Page 10 of Royal Charmer
“No worries,” I say to the guard in lieu of all that oversharing.
“Yes, ma’am,” he says, remaining alert and on guard.
Now there are two servants waiting at attention, the guard, and me. Feeling self-conscious, I take my seat. I consider pulling out my phone, but it suddenly seems out of place now that dinner is a more formal affair with the additional staff. So I sip water and fiddle with the edge of my cloth napkin and wait. Tick-tock, tick-tock. There’s a lot of quiet people in this room waiting for the prince to arrive.
Awkward.
Finally, Lucas bursts into the room with a cheery, “I’m here! Let the party begin!”
A laugh bursts out of me. “Now itisa party.” He took the time to dress nice for dinner with a black blazer over a white dress shirt and tailored black pants, so I forgive him for making me wait awkwardly with his staff and security. Not that I could ever be mad at such a kindhearted prince taking the time out of his busy schedule to keep me company during this difficult time. It gives me hope that my solo honeymoon will get easier by the day. I will soon truly be the badass.
He takes the seat across from me, requests his drink from the servant, who hovers over his shoulder, and turns to the guard. “Arthur, you can go. I know her.”
Arthur is unmoved. “Sir, she arrived today. You do not know her.”
Lucas remains firm. “She’s been vetted by the queen before her arrival, and I’ve already spent some time with her. Alice has been through an ordeal, and our conversation will be of a delicate nature. Please give us our privacy.”
So aptly put. That’s exactly what it was—an ordeal. I will refer to the Mason-Riley mess as the Ordeal from now on. It’s the perfect descriptor and it packages it up nicely for eventually putting the Ordeal behind me. You can move away from a capital-letter object much easier than untangling from two complicated relationships with actual people.
Arthur bows his head. “I will be just outside the room, Your Highness.”
“Not necessary, but fine,” Lucas replies.
The moment the guard leaves, Lucas leans across the table and whispers, “Sorry about that.”
“It’s no problem. Thanks for joining me for dinner. I was starting to have second thoughts, though I confess eating in my room felt a little too much like giving up.”
“You’re a fighter. I admire that.”
My cheeks heat. “I never thought of myself as a fighter before.” I’ve always felt rather gentle, embracing the sweeter side of life. Granted, most of that sweetness is in my imagination, but I like spending time there. It’s that rosy outlook that helps me write such life-affirming stories.
One corner of his mouth kicks up. “Maybefighterisn’t the right word. You’re strong. Only a strong woman would dare take her honeymoon trip after what you’ve been through.”
I blink back the sting of tears. “Yes, well, I’d rather not dwell on that.”
“Right.”
My phone rings, and I jump. I quickly decline the call and set the phone to vibrate. Mason again. What could he possibly want with me? Leave me alone! Another text pops up from him.
You can’t avoid me forever. Please call me back. It’s important.
I clench my teeth and meet Lucas’s curious eyes. “It’s my ex being rather insistent.”
“Is he harassing you?”
“I don’t know what he wants. He keeps saying we need to talk. Oh, crap. Do you think something happened? Maybe he’s in the hospital gravely injured.” I don’t want to be with him, but I don’t want him dead. I was deeply in love with him for a year. Gah, this is why I need an honesty contract from here on out. My natural empathy makes my heart too vulnerable.
“Then let his girlfriend take care of him,” Lucas says, an edge to his voice.
“Right,” I murmur. But what if there was a fire or a devastating car accident or he’s contracted some kind of disease that’s highly infectious and I could experience symptoms at any moment? Like that monkey disease that eats your brain and makes you bonkers! I saw it in a movie once. My imagination can be an evil thing, filling in the blanks with worst-case scenarios.
“You’re not still in love with him, are you?” Lucas asks.
“No way!”
He shakes his head.
“I’m not. Are you kidding me? I was momentarily worried and now I’m not.”
