“Victoria,” Bella says, a warning tone edging her soft voice. “Be nice.”
“Why? I never said I was nice. Lord knows, India’s not.”
Ooh, now that’s an interesting comment. I have a feeling I will find out the whole story about Xander and India from the squad. Maybe not tonight, but one day soon.
“So, Poppy, how did you and Xander meet?” Bella asks, changing the subject.
“I had an appointment with Christian and Clementine about their reception biscuits,” I explain. “It was pouring with rain, and I lost my grip on my box, and Xander came out of nowhere, saving the box from falling.”
“Ooh!” Bella says, her face lighting up. “So, it was fate!”
“Yes,” I say. “It was.”
“And you met in the pouring rain?” she continues.
“Yes.”
“That’s so romantic,” she says, her eyes shining brightly at me.
“Bella is our resident romantic,” Victoria explains, snagging another tortilla chip and dunking it into some salsa.
“And what’s wrong with that?” Bella asks. “I love romantic stories.”
“I’d like for you to have a boyfriend who isn’t in a book,” Victoria teases. “But you’d have to leave your books to go find one.”
Bella blushes violently. “I’m fine. I’m focused on my studies.”
“Focused, or safer?” Victoria challenges, arching a knowing eyebrow.
“I believe we are getting to know Poppy,” Bella replies pointedly, deflecting the topic.
“This reminds me of conversations with my sister,” Clementine says from her place at the worktop, where she’s slicing peppers.
“Me, too,” I say, smiling as I think of my last phone call with Eva.
“Okay, back to Poppy. What happened after he saved the box?” Bella asks.
I smile and explain how he insisted I needed to be dry and took me to Liz’s whilst I argued with him about it because I didn’t want to go.
“I suspected something was up,” Liz interjects. “He was awfully keen on doing your laundry. I knew there was a motive there.”
“I kept thinking it couldn’t be real,” I say. “Because men like him don’t go for women like me.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Clementine says. “But I understand what you’re thinking. I had the same thought about Christian. Why me? I’m a regular girl. I pictured him with some aristocrat with deep roots in English history. A woman who looked like a model. Someone who knows what every cutlery piece is in an elaborate place setting. Who is chic enough to go dancing at the poshest clubs in Mayfair. That’s not me, I assure you. And all the things I thought Christian would want in a girl turned out to be things he didn’t want at all.”
I stare at Clementine from across the room in amazement. I could have said all those words. Everything I had questioned when Xander first expressed an interest, she questioned, too.
And look where she is today.
“People assume because we’re royal that we want to stay in that circle,” Liz says, interrupting my thoughts. “But we don’t think about love in the same way our parents did, that we need to marry within a set of people who are like us. We think for ourselves. For me, that was someone who wasn’t in my social circles, as it was for Christian. While for others in the aristocratic set, that’s exactly what they want.”
“Good Lord, why? It’s so boring,” Victoria adds, eating another tortilla chip. “They are all the same. Yawn.”
“I wouldn’t say that, necessarily,” Liz says, a thoughtful look passing over her face. “Charlie isn’t like that, and he’s part of that set. He’s a clever, sweet, down-to-earth guy.”
“Well, duh, that’s because Charlie is one of us,” Victoria says, taking more chips.
I decide I’m ready to indulge in some chips, as Victoria’s eating is making me hungry. I’m about to get some salsa when Bella puts her hand out to stop me.
“That one is hot,” she says quickly, stopping me from dipping the tortilla chip into a salsa that has a reddish-brown hue. “Clementine gets that one shipped in from Arizona, and it will set your mouth on fire. This one,” she points to a bright red salsa that Victoria was dipping her tortilla chips into, “is mild. I thought you should know before dipping.”
“Thank you,” I say, noting how thoughtful she is. “But I like spicy, so I’ll try it.”
“Very good,” Bella says brightly. “Now back to what you were saying about Roman, Liz.”
“Oh, yes, right. I knew when I fell in love, it was going to have to be someone spectacular because I was focused on my new career as a working royal. I didn’t