lunch was filled with chitchat. The longer I talked to Felecia, the more comfortable I felt. She was a quick thinker, directing the conversation easily but not leaving me feeling like she wasn’t listening.
By the time lunch was finished, we were all laughing and I’d even joked with the queen. Alex had one arm thrown over the back of his chair while he teased Cathy about her collection of frog figurines.
“Frogs? Why frogs?” I leaned forward and propped my chin on my hand.
“It started when I was little. They’re cute and green.” She shrugged while Alex and Rose laughed. “And then it just exploded. Everyone would bring me frog figurines when they came back from a trip.”
“She still has all of them.” Alex shook his head.
“They’re special! You guys got them for me. What am I going to do? Throw them away?” Cathy glared at him.
“Your closet looks like a frog shrine.”
“I don’t know where else to put them.” Cathy shrugged.
“So, you have hundreds of frog figurines stuffed into your closet?” I laughed. “This gives the whole frog-prince thing a new meaning.”
“Oh, hush.” Cathy laughed.
“Well, as much as I’ve enjoyed lunch, I have to go.” Felecia set her napkin on the table and stood up. “I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you better, Samantha.”
“Yes, ma’am. Same here.” I stood up.
“We’ll have to do it again when you come back.”
“I’d like that.”
Once Felecia left, Alex stood up and smiled down at me. “I hear you have portraits tomorrow afternoon.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“Aren’t those normally done in the morning?” Cathy asked.
“I asked them to move it to a later time.” Chadwick chuckled under his breath and I shook my head. “Okay. I begged them to move it to later. I’m not a morning person and didn’t think it would be appropriate for me to be glaring at the camera in each picture.”
“Not a morning person?” Alex asked.
“I can get up and do what I need to do, I just don’t want to talk to anyone while I do it.” I shrugged. “Just takes me a little while to warm up.”
“And a lot of coffee,” Cathy added. “Or so I’ve heard.”
“It’s not a very well-kept secret.” I sighed.
“Speaking of the portraits, you still need to decide if we’re doing them inside or out.” Chadwick raised an eyebrow. “I believe it’s supposed to rain tomorrow.”
“Lilaria has the strangest weather.” I frowned. “I guess we’ll do them inside.”
“What are you wearing?” Cathy asked.
“I’m going with the black dress from the other night.” I caught Alex’s eye. I didn’t want to admit that I had chosen that one because he had said he liked it.
“That dress looks great on you. Have you had any jewelry delivered? It’s customary to wear family jewels.” Cathy watched me thoughtfully.
“The Rousseau family had three tiaras in the royal vault and Samantha prefers to wear her mother’s earrings,” Chadwick supplied. We hadn’t talked about the tiaras, but I had said I wanted to wear Mom’s earrings.
“Would you like to borrow a necklace? I have a few that would look great with that dress.” Cathy pulled a phone out of her pocket and tapped on the screen. “I can have Selene bring them to your room.”
“No, it’s fine. Thank you.” I hadn’t thought about wearing a necklace, but Cathy’s taste and mine differed greatly. I’d rather have something simple and she was all about jewels.
“The offer stands if you change your mind.” Cathy leaned forward and kissed my cheek. “I’ve got to run. I’m signing up for my first semester today.” She practically vibrated eagerness. Sometimes it was easy to forget how young she was. After a quick kiss for her brother, she left in swirl of excitement.
“How are you doing?” Alex asked. He stepped closer, ignoring Chadwick. “You’ve been really busy for just getting here.”
“I’m fine.” I sighed. “Okay. I’m a little overwhelmed, but Chadwick’s keeping me sane.”
My assistant hummed to himself before looking up. “I’m going to run a quick errand—I’ll be right back and then we’ve got to move on to our appointment.”
“Sure.” I frowned as I watched him disappear out the door. He was leaving me alone when we had something to do?
“Samantha?” Alex’s voice drew me back to him. “He’s giving us a few minutes to talk.”
“Oh.” I looked up into his eyes and words left me. Again.
“You say the most profound things.” Alex laughed softly.
“Shut it, Your Highness.” I narrowed my eyes.
“And then when you do find something to say, it’s always so sweet.” Alex reached out