few changes, but I haven’t changed that much.”
“I can’t tell you how pleased I am to hear that,” I said as I pushed my tea aside and stood before stalking around the table. If Alice wanted to play games, I was all for it.
“What are you doing?” She pushed her chair back and held her hands up in defense, but it didn’t slow me at all.
I bent down and got so close I could see every freckle on her nose and the gold and green flecks in her eyes behind her glasses. She bit her lip and it drew my eye immediately, making it harder to keep from capturing her lips in another kiss.
“Ms. Williams?” I could hear the gravel in my own voice.
“Your Highness,” she replied, fresh nerves making her voice wobble a bit.
“Tell me, do you still love me?”
Her mouth popped open and her brow wrinkled in that way it always did when she was annoyed with me. It made it difficult not to smile. “That’s awfully cheeky of you. Who ever said anything about love?”
“You did.”
Her brow puckered even more. “No, I didn’t.”
“Oh, but you did. The night you got drunk you said you were in love with a man-baby. I could only assume I was the man-baby in question.”
Her mouth snapped shut and her eyes went wide again before she finally managed to say, “Did I really call you a man-baby?”
I nodded. “You did. But I prefer to focus on the other part.”
“Yes, that.” Her eyes darted everywhere but straight at mine.
“Alice?”
“Um, yes.”
“I love you and I want to be with you. But is that what you want?”
Her eyes went soft again, and her chin began to wobble. Then she finally put me out of my misery when she nodded. The split lip she gave me when she came in too fast for a kiss was just a bonus. Leave it to Alice to keep me on my toes.
Epilogue
ALICE
Four months later
“Beautiful speech, Your Majesty,” yet another of Malcolm’s many admirers simpered as they came through the official receiving line.
“He’s going to get an even bigger head if these women don’t stop. Do they really think he’ll ditch you if they wear just the right hat?” Clara whispered in my ear, causing me to stifle a laugh.
A glance over at Malcolm had me admitting I didn’t much blame any of these women for trying to win him over. He was remarkably handsome in his smart suit and my favorite teal tie, and although I quite liked all the scruff on his jaw for every day, he’d had it trimmed into a short, neat beard for the special occasion.
Although I’d been part of all the pomp and ceremony surrounding the royal lifestyle for years, I was still finding it strange that I now occupied a place on the other side of it. As Malcolm’s girlfriend, I was expected to follow certain guidelines, and I even had a security detail of my own. But I was trying to take everything in my stride—and besides, being with the man I loved made any inconvenience or difficulty easy to overlook.
As if he sensed me thinking of him, Malcolm turned and sent me a wink from his spot next to Prince Leo. I hoped the receiving line didn’t take much more time because my shoes were starting to give me a blister and my toes were pinched.
I leaned over to Clara. “I’m going to kill Ruby for making me wear these shoes.” We both glanced down at our feet where we wore similar but not identical ivory heels.
“Why? I love your shoes. I wish my feet were smaller so I could pinch them.”
Sadie leaned into me from my other side. “Are you griping about those heels again? Suck it up, woman.”
Clara bit her lip at Sadie’s half-hidden scowl and then we all straightened to greet the next person in line. There were three phrases we all used in rotation—one of the many things I’d learned recently about being one of the family.
“It’s lovely to meet you,” said Sadie.
I went with, “It was a beautiful ceremony, wasn’t it?”
While Clara was left with the last one. “Isn’t the bride beautiful?”
Which she was. Ruby dazzled in a demure lace beaded gown with a short train and a tiara for some added dramatic flair that suited her perfectly. I’d thought for a moment that Malcolm would need to hold Leo upright when Ruby appeared through the doors of the church and her groom caught his first