Page 36 of Last Minute

Gideon Taylor just called me a chicken.

And once the reason why clicks in my brain, I lock my computer, jump up from my chair, and grab my suit coat on my way out of the office.

CHAPTER 25

Ellie

Two months after my hasty flight back to Brysard, things finally blow over. Glad that some other celebrity is now the current media obsession, I’ve managed to settle back into my old routine, with one minor difference.

Rogue thoughts of Erik slip through the carefully crafted wall I’ve built around my memories of him on a near daily basis. And maybe I should reinforce those walls, but I’m selfish. Those brief memories were a bright spot in the weeks that followed our kiss and my hasty retreat back to my home country.

Time, I tell myself, is the only thing that will be able to heal the dull ache I still feel when I think of Erik.

Time heals more than just emotional wounds, too. Beckett is back at it as my EPA, and I’ve been happy to have him back. Even though Victoria has been a perfectly capable substitute, having Beckett back is like a hug from my best friend.

A knock on the open door of my study has me looking up from the papers I’ve been pouring over for the last few hours. Beckett peeks his head in, a smile on his face. While Beckett smiling isn’t unusual, the mischievous gleam in his eye is.

“Just wanted to let you know we’ll be leaving a few minutes later than scheduled. I have to meet the new hire who’s going to be shadowing us at the charity event. This will be his first time handling the new protocols, and I want to make sure he’s up to speed on everything before we go.”

I nod and smile, today’s rogue memory being of Erik staring at me in shock when I began to answer his briefing questions in the car. “I’ll meet you in the foyer, then?”

Beckett gives me a curt nod before disappearing down the hallway.

I stack my papers neatly and slide the leather folio into a drawer on my desk. I was at a good stopping point, anyway. And it’s better for me to wait for Beckett than to make him wait for me. Not all royal stereotypes need to be true.

My mind wanders to Erik as I make my way to the palace foyer on muscle memory alone. Today’s rogue memory opened the floodgates to the emotions I try to keep behind closed doors, and I need to reel them back in before the charity event at a local school I’m attending today.

I take the last turn and stop at the top of the stairs that lead down to the foyer.

Am I dreaming?

If not, I’m surely hallucinating because it can’t be Erik standing there, speaking with Beckett.

“Excuse me,” one of the palace staff says as she bumps into me due to my sudden stop. She steps around me and continues down the stairs, but the sound is enough to make Beckett and…Erik…look up.

Now that he’s facing me, it can’t be anyone else. His dark hair makes his deep blue eyes pop, and that smirk is the same one I’ve only allowed myself to think about late at night when I can’t sleep.

Beckett coughs, and I realize I’m staring. Coming back to my senses, I step lightly down the stairs, hiding the slight tremor in my hands by smoothing them down the front of my blazer. But when I open my mouth, I can’t find the words.

Beckett doesn’t seem to have the same problem. “Your Highness, this is—”

“Erik Donovan.” I finally find my voice, and a disbelieving smile comes to my face.

“Ellie Haynes.” A shiver runs down my spine when Erik says my name with a smile that demolishes the wall around my memories of him. Flashes of our road trip and tattoos and tender touches flood my brain as I stare at the man who helped me make those memories.

“You’re the new hire?”

Erik tips his chin down in confirmation.

I close the gap between us until only a hair’s breadth separates us. “Aren’t there rules about this sort of thing?” Erik asks as I run my hands up the lapels of his suit coat. But his hands come to my waist, at odds with his words.

“Beckett?” I ask, not taking my eyes off of Erik’s for a second. The longer I stare, the larger his smile grows, and mine matches.

“Yes, Your Highness?” Beckett is oddly formal today, but I can hear the smile in his voice, even though I see nothing but Erik.

“Who makes the rules around here?”

“I believe you do, Your Highness.” Erik’s eyes flash as my smile stretches my cheeks so much they ache.

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