A Royal Entanglement: The Young Royals Book 2 (17 page)

“Especially your private life,” he retorted.

“Just let the Palace know I’m on my way over,” I said gruffly, not happy that my assistant thought it was part of his job to schedule my dates with my girlfriend.

“You can’t go yet,” he said holding up a hand to stop me from leaving, “I have Brooks Barry on line two for you.”

I sighed and walked back to my desk, slumping into my chair.
 
I lifted the receiver and waited to hear the connection.

“Brooks,” I said pleasantly, “We will have to make this quick, I have a date.”

His deep chuckle filtered through the trans-atlantic line, “I’ve seen the papers,” he said, “She looks familiar, but I can’t place her.”

“She was Daniel Harmon’s PA,” I replied, “And engaged to Bradley Corsair.”

“Oh, that’s right,” he said with a chuckle, “Left him at the altar, smart girl.
 
How did she end up in Merveille, with you of all people.”

“She’s the Queen’s PA now,” I said easily and then what he was saying registered with me, “The news has reached the papers in America?”

“Yep.”

“But how?”

“The rumours about you leaving Avonlea to take over Monticorp has piqued some interest in the elusive Freddie Bingham.”

“That’s Lord Bingham to you,” I said easily and then swore under my breath.
 
“We have a leak.”

“We do,” Brooks said.

Brooks and I had been working together to transition Avonlea and so far we had kept it under wraps.
 
There was bound to be some blowback in the share price when our plans were revealed, I had just hoped it wouldn’t get out until it was a done deal.

“Do they know about your involvement?”

“Not yet,” he said, “But it’s bound to get out.”

Brooks Barry was an Australian tycoon, one of the youngest billionaires in the southern hemisphere who worked mostly in the States.
 
He was known for buying corporations that weren’t doing too well, stripping them and selling them off for parts, making millions in the process.
 
That’s not what he was doing with Avonlea, but if his name was linked with the transition, investors would jump to conclusions and bail out.

“So, what’s the plan?” I asked.

“I’ve got some people working on it,” he replied, “I’ll keep you up to date.”

“Thanks,” I replied, hanging up the phone.
 
I wondered if Alex knew that she had made the American papers and then grimaced when I realised she would freak out.

“Your car is waiting,” Dayne said, prompting me to move.

Now I actually had a good reason to drop in on Alex, not that I needed one.

“Good morning Alex,” Jeanette said as she breezed passed my desk towards the Queen’s office.

“Did we have an appointment this morning?” I asked, looking at my schedule and not seeing Jeanette’s name.

“No, but Alyssa called me and asked me to come down.”

“Oh, okay,” I said, put out that nobody had informed me.

Jeanette was one of the Queen’s Lady’s in Waiting, along with Savannah, Margaret and Priscilla and as such had generous access to the Queen.
 
I still liked to be informed of changes to the schedule, though, otherwise how was I to keep everything on track?

I waved Jeanette through and turned my attention back to the work in front of me, not that I had been very productive this morning.
 
Freddie’s kiss last night had really affected me and not in a good way.
 
I barely slept thinking about the way his lips felt on mine and the way his hands had held me.
 
I could still feel the warmth of his body pressed against mine and I wasn’t happy about it.
 
To try to rid myself of the physical reaction to him, I had planned out a schedule of appearances for us so that he wouldn’t just turn up at my door unannounced.
 
Too much of what had already happened was out of my control and it made me antsy.
 
I needed to take a bit back so that things wouldn’t fall apart around me.

“Alex,” Jeanette stuck her head out of the Queen’s office and called to me.
 
“We need you in here for a sec.”

I stood and smoothed my suit before grabbing my tablet and walking around my desk towards the Queen’s office.
 
Once inside I joined Alyssa and Jeanette on the couch and tapped on my tablet to open my note making app, then looked up at them expectantly.

“The press want to have a sit down,” Jeanette said, “With both of you.”

I tapped back to the Queen’s schedule and looked through the days to see when there might be a free spot.

“I can do next week, Wednesday is looking fairly light.”

When nobody answered me I looked up and saw surprise on their faces.

“What?” I asked.

“You’re okay with this?” Alyssa asked.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” I replied, “They’re naturally curious and I’m sure there will be more requests for interviews as the wedding gets closer.”

“Wedding?” Jeanette asked a look of confusion on her face.

“You’re getting married?” Alyssa asked, jumping to her feet.

“Wait, what?” I asked, my brain trying and failing to latch on to what’s happening.

“Are you and Freddie getting married?” Alyssa asked more slowly, sinking gradually back into her seat and looking at me cautiously.

“No,” I said just as slowly, “But you and Will are.
 
Isn’t that what the interview is about.”

Understanding broke across both women’s faces but I was still confused.

“The press want you and Freddie to have a sit down with them,” Jeanette said slowly.

“Me and Freddie?” I asked, scoffing, “What on earth for?”

Alyssa and Jeanette shared a look.

“Because you’re dating,” Jeanette said.

“So?” I asked, feeling panic rise.

