A Royal Entanglement: The Young Royals Book 2 (10 page)

“Oh?” I asked, slowing regaining my composure, “And how is that?”

“My mother,” he grimaced, “Has taken it upon herself to find me a wife.”
 
He pulled a piece of paper from the inside pocket of his jacket and unfolded it.
 
“She gave me a list of suitable mates and you’re on it.”

“I’m not going to marry you Freddie,” I said.

He chuckled.
 
“I’m not asking you to,” he said, “I’m simply proposing a mutually beneficial arrangement.
 
We become a couple and it will satisfy my mother at the same time as keeping Bradley away.”

“Don’t be so sure,” I said, swirling the last of the Armagnac in my glass and watching as the soft light sparkled on the amber liquid.
 
“Bradley will look upon you as a worthy opponent and will try his level best to win me from you.
 
It might actually make my situation worse.”

“I can be very convincing,” he said and I had to suppress a shiver.

I watched Freddie as he stared confidently back at me.
 
It would help to have him as a buffer between Bradley and I as long as he didn’t inflame the situation.

“It would need to be kept relatively quiet,” I said, “The last thing I need is for my name to be splashed across the front page of the Calanais Chronicle.”

“You disappoint me Alex,” he said, “Do you really think being in a relationship with me will be able to be kept quiet?
 
And besides, you want it splashed across the front pages so that Bradley will get the hint.
 
It does neither of us any good to keep it a secret.”

He was right, but I didn’t want to acknowledge it.
 
The very last thing I wanted was media attention, but I couldn’t see another way around it.
 
It was either be linked with Freddie or have my disastrous wedding day the subject of local gossip because I knew Brad would stoop to that if he had to to get my attention.

“Let me sleep on it,” I finally said and Freddie smiled and nodded in acknowledgement.

He drained his glass and stood and I followed suit.
 
He stepped up close to me and swiped a stray piece of hair across my forehead, tucking it behind my ear, his hand lingering on my neck for a moment before he dipped his head and kissed me on the cheek.

“I’ll be waiting for your call,” he whispered into my ear, his hot breath raising goosebumps along my skin.

He stepped back, giving me one last smile before turning and walking out of the room leaving me wondering if I had just made a deal with the devil.

I didn’t sleep, how could I with that decision looming over my head.
 
Getting involved with Freddie, even in a fake relationship, could solve one problem, but it could also created a whole slew more.
 
It would be news, Freddie was Merveille’s most eligible bachelor, and there would be no way of keeping it quiet which, in turn, would attract the attention of my family.

I knew the other Fornette’s were in the country, they had been invited to the coronation and there was no way they would pass up an opportunity to hobnob with the royals.
 
I had so far avoided them and there had been too much happening for them to grab any media attention.
 
But if I were to get involved with Freddie, nothing would keep them from my door.

I loved my family, really I did, but they were all like unruly toddlers each vying for attention.
 
My sisters spent their time trying to get the paparazzi to follow them around like a demented fan club and had outrageous Instagram accounts, each post more scandalous than the next.
 
Both blonde and party-going-hellions they had given even the most risqué actress and pop star a run for their money.
 
My mother was a blonde bombshell with an addiction to plastic surgery and tight, revealing dresses that were much too young for her fifty plus age.
 
My father followed her around like a puppy, all doe-eyed and adoring and far too easily led astray by her social climbing tendencies.
 
I had no idea how I turned out the way I did, but with two parents barely able to look after themselves and two younger sisters quickly following in their footsteps it had fallen to me to be the grown-up.
 
And I resented it.

But they were my family, for better or for worse, and I was stuck with them.
 
The marriage to Bradley would have given my mother what she wanted, standing in the social circles she so desperately craved, but I wasn’t prepared to pimp myself out for her lofty ambitions.
 
If she found out about Freddie she would probably handcuff me to his bed in order to seal the deal.
 
I couldn’t do that to him, I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.

My decision made, I dressed for the office.
 
It was my first official day as the Queen’s personal assistant and everything had to be perfect.
 
There were media photo ops, a press release, a formal lunch, an afternoon tea and a cocktail party.
 
I really could’ve done with a decent night’s sleep, but failing that, I had my tea.
 
The staff had gifted me with an oversize china mug that had a lid, not unlike a travel mug, for days such as these and I intended to make good use of it.

I arrived early, easy to do when you live on the same premises where you work, although the Palace was the size of a small town.
 
Fresh flowers had been delivered to the Queen’s office and there was a pile of unopened envelopes on my desk, no doubt correspondence from various countries congratulating the Queen on her ascension.
 
All the envelopes were made of thick, expensive stock and expertly addressed in
 
calligraphic script.
 
No printed label stickers for an official congratulatory card to the Queen of a small European country.

I set to work opening each one and updating a spreadsheet with details about who it was from, what the card said and if there was an accompanying gift.
 
The Queen had been receiving gifts and well wishes for the last few months, so the spreadsheet was already filled with lines of data highlighted in varying colours signifying whether a thank you had been sent and when and what.
 
