Stealing Kisses With a King (Kings of Carolina #3)- Sylvie Stewart Page 0,13

for his children, so I’d put off pursuing my bachelor’s degree to get a job and watch after Zaz and Tilly. And, as if he’d had the date circled on his calendar, our father vanished the day after Zaz turned eighteen, not that it wasn’t ultimately a relief not having him around.

But this topic of conversation was never a good one, so I decided to change the subject while I moved on to examining my eyebrows in the mirror. Oof. I was beginning to resemble an alpaca.

“Any other news?” I asked.

“Not really. Oh, wait, that’s not true.” She drew in an excited breath. “Guess who I saw when I took the train in to visit Emily?”

“I haven’t the slightest.”

“Reggie!” she shouted, as if announcing a grand prize to a game show contestant.

Oh, God. Reggie.

I aimed for nonchalance while I grimaced at my reflection. “Oh? Did he look well?”

“He practically ran in the opposite direction when he saw me.” She laughed. “I dunno what he thought I’d do to him. You’re the one who called off the engagement, not him.”

“Perhaps he just didn’t want a reminder.”

“I guess. Anyway, I always said you could do a lot better than him.”

“There’s nothing wrong with Reggie,” I scolded.

“Then why’d you dump him?” She went on to answer her own question. I apparently wasn’t needed in this conversation. “Because you’re in love with Prince Charming.”

“Not anymore,” I lied. Tilly knew me too well, however. In fact, she’d been the one to practically shove me bodily onto the plane to America following my resignation and the end of my engagement. She understood my need to create space so I could right my course and move on.

“You’re a terrible liar. We should play poker next time I see you.”

“How about if I just send you the money now?”

She laughed at that as I stripped off my nightdress and surveyed my body in the mirror. My breasts hadn’t grown overnight, unfortunately, so it looked like another barely-B day. Cupping them with my hands, I smushed them together in an effort to create some semblance of cleavage, but as soon as I released them, they returned to their original positions with hardly a jiggle. Sigh.

Turning to check out my bottom instead, I asked, “So, are you doing all right?”

“I’m doing good.”

Unable to help myself, I corrected her. “You’re doing well.”

Tilly’s eye roll was practically audible. “How many times do I have to tell you I don’t need to talk like a toff to earn a living?”

“And how many times have I told you that speaking properly can open up new opportunities?” Satisfied that I’d made my point and that my bottom looked better than my breasts, I tossed my nightdress in the linen basket and moved to the bedroom to get dressed.

“Oh, please. You got that gig with your hottie prince through some connection between Mum and King Gregory from a gazillion years ago.”

I dropped the phone on the neatly made bed. “That may be, but I never would have kept it for four years if I’d spoken like a street rat, now would I have?”

“Blah blah blah. I’d be bored to tears with a stuffy gig like that. The only time I want to use the words ‘Yes, sir,’ ‘No, sir,’ ‘Right away, sir,’ is when I’m kneeling in front of some hot Dom with a huge knob.”

I choked on my own saliva and Tilly lost herself in a fit of hilarity as I coughed and had to hold on to the wall to steady myself. “Where in the world did you learn to talk like that?”

“It’s just a skill I was born with, I guess.” There was no preventing Tilly from being Tilly.

“On that note, I’ll be late for work if I don’t hurry. Check your account at the end of the week, and don’t tell Zaz, all right?”

“Okay. Thanks, Alice.”

I smiled at the phone, even though I knew she couldn’t see me. “You’re welcome. I’ll talk to you soon.”

We both hung up without exchanging goodbyes or I love yous. We’d never been a particularly demonstrative family. In fact, I can’t say I’d ever heard my father tell me he loved me—and Mum’s affection was so far in the past, I hardly remembered. But we did love one another, of that there was no doubt. Unfortunately, love was sometimes a double-edged sword.

I ran my fingers through my freshly brushed hair and switched my focus to the day ahead. I had work to prepare for, a new spokesperson