“You two are a hot news item,” she said, “The playboy earl and the secretary.”

“I’m not a secretary,” I said.

Alyssa laughed.
 
“Seriously, Alex.
 
The public are in love with the thought of you and Freddie.
 
They want to see the two of you together, they want to hear how you fell in love.”

Oh my God.
 
This couldn’t be happening.
 
It was all spinning out of control and I couldn’t rein it in.
 
Getting involved with Freddie had to be the worst thing I had ever done.

“I don’t understand why,” I said, “Shouldn’t they want to see you and Will together, interview the Queen and her fiancé?
 
I’m nobody, why would they be interested in my love life?
 
I’m the most boring person around and I’m far too busy.
 
And Freddie and I have only just started dating, nobody said anything about being in love, we may not even last two weeks.”
 
I knew I was babbling and my voice was rising in pitch with my anxiety over the situation but for the life of me I couldn’t stop what was happening.
 
It was like watching a train crash and being unable to look away.

“We have interviews scheduled for myself and Will,” Alyssa said, her voice calm and even, “And the two of you may have only just started dating recently, but I’m not the only one who’s noticed the connection between you two over the last few months.”

No.
 
No, no, no.
 
There was nothing between Freddie and I, it was all fake.
 
But I couldn’t say anything, I needed everyone to believe that what we had was real, it was the only way to get rid of Bradley.

“The public want to know how you managed to tame the wild earl,” Jeanette said, “It’s better than a romance novel, the bad boy prince and the shy servant girl.” She laughed at her own joke and it was like nails on a chalkboard to me sending shivers through my entire body.

I jumped to my feet, full blown panic clouding my brain and adrenaline coursing through my body as the fight-or-flight response kicked in.

“I can’t,” I whispered, “I can’t do this.
 
I have to get out of here, I need to go.”

“Whoa, Alex, it’s okay, calm down.”
 
Alyssa voice was soothing, like the one she used to calm a frightened horse.

My vision tunneled, the edges darkening as I imagined the PR nightmare that was about to unfold.
 
There was no way I would be able to stop my mother from talking to the press now, they would lap up everything she had to say and not only would I embarrass the crown, but I would embarrass Freddie and his family as well.
 
I had to get out of here and do something, anything, to try to contain this toxic spill before it contaminated everyone I knew.

My feet started moving of their own volition, but I didn’t get very far, crashing into a solid wall of man.
 
Warm arms went around me and held me securely as a soft voice whispered in my ear.

“It’s okay, Alex,” he said, “It will be okay.
 
Shh, it’s all right, it’s okay.”

I closed my eyes and inhaled the spicy sent that I knew so well and let the heat of his body invade mine.
 
His steady heartbeat thumped comfortingly in my ear and I felt the panic slowly recede.
 
For just a moment, I let myself relax into the sturdiness and security of Freddie’s arms.
 
His soft lips brushed my temple and although I knew I should pull away, it was nice to soak up his strength.

I stepped back and smoothed my skirt.
 
I reached up to smooth my hair and took a few calming breaths.
 
Freddie watched me with amusement dancing in his eyes.

“Making sure your mask is securely in place?” he asked.

I raised an eyebrow at him and gave him my haughtiest expression, “I’m sure I have no idea what you are talking about.”

He chuckled and shook his head and I tried hard to ignore the way the sound reverberated through me.

“What are you doing here Freddie?”

“I’m here to take you for lunch,” he said, “Although it appears that I arrived in time to save you from yourself.”

“Did you not get my schedule?”

“Of course I got your schedule,” he said with half a smile, “You are nothing if not efficient.
 
But I thought I would discuss my changes in person.
 
Over lunch.”

“Oh,” I said, both pleased at seeing him and displeased because I was pleased.

“Is it safe to come in?” Alyssa called from the doorway.

I took another step away from Freddie and turned to her.
 
“Of course,” I said.

She walked into the office, a smirk on her face and her arms crossed casually across her chest.
 
“You okay Alex?”

I nodded.

She glanced at Freddie, “I thought her head was going to explode,” she said.

“What on earth did you do to my girlfriend Queen Alyssa?” Freddie asked in a mock growl.

She held up her hands in surrender, “It wasn’t me,” she said, “You can blame Jeanette.”

“All I asked,” Jeanette said coming through the door behind Alyssa, “Was if you and she will do a sit down interview with some of the press.”

Freddie looked at me and raised an eyebrow.
 
“You freaked out over doing an interview?” he asked.

I blushed, embarrassed by my reaction and the loosening of my grip on my famous control.

“It took me by surprise,” I said, pleased that my voice didn’t waver, “I didn’t expect the public to be so interested in my love life.”

“I don’t think it’s your love life so much as mine,” Freddie said under his breath.
 
He shook his head and then gave me a kind look.
 
“We can just say no,” he said.

“And then they’ll hound us even more,” I said resignedly.

“True,” he said.

I sank down onto one of the couches and thought the problem over.
 
I looked up at Jeanette.
 
“Who's the least likely to make it uncomfortable?”