Page 61 of Loyally, Luke
“Why do I feel a ‘but’ coming?”
They made it to the path to the back door of the hall and Ellie sent him a look from her periphery. “There’s no ‘but.’” She breathed out the fight. “Only the fact that I’m his daughter.”
She reached for the back door, but he placed his palm over the handle so she couldn’t grip it. “Wait a minute.”
She looked up at him then.
He shook his head as if to clear it. “Did you just say the king of Skymar is your father?”
She bit her bottom lip and stood to her full height. “He is.”
Luke stared at her a long time, eyes narrowing by slow degrees. “Wouldn’t that make you a princess?”
She attempted a smile. “Yes, in fact, it would.”
The only thing that moved on his face were his eyelids as he blinked a few times. However, he did loosen his hold on the door handle, so Ellie, being the complete coward she was, took the opportunity to move forward.
He stumbled behind her. “You’re a princess?”
“I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”
“A real princess?”
“I didn’t want you to see me differently.” She raced down the hallway, keeping her voice low. “You were so genuine and I felt like I could just be me.”
“I... I kissed a princess?”
Her feet slid to a stop and she turned around to face him. He stood with his hand on his head and a grimace on his face, staring at her as if she’d grown a horn from her forehead.
Or maybe he was envisioning a crown.
“I tried to end things back there under the tree, don’t you see? For your own good, because my life is not my own and you didn’t step into my world knowingly.” She breathed out a sigh. “And I didn’t want to hurt you.”
He looked away, exhaling audibly, before turning back to look at her again. “When were you planning on telling me? Or were you just gonna keep dancing around the topic until I was contemplating marriage?”
“I was planning to tell you back there. Under the tree.” She waved toward the way they’d come. “If you’ll recall, I was trying to end things and you kept kissing me.”
He moved close, those dark eyes on fire. “If I recall, the kissing was mutual. I never pretended to be anything other than what I am, and I certainly never pretended to care more than I did.”
“I wasn’t pretending to care for you either,” she shot back. “Idocare for you, which is the whole reason I was trying to end—”
“Ellie!” came Mrs.Kershaw’s frantic cry from the top of the stairs. “The royal entourage just drove up to Cambric Hall. Would you mind shedding some light on this, please?”
She held his gaze. “I’m so sorry, Luke.” And to keep from seeing more of the disappointment in his eyes, she dashed up the stairs.
Mrs.Kershaw stood wringing her hands, the only visible sign of her mental state.
“It’s not an official visit, Mrs.Kershaw. I believe he’s only popping in to support me and Cambric Hall.”
“Support you?”
“Since this is one of the first larger solo projects he’s entrusted tome in a very long time, he’s heard a great many good things and wishes to see for himself.”
The woman raised her chin, a hint of pride in her eyes. “Well, I prefer a