Page 28 of Royally Wed
But her thoughts had spun away from her, and the car was filled with the heavy scent of flowers. Her stomach churned. She couldn’t catch her breath.
She practically bolted from the car when they reached the palace. While Ben and the others gathered the bouquets from the backseat, she hurriedtoward her suite. It took every ounce of her self-control not to flat-out run.
Running wasn’t allowed in Buckingham Palace. That was another rule.
Amelia was sick of rules. She was sick of everything about her life at the moment. She knew it wasn’t fair to feel thatway. After all, she’d agreed to the engagement. She’d been so enraptured by the idea of making her family proud for once that shehadn’t even had to think twice about it.
After a lifetime of begging for attention every way she knew how, all eyes were finally on her. This was her chance to make up for every bad decision she’d ever made. She was going to be the one to ensure that her brother would one day sit on the throne. Her family was depending on her.
For the first time in her life, shemattered.
Of course she’d marryHolden. She’d have his children if she had to.
But as she rounded the corner to her suite, her footsteps slowed to a stop in front of the wrong room.
Hisroom. Asher Reed’s.
REHEARSAL LASTED WELL INTOthe evening. When Asher returned to the palace, he turned down James’s offer of a hot meal in the dining room in favor of having the page escort him straight to his bedroom. Jet lag had hit hardaround seven o’clock, and that had been several hours ago. He was dead on his feet.
Plus, he’d had another shit day.
Jeremy’s comments from the day before still rattled him. For two days straight now, his playing had been mediocre at best.
“Just ring, sir, in the event you change your mind.” James paused outside the door.
“Thank you, I will. But that’s doubtful. I’m headingstraight to bed.”He needed sleep. Maybe if he got some rest, he could pull himself together.
He’d noticed the curious, sideways glances of the other musicians as he’d launched into his solo. He knew his rhythm had been a little off. It had been easy enough to blame his subpar performance on exhaustion—or even his mildly damaged bow—but he couldn’t get away with that for long. This was the royal wedding. Jeremyexpected perfection. Theentire worlddid.
Sleep would fix things. It had to.
“Very well. Good night.” James nodded and turned back down the narrow hallway.
Asher watched the page for a beat, wondering if he’d grow accustomed to being waited on hand and foot before he left England. He doubted it. The palace was another world, nothing like he’d expected.
He walked inside his room, and as ifto illustrate his point, Willow was waiting for him. She was sitting right on the other side of the door, staring him down the way she tended to do.
Only this time, she wasn’t alone.
“Princess?” Asher blinked.
“Finally. I’ve been waiting for hours.” She threw her hands in the air. “And I told you to call me Amelia. Remember?”
“Sorry. Amelia. Did we have an appointment?” He was sure they didn’t.But for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what she was doing in his room.
“No, but I need your help with something. Come on, let’sgo.”
He shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Especially not with her. He needed rest. And every time the two of them were in the same room together, things seemed to get a little crazy.
“But I want you to help me find the leopard.”
And there it was.They’d gone from zero to crazy in less than a minute this time.
Asher scrubbed a hand over his face. “You’re telling me there’s a leopard somewhere inside this palace?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, that’s what I just said. Do you have a hearing problem?”
