Page 97 of The Backup Princess

“You do, do you? Do you miss your old life back in Houston?”

“I miss my dad and Chloe, and the Mexican food back home is seriously to die for. But my life there?” I shrug. “Not so much.”

His dark eyes capture my gaze. “I don’t like you referring to your old life as ‘home’. I hope you stay here. I hope this will be your new home.”

Oh, be still my beating heart.

“You do?” I ask, breathless.

“Is that selfish of me?”

It’s wonderful of you.

“No, it’s nice to hear.”

His handsome face lights up in a smile, and we stand there at the pond’s edge, beaming at one another like shy teenagers on their first ever date.

“I’ve been thinking about staying,” I begin, putting my thoughts into words for the first time. “I know it would make my grandparents so happy, and the country would have an heir who won’t destroy the monarchy, if my uncle goes through with the abdication.”

“What about what you want? Not your family, not Malveaux. You.”

I think about my old life back in Houston, about Dad, about Chloe, about my old job at the glazing company. About Eric.

Huh. I haven't thought about him in a while.

It feels like a lifetime ago, another world. A world in which I never really felt as though I fit.

Staying here, perhaps becoming Grandpapa’s heir, fulfilling my role as a Princess of Malveaux with everything that means, somehow, despite its newness and how very foreign it feels at times, seems right. It fits.

And Alex? Well, he's a big part of my new world, too.

Bigger than I’ve even admitted to myself.

I chew on my lip. “I haven’t told anybody this. Not a soul.”

“Should I be worried?” he asks.

I could not stop the smile from claiming my face for all the terrible tea in Malveaux. “I think I want to stay.”

His eyes widen to the size of dinner plates. “You do?”

“I like it here. I like doing what I do. Sure, there are endless lunches and events, with lots of people to schmooze and impress, but I feel like I have a purpose. A calling, even. I can do meaningful work here. Make a difference in people’s lives.”

“Plus, the wardrobe’s good,” he teases.

I glance down at my dress. “Remind me to show you my closet. It’s amazing. Total perk of the job.”

He laughs.

“I know this is going to sound crazy, but in some strange kind of way, I think I was born into this role, only it took 24 years for me to get here. Does that sound weird?”

He holds his hands on either side of my arms and gazes intently into my eyes. It makes my heart go all kinds of crazy. Electricity pulsates between us. It seems as, once again, he’s going to kiss me. I know I want him to.

But instead, all he does is reply, “It doesn’t sound weird in the least, Texas. To me, it sounds absolutely perfect.”

And kiss or no kiss, you can’t get much better than perfect.

Chapter 20

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