Page 46 of Royals
But any thought of forgetting this night happened is erased as about a thousand flashes go off in our faces.
Chapter 23
Later, I’ll learn that there were only four photographers outside the club, but at the time, it feels like there are dozens. Hundreds, even. The flashes are blinding, the clicking incessant. Somehow it’s worse than that day on the Mile, maybe because it’s dark and the flashes seem so bright, or maybe because then I was with Ellie and the other guys, and a whole bunch of bodyguards. Now it’s just me, and I can hear people calling my name.
“Daisy, are you dating Seb?”
“Daisy, does your sister know you’re here?”
“Who’s your friend, love?”
It’s a constant barrage, and I blink against it, frozen until I feel a hand on my elbow and look up to see Miles standing next to me, Seb right behind him.
“All right, gentlemen, that’s enough,” Miles says calmly, and bizarrely the flashes stop. Well, they pause, at least, and then Seb steps forward.
“Slow night, lads?” he teases. “Can’t imagine what the going rate is for me spending time with my future sister-in-law.”
Smiling down at me, Seb steps closer, and Isabel is basically hidden behind his back, Miles just off to the right. Weirdly enough, it’s Seb’s calm that makesmecalm.
Maybe too calm, because when a photographer calls out, “What did you think of Seb’s club, Daisy?” a reply jumps to my lips before I can stop it.
“Disappointing,” I reply. “Hardly any naked ladies, and only one chimpanzee.”
There’s a burst of laughter at that, and the cameras start up again.
Seb laughs, too, putting a friendly hand on my shoulder, but I realize it’s less for show and more to start gently but inexorably pushing me toward the waiting car. His bodyguard is out of the club now, making a path for us to the car, and as the four of us pile in, I feel Miles’s hand at my back. The shutters are clicking again, but then the door closes with athunk, and the chaos outside is muted.
I flop back against the seat with a sigh, placing a hand on my forehead.
“Chimpanzee?” Miles asks, and I shake my head.
“I panicked.”
The corners of his mouth turn down as Seb settles into the back seat, the car gliding away from the curb.
Isabel doesn’t seem as freaked out, just looking out the window with a frown. “So that’s what it’s like,” she muses softly, and Seb looks over at her sharply.
“It’s usually worse,” he tells her, flicking his auburn hair out of his eyes. “That was mild, love.”
“Don’t call me love,” she shoots back, and then she fishes in her bag for her phone.
To say that it’s awkward in the car is a bit of an understatement, and I clear my throat. “Sorry your first night wasn’t the best,” I offer to Isa, but she smiles at me and shrugs.
“It was actually kind of fun. I mean, before this guy.” She jerks her thumb at Seb, who gapes at her.
“This guy?” he repeats, but she’s still looking at me.
“Tomorrow is bookstores and museums, right?”
“Absolutely,” I say, relieved. Okay, so we’re back on track. One brief aberration, a quick toe dip into potential scandalousness, but we are okay, and we can all just forget this night ever happened.
We’re quiet for the rest of the ride, and when we pull up to the Balmoral, it’s fairly empty. No photographers, no one gawking. I start to get out to walk Isabel to her room, but before I can, she lays a hand on my knee and says, “I’m good, promise. Tomorrow, bookstores, yeah?”
“Yeah,” I reply, “total nerdery, here we come.”
Isa flashes a grin at that, then adds, “Bye, Miles, nice to meet you.”
Pointedly ignoring Seb, she climbs out of the back seat and heads for the hotel without a backward glance.
