“That’s to protect their feelings. Our kitchen staff takes great pride in providing for us. But our mother decided when she first got pregnant that it was a requirement of the role to bake cookies. She practiced every other Thursday night. For seven months.”
Mallory’s jaw dropped. “It took her seven months to learn how to make cookies?”
“Not even close. Not even practicing for four years helped. I don’t have many memories of her, but I do remember the oatmeal cookies she made were so bad that I spit them out. In the middle of a garden party. I got taken back to my room. But at least I didn’t have to eat any more of those cookies.”
They all laughed. Yup. Mallory was better than a freaking queen at baking. Kelsey laughed with joy at learning a fact so ordinary. So humbling. So darned funny.
Kelsey leaned across to put a hand on Christian’s arm. “Tell me something she did as queen that made the title matter more than the tiara.”
“That’s easy. She gave away all her baby presents. Every time. Even the designer dresses and top-of-the-line strollers and monogrammed pacifiers. She gathered everything up and gave it to single mothers in the kingdom.”
That single memory he’d shared told her so much about her mother’s generous nature. Kelsey loved it.
Genevieve got up and knelt in the grass without bothering to bring the protection of the jacket. “Tell the one about the costume. At that American superhero thing.”
“Papa would tell it better.”
She lifted her hands to indicate the empty park. “He’s not here.”
“Mama snuck into a comic conference in full costume so nobody knew it was her.”
“Comic-Con?” Kelsey breathed the words with reverence. After moving to Manhattan, it had been her biggest dream to attend someday.
“In what costume?”
“Black Widow.”
Kelsey flopped to her back. It was her favorite movie. She’d worn the costume four Halloweens in a row.
A costume her grandmother had carefully altered every year. So now that she finally had a tangible connection to this life and the queen—it was also a reminder of her old life, and the people she loved back home.
Stalemate.
Again.
It was a weird, one step forward, one step back dance. Did that mean that there truly weren’t two versions of her that Kelsey had to choose between?
That it was okay to love Mallory and learn to love Christian? Okay, maybe learn to like Genevieve? That she could still be herself no matter where she landed?
Kelsey did know one thing for certain.
In the midst of all this dichotomy, being with Elias made her feel the most normal, the most real. In fact, Elias gave her all the feels. Arranging this session with her brother and sister had been so thoughtful of him. Kelsey couldn’t wait to thank him…“properly.”
Chapter Fourteen
Sex with Kelsey was mind-blowing. It turned Elias’s world upside down.
It was also exhausting. Staying up until four a.m. to wallow in every moment possible of touching her made it tough to report for the daily security briefing at six.
Worth it, no question about that. But he’d guzzled a double espresso while shaving, had a coffee as soon as he hit the security wing, and now that the briefing was over, was pouring an extra-large coffee.
It’d wake him up, for sure. Damn well better not do target practice today, though, because Elias doubted his hands would be steady if he kept up this rate of caffeine consumption.
Marko, Kelsey’s relief bodyguard, crowded in, waving an empty mug. “Leave some for the rest of us, why don’t you.”
“You know how to work a coffee maker. You can make more.” Elias would bet an entire paycheck that not a single guard in this room needed the coffee as badly as he did.
“Late night?” Marko cupped his hand around his mouth and semi-whispered, “Got a good story to share?”
Not in a million years. Especially not to Marko, who prided himself on being a player. “Just didn’t get much sleep. I’ve a meeting with Prince Christian in an hour. Need to be sharp.” Elias dumped in three spoonfuls of sugar. He never used it, but he’d take any advantage today.
“We all know the prince is your best friend. I don’t think you’d get the axe if you yawned in front of him.”
True. Odd that Marko brought it up, though.
Christian never gave him preferential treatment. They were both scrupulous about maintaining a strictly professional relationship when Elias was guarding him. Since their friendship predated Elias’s induction into the Royal Protection Service, the rest of the guards never made a fuss about it.
“He wouldn’t axe me.” Elias ceded the remaining half inch of coffee to Marko, moving to lean against the doorjamb. “But I’d do it myself. We’re not friends when I’m on duty. He’s my protectee.”
Swearing, Marko dumped it in the sink and grabbed a filter. “Not anymore. Not with Princess Valentina back on the scene.”
The security teams were all fully briefed on Kelsey’s true identity. Technically, they gave everyone the same level of protection, from members of Parliament to visiting diplomats. But knowing you were responsible for the safety of a member of the royal family stepped up everyone’s game. And it just might make a difference should that snap second come when a guard had to decide to give his life to keep a protectee safe.
“Well, that could be a temporary assignment. Nothing’s decided, which is why I’m staying in the loop with His Highness by meeting this morning.”
Not that Elias wanted to think about Kelsey leaving. Or her staying.
Either way, the inevitable end of their relationship.
Normally, if something bothered him, he’d vent to Christian. The prince was a great sounding board, and when he didn’t have anything useful to say, doled out sympathy, swearing, and Scotch. But there was no way he could tell his best friend how torn up he was about the possibility—hell, the definite need—to give Kelsey up.
Explaining that he’d fallen for Christian’s little sister would be the end of their friendship. The end of his career. Not to mention pointless, since he couldn’t change the facts. In less than a week, he and Kelsey would be through.
And all the time he stole with her didn’t make that any easier to swallow. The more he saw her, the more he wanted to see her. It was maddening. But he couldn’t stop.
Marko looked over one shoulder, then the other. There were a handful of other guards still milling about their break room. Nothing out of the ordinary, though. “How about we take a walk before you have that meeting?”