Page 52 of Redemption of a Prince

A full stomach, the warmth of the roaring fire, a spot next to the man who said he wanted to spend his life with her, and emotional exhaustion combined to make her eyelids too heavy to prop open any longer.

When she woke up, she was being placed on her bed.

“You fell asleep,” Zeke told her quietly.

“I did?” She didn’t remember actually dozing off.

“I stopped the movie. We can watch the rest tomorrow.” He pulled the blankets up over her torso then kissed her temple. “Sleep well, Nik.”

“Thanks,” she murmured, before drifting back to sleep.

When she awoke again, Nikki could see sunlight shining in from around the curtains. At least she’d been wearing comfortable clothes when she fell asleep.

She took a quick shower, dressed nicer but still comfortably, and left her bedroom.

Zeke already sat at the kitchen table, reading something on a tablet.

“Morning, sweetheart,” he said with a smile, standing as she walked toward him. “How did you sleep?”

“Much better than yesterday’s nap.”

He didn’t ask about it further, and for that she was grateful. She still wasn’t certain what she believed about deserving the good things in life, but for the moment she’d take each day as it came.

Zeke gave her a kiss - more than the one after dinner but much less than the one in the kitchen. Just right for a couple getting back together.

“Will we be able to help outside today?” she asked.

He shook his head as he held her chair. “I’ve already talked to Henry. He said they’ve done as much as they can near the building. Most of the rest will wait until later. It can be done over time and doesn’t have to be done right now. They do expect power to be back on later today, but still don’t know when the road will be clear.”

“That’s something at least. Do you need to get home?” She reached for the platter of fruit and helped herself to some melon.

“I’m good through Sunday unless something changes with my father. They could send a helicopter for us, but I don’t think they will unless it’s something dire.”

“Makes sense. It would be different if it was your father.”

“Exactly. I’m not the king.”

She poked at the flesh of the fruit. “Will that bother you? Will it be a factor in our relationship working out or not? Will you hold it against me?”

His fork, holding a bit of apple, stopped on its way to his mouth. “Hold what against you?”

“That you’ll never be king?”

Zeke shook his head. “I might still feel sad or even out of place because of it, but I never held it against you. I’ve accepted that my life will be as an additional child of the king and not the heir. I don’t love it, but it is what it is. I don’t resent Gid, and I definitely don’t resent you about it. I made my choices. I have to live with the consequences.”

He put his fork down and cupped the side of her face with the palm of his hand. “Can you believe me when I tell you that?”

Nikki leaned into him. “I can.”

“Can you promise not to blame yourself?”

That would be harder. She closed her eyes and nodded. “I’ll do my best. It’ll get better with time, I’m sure, but I didn’t even realize it was a thing until recently. I’m still working my way through it.”

“That’s all I ask.”

“So what are we going to do today if we can’t help outside?”

“When the power comes back, we can go upstairs and put a big tree up.” He took a sip of his coffee. “Show you what a proper palace Christmas tree looks like, even though this isn’t actually a palace.”

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