Page 85 of Royally Drawn

“You’re put in the same category as dogs,” Ollie howled with laughter.

“She didn’t say that!” I protested.

“Oh, it gets better,” Duncan said. I lurched over the table to grab the magazine back, but he held it out of reach.

“Sit down. This is just getting good!” Betty snickered, looking over his shoulder.

Inside, I died. Duncan wasnotthat creative. I suspected he was reading the copy on the page.

“And who is the lucky man? We don’t see you out with anyone?” He read the interviewer’s question in a surprisingly feminine voice.

“She doesn’t go out,” I sighed. “She’s busy with her horses.”

“Shh!” Aunt Natalie said. “I amdyingto hear the rest of this!”

“Is everyone enjoying my suffering?” I groaned.

“Yes,” the rest of the family answered in unison.

“Well, I won’t say much,” Duncan tried to match her tone ridiculously. “But he’s lovely and always supports me. Kraken adores him.”

I wasmortified, but I knew she was being honest.

“And how does he put up with royal life? Does he struggle with that?”

The more Duncan read, the more I wanted to die.

Betty pulled the magazine from his hand. “She says he does not struggle and is very used to it. We ask if he has a name. She refuses. Then, she says, ‘He’s British. That’s all I will say.’”

By now, Duncan and my brothers howled with laughter, thinking my pain was utterly ridiculous.

“You all can fuck off,” I said.

“That’s a not-so-blind item,” Aunt Natalie said. “Everyone is about to be up your arse, Keir. She is downright cheeky.”

“Cheeky girls are good,” Georgie said. “But they cause chaos. You cannot be too careful.”

“She didn’t say he was a prince. And, anyway, we’re an entirebasketball team of princes. Even if she had, the possibilities are endless,” I said.

“Just you wait,” Duncan said. “The press will be all over you. Don’t show weakness.”

“Weakness?” Leah scoffed. “Yes, God forbid he show her he cares.”

It wasn’t the same for Leah as it was for me. It never would be. Duncan and I were one and two—eligible bachelors expected to continue royal work. We’d marry women, making them duchesses. Inasmuch, we abided by royal rules of dating. That was to say, one never dated, never confirmed they were dating, and always just kept on walking. Ingrid knew this, but she’d floated it. She knew better and still did it.

Protection

INGRID

“Idon’t want to wait a minute more. I’ve waited long enough.”

I said it, desperate for Keir to take off all his clothes and join me in bed. Instead, he let out a sigh and shook his head. He’d come all this way, and I’d think of the most wonderful way to greet him. So, here I was, waiting up in bed naked, and there he was, still dressed and looking cross.

“We need to talk, Ingrid,” Keir said. Can you at least put on a dressing gown? You’re so distracting.”

I pulled the covers up to my collarbones and sat up. “What?”

“Let me preface this with the fact that I love you very much,” Keir said. “But I am also concerned.”

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