when I get up in the middle of the night for a glass of milk.”
“I have no idea how to respond to that.” My imagination went into overdrive at the thought of him walking around naked.
“I do. Come here and keep me warm.” His voice took on a serious tone.
“I just got here, Alex. And your sister is coming in a few days.” I chewed on my thumbnail.
“It’s for the best, I suppose. The press here can be vicious.” He sighed. “Not to mention you’re a blanket hog.”
“I am not!”
“And you make weird noises.”
“You said that was cute!” I laughed.
“And sexy.” He chuckled.
We talked for a while and he explained some of the internal workings of the FBT and I talked to him about the estate. We didn’t run out of things to talk about and it wasn’t until he got another call that we hung up. I couldn’t wait to talk to him again.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Royal Shopping Spree?
—Paris Post
The next day I convinced Chadwick and Margie to run to town with me. Becca came along just in case we needed her, but I felt like it was overkill. The good news was I didn’t have to dress up for something like this and no one was expecting me to show up.
We parked the car in one of the public lots and hit some of the local shops. I wanted to show my support of the family-run businesses, so I avoided the chain stores. When we entered a florist shop the woman inside seemed shocked. Chadwick was laughing to himself while the woman tried to hand me every bouquet I looked at. I ended up buying flowers for my room and a set for Chadwick, but only because I insisted on paying.
“Sheesh. I can’t remember the last time someone didn’t want me to pay for something.” I tucked the flowers under my arm and fiddled with my purse. “When I was eating macaroni and cheese in college, everyone wanted me to pay for things. But now that I have money, I have to force them to take it. I thought I was going to have to pull rank!”
“Don’t worry, there will be lots of people happy to take your cash.” Margie shook her head.
“Too right.” Chadwick shot me a look, obviously thinking about Jeremy from the zoo.
It was actually sort of fun to walk around the town. Some of the people didn’t know what to say and just stared at me while others talked nonstop. I wasn’t sure if that was because they were nervous or because they thought it might be their only chance to talk to me. Margie and Chadwick often stepped in to help me escape when that happened, but for the most part people seemed to understand I had other things to do.
At one point a young mother with a baby in a stroller stopped to welcome me to the town. Just when I was getting ready to go pay for the homemade bubble bath I was holding, she asked me to take a picture with the infant.
“Sure.” I smiled at the little girl and turned to face the mother’s phone for the picture when I felt something warm cover my arm. I didn’t say anything until she had gotten her pictures, but there was no hiding the wet spot on my jacket.
“Oh my Lord! Duchess, I’m so sorry. So sorry. Here, let me buy you a new coat.” The young woman handed me a towel from her diaper bag.
“It’s fine! Really, don’t worry about it.” I couldn’t help that a laugh bubbled up out of my throat. “My first picture with a baby and I get peed on. It’s pretty funny.”
“I’ve never been this embarrassed before in my life.” The young woman looked close to tears.
“Here, hand me the baby and take another one. When she grows up, you can use it as blackmail.”
She chuckled weakly. “Oh, no. I couldn’t do that to you.”
“Just send me an e-mail with the picture. My father will think it’s hilarious.” I held my arms out for the baby and made a silly face while Chadwick laughed. He gave her his e-mail address and she promised to e-mail it that night.
“What if that ends up in the papers?” Margie asked me.
“I don’t care. What’re they going to title that article? ‘Duchess Gets Peed On?’” I laughed. “Maybe it’ll make everyone realize I’m just human.”
“It was really sweet of you to make sure that mother didn’t feel so bad.”