor fell to me.”