I liked my spreadsheets, it helped me create order from chaos and I got satisfaction from crossing off an item from a to-do list.
 
It didn’t take much to make me happy.

Unsurprisingly, by the time the other staff started to trickle in, my anxiety over the whole ‘Freddie Proposition’ had calmed.
 
Spreadsheets did that for me and I wasn’t ashamed to admit it.
 
I was even humming under my breath as I went about my daily tasks.
 
So involved in my work was I that I completely missed his arrival and was caught completely unawares when he leaned over my shoulder and whispered in my ear.

“You didn’t call me.”

Startled, I jumped causing his lips to make contact with my neck and sending all sorts of confusing sensations through me.
 
He chuckled as I turned to glare up at him.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that,” I hissed, hoping that no one had seen the inappropriate moment.

He sat on the edge of my desk with his arms crossed over his chest and looking down at me with a smile on his face.

“Nice spreadsheet,” he said with a head tilt toward my computer screen.

“It’s a list of the cards and gifts that have been sent to the Queen,” I replied haughtily, still trying to find the calm I’d had before he’d surprised me.

“So, do you have an answer for me?”

I was saved from answering by the entrance of the Queen herself.
 
Alyssa looked relaxed and happy as she walked into the office in a stylish Chanel suit.
 
I know that Savannah had agonised over the choice of the outfit for the Queen’s first official day and I approved of the winning outfit.
 
We all stood and curtsied/bowed and then applauded her lightly as she grinned at us.
 
I had hit it off with the Queen-to-be from our first meeting and I counted her among my closest friends.
 

One of the things that I loved about her most was her total unpretentiousness.
 
Yes she was brought up as the Heir Presumptive, the spare to the heir, but she had chosen to live a relatively normal life, until fate had intervened and thrust her into the Heir Apparent role.
 
It hadn’t changed her and it was one of the characteristics that had swayed public opinion in her favour.

Freddie was the first to step forward and place a chaste kiss on her cheek.
 
They were good friends and he had been a rock for her throughout the difficult ascension process and it was obvious the affection between them.
 
But their friendship was outshone by the love she had for Will, who now held the very prestigious role of Queen’s consort, until their wedding in six months.
 
Then he would become Prince Will, since he couldn’t hold a rank higher than her.
 
She had argued against it, insisting that he hold the role of King to her Queen, but the government wouldn’t be swayed.
 
She had grudgingly accepted it telling anyone who would listen that it was an antiquated tradition and the words King and Queen were just words.
 
To the Peerage at large who took their titles a lot more seriously than the Queen did, it was blasphemy and they insisted the tradition remain.
 
Will didn’t care either way, which was what finally convinced Alyssa to concede.

“Thank you,” the Queen said, looking around at the assembled staff, “I couldn’t have done it without any of you.
 
Here’s to a long and fruitful reign!”

A rousing “Long live the Queen” erupted from the assembled staff and she blushed and laughed.
 
As much as I wanted to celebrate with everyone else, if I didn’t get this train back on track we would be running behind for every appointment we had today.

“Okay, back to work,” I said in my general’s voice, “We have a busy day ahead of us, starting with a photo op in front of the Palace.”

I herded everyone out of the office, my day had begun.

I tried several times throughout the day to corner Alex and get her to talk to me, but we never got more than a few minutes alone and there was no time to discuss the proposal.
 
The more I’d thought about it, the more I believed it was an inspired idea.
 
Not only would it get my mother off my back and possibly help Alex with her ‘Bradley’ problem, but I would get to spend time with her and maybe, finally, see more of the wildness that she kept so well hidden.

It was a devious plot on my part, but I couldn’t help myself.
 
I wanted to peel back that mask and see the real Alex, the Alex that she was when no one else was around to see her.
 
I enjoyed tormenting her, it made my day to see the usually so-very-in-control Alex, flustered.
 
I thought of it as a public service, surely it couldn’t be good for her to keep everything so completely and totally bottled up.

So I had a plan tonight.
 
After her official duties had concluded at the cocktail party, I would whisk her away to the rose garden and convince her that dating me was the perfect answer to her dilemma.
 
I honestly couldn’t see a downside and was eager to implement the plan.
 
I had barely escaped my mother’s matchmaking efforts by telling her that my duty to the Queen tonight would make it impossible for me to escort any of the lovely ladies she had picked out for me.
 
But that excuse wasn’t going to fly forever and the sooner Alex said yes, the sooner I could breathe easier.

My eyes sought her out as soon as I stepped into the ballroom and my breath caught.
 
Alex always dressed demurely, but tonight she’d kicked that up a notch or two.
 
She wore a red dress that hugged her body.
 
It left her shoulders bare and had a plunging neckline that wasn’t low enough to cause a scandal but was low enough to raise blood pressures.
 
Her hair was caught up in chignon, but not the usual severe one that was part of her work attire.
 
It had a softness about it and loose tendrils danced around her collarbone that made me think of lazy Sunday mornings in bed.
 
She wore skyscraper nude heels and her lips were stained red and I had the unnerving desire to kiss them.