Total pages in book: 192
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
“It was short,” I went on. “And then it was over very abruptly.”
Allain sniffed. “He does not relay his innermost thoughts and feelings to me, but one can assume he did not expect to meet you last night, and he had other plans he couldn’t avoid. So he made his intentions known, and now I’m here to move things forward.”
What an astronomical trip, sending your lackey to “move things forward” with a female you intended to court.
“What if I don’t want things to move forward?” I queried.
He gaped at me.
Honestly?
I could see that reaction.
I drew breath into my nose and straightened my spine. “I can’t make this decision on the fly. I need time to think about it.”
He dropped his gaze blankly down to his tablet, mumbling, “We have other things to go over.”
“You can share all about how you invaded my privacy when I’ve made my decision,” I announced.
His attention returned to me, and his eyes narrowed. “You do know I’m talking about Prince Aleksei, don’t you?”
“Of course I know that,” I replied curtly.
“This makes an odd kind of sense,” he said like he was talking to himself. “It would, of course, be an unusual female.”
“I’m not an unusual female,” I retorted. “I’m actually a very usual one. I’m just not used to people digging into my life, waking me up in the wee hours of the morning for unexpected visits and telling me what to do. Nor am I used to princes of any realm sending their…no offense, but whatever you are to share with me they want to court me.” I decided to drive one of my points home. “Again, in the wee hours of the morning.”
All of a sudden, his demeanor changed from churlish and perplexed to the dawn of understanding, a light twinkling in his eyes.
“I will inform the prince that you need time to consider his suit. When shall I tell him he’ll have his response? Twenty-four hours? Forty-eight?”
I shook my head.
I wasn’t even sure I was fully awake. I definitely hadn’t had enough sleep.
And I absolutely was in no state to make a decision like this.
Seriously, me and the gals would need a lot more than two bottles of wine to get through this mess.
Though, truthfully, I knew their answers.
Catla, an unqualified YES!
Gayliliel, a less loud, but still unqualified yes.
Monique, a definitive, yes, with the addition of, why in all the realms did you take even a second to answer affirmatively?
But, with regard to the pursuit of Prince Aleksei—I never thought I’d think this, and if I did, I would expect when I thought it my brain would catch fire—I wasn’t so sure.
“I’ll know when I know,” I replied. “Is there some way to get word to you?”
“My contact information is on your tablet.”
“Great.”
“As is His Royal Highness’s. Direct access, office and Palm. His assistant’s information is also provided, and if you can’t get to him directly, she’ll get him for you. Her name is Muriel.”
She’ll get him for you.
Like, I was important.
Like, all I had to do was reach out, and he’d drop everything and take my comm.
The tablet in my hand suddenly felt like it was too hot to hold.
“Really?” I breathed.
“You will need to talk to get to know one another,” he remarked.
My gaze drifted down to the tech in my hand.
Allain tucked his tablet back into his satchel and made his way to the door.
Woodenly, I shifted to watch him go.
He stopped at the still open door and turned back to me. “One warning. Prince Aleksei is not a man to wait on anyone’s whim.”
I wondered if Princess Anna found that out the hard way.
I nodded.
“This is most interesting,” he murmured.
He could say that again.
With that, he disappeared.
Chapter 6
Five Hours
I sat on my couch surrounded by fabric swatches and five old-world paper sketchpads (they didn’t come cheap, but they were how I preferred to start with preliminary designs), three of which were being used as post-breakfast nap beds by one flame-point, one cream-point and one blue-point ball of fluff (though, Comet’s ball was a lot bigger than the other two).
It was lunchtime, and I was debating whether or not to use the gals’ lunch hours for a conference comm to discuss Allain’s visit.
However, as much as I needed to hash this out (and I needed that badly), I didn’t want to interrupt them at work.
With the showing coming up fast, Cat would be super busy. Gayle was up to her neck in an upcoming rollout of a huge ad campaign her company had dumped a ton of money into. And Monique, one of the top aestheticians in the city of Nocturn, was on a mission to do some renovations to her flat (this being why she wasn’t with us last night—she had a late client and then would be “In my bath pod for two hours” (her words)), and as such, would be covered in clients.