“How do you know that?” I ask. Then I flash him a mischievous grin. “Years of practice?”
He chuckles, and the warm, sexy sound reverberates within me, filling me with happiness.
“I wasn’t smart enough to Google remedies when I was hungover. But I care more about your recovery than I ever did my own. It’s all there on my phone. Take a look.”
I pick up his phone and swipe it. Sure enough, the article that fills the screen is all about the best foods to make you feel better after a hangover.
“I didn’t have avocados, but Liz is addicted to those things, so I was able to go over and get some from her this morning.”
I pause my reading. Xander has his back to me now, as he’s paying attention to the eggs, but my heart begins to pound in my chest. I think of how he’s caring for me now.
How he cared for me last night.
“How did I get to bed last night?” I ask, needing to know. Because I have a feeling this man standing before me had something to do with it.
Xander keeps his focus on the pan. “I carried you. I didn’t want you to be uncomfortable on the sofa. I didn’t feel right changing your clothes, though. I didn’t want you to wake up and be confused or think we’d had sex. I’d never have sex with you when you truly didn’t know what decisions you were making.”
I can’t breathe. My head is dizzy, but this time, for another reason.
Xander carried me to bed. Purposely didn’t do anything that might cause me distress when I awoke. He left me tablets and wrote me a note. He Googled hangover breakfast ideas and went over to Liz’s house to get me avocados.
My heart keeps speaking to me. This man vowed to find a way to help me keep my career, in some shape or form, if things go forward with us—something no other royal has ever fought for. He’s been vulnerable with me, sharing the most sacred pains from his past. He’s owned the pain he’s caused. He’s admitted the mistakes he’s made.
Xander is fierce in his love for his family. He will do anything to protect the people he cares about. He’s smart and brave. He’s made me feel empowered and bold and passionate.
And I love him.
I love him.
My heart was right. Gin might have opened the door for the conversation, but now, I know I spoke from my heart.
I love this man.
I love Xander Wales. I love Captain Wales. I love the Prince of Wales.
The road ahead will be messy and hard and will cause tears and pain because I fell in love with this particular man, the one destined to wear the crown.
But there is no other road I want to take.
I stare at him, this man who treats me so sweetly, with so much love, and I do not doubt my feelings. Not at all.
Yet I will keep them to myself for now. He will believe my thinking was influenced by alcohol, and he deserves to be told he’s loved when there will be no doubt in his mind why I’m saying it. When the time is right, I’ll know it.
And that’s when I’ll take the opportunity to tell him.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Cinderella
This is surreal.
I’m sitting in the back seat of Amelia’s car, which has now been let through the gates of St. James’s Palace, and we’re picking up Bella to go shopping for dresses to attend the royal wedding.
How is this my life?
While Amelia and Jillian talk in the front seats, I drift off for a moment, thinking of how the past few weeks have been a blur. Xander has been off to Scotland for engagements, and busy when he’s in London, too. I’m now supervising staff at the commercial kitchen, and with massive help and input from Priya, we’re streamlining and tweaking and testing all our procedures to get ready for the bake of our lives next month.
My heart flutters when my mind goes back to Xander. While “I love you” has not been said between us, my belief that I love him has done nothing but grow stronger by the day. I know he feels it, too, in the way he looks at me. Touches me. Speaks to me. When he’s ready to say it, he will. But he’s moved forward in a different way that tells me exactly where his heart is.
Xander—as Liz and Victoria predicted—did officially ask me to