Page 19 of Prince She Shouldn't Crave
Lena was mid-sip when he said the words. She stopped, pulling the cup from her mouth. ‘Well, people do love weddings.’
‘Do you think it would be an effective strategy?’ he asked.
‘Spending the rest of your life with someone isn’t a strategy.’ The words sounded bitter in her mouth.
‘Do I detect some cynicism?’ he asked.
‘You tell me—you’re the one who’s talking about getting married to improve your popularity. I can’t think of anything more cynical than that.’
He shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, the pressure in his head building, because he agreed. Gabe wondered why that expectation had never really bothered himbefore. He’d always understood his duty, it had just seemed so distant before.
‘Anyhow, who is the ambassador to say something like that to you?’
Wasn’t that an excellent question? ‘He’s a friend of my parents, and he’d invited some suitable candidates as well.’
‘Did any take your fancy?’ Lena asked.
He’d realised their purpose—a few who might tempt his eye as potential brides. Whilst his parents would expect a princess, the women present were still eminently suitable members of various aristocracies. Then there were a few others who might tempt him in a different way, should that be where his inclinations lay. Once again, beautiful, polished, interesting, and yet he had no interest in any of them.
‘If they had, I’d still be there.’
Lena pursed her lips, displeasure written all over her face. ‘Pardon me for speaking plainly, but I find the whole thing odd.’
He took another slug of alcohol, somehow enjoying how prickly she’d become.
‘So do I,’ he said.
‘Then why subject yourself to it? How dare people tell you how to lead your life?’
She seemed all flash and fire and he didn’t quite understand why in that moment the thought of him having to marry for his role, and not for love, seemed to anger her. It was the way it tended to be done in most royal families, though the pretence of choice was still there. Put two people who met the correct criteria together, point them in the right direction with some solid encouragement and they usually got the message. Although Cilla and Ana had seen fit to break the mould…
‘You’recuratingmy life.’
‘That’s different and you know it. I’m showing people a glimpse, giving them some good news. But I’m not faking. I’m just giving people the best of you. It’s what everyone does.’
Yet he was faking it in many ways. He wondered again, how she’d feel if she knew about his reading difficulties. He could share it with her, right now. She’d signed a non-disclosure agreement but, even more, he was sure she’d never breach his confidence even without that formal document. He took another sip of his drink, priming himself. Yet he couldn’t find the right words. Time enough for confessions later. Instead, Gabe focussed on something easier, the desire to know what Lena thought was the best of him.Thatseemed vital. He supposed he could look at his own social media account, but he never had before. The one piece of advice he took away from his brief interactions in that public space, and warnings from Cilla when she’d first suggested Lena for the role was,never read the comments.
It seemed like wise advice.
‘So, how do you curate your own life?’ he asked.
She took another sip of her drink. He joined her with his own.
‘I don’t have social media in my real name. And I don’t post for myself. It feels too much like work. I tend to people-watch instead.’
Something about her was shuttered. Closed off. As though there were things she didn’t want to talk about, and he was treading close to them. He was assailed by a grasping need to find out why, to throw all her doors open and to peer inside. Yet he had no rights to the information as her employer. But for a woman who was happy to lay people’s lives bare online, he found it surprising she wanted to keep herself hidden.
‘What about your work? Surely that’s all about being online?’
‘Word of mouth’s important. I got my job with you because of your sister. No one wants the most important person in their story to be the employee who manages their PR and social media. My job is to stay in the background, make my employer look good. As for the rest? I’m unimportant in the general scheme of things.’
He didn’t know why those words seemed wrong. Was that how she thought of herself? Or was it someone else putting those thoughts into her head? He knew too well how family could cut. His sisters, particularly Cilla, had borne the brunt of his mother’s disapprobation. The public’s too, for not fitting a mould cast for her. Then Ana, who the press had loved as Halrovia’s‘Perfect Princess’before she had her accident, withdrew from public life and the narrative had changed. The criticisms starting.
What if, at those times, they’d had someone like Lena to show the world who they really were?
‘You’re not unimportant, Lena.’
She looked up at him, a gentle smile teasing her lips. Barely there, but the hint was enough. The look of pleasure at his comment. It flooded him with sensation, something warm and bright, of wanting to make her smile more often. When had he ever felt like this, enjoying the simple pleasure of making a person happy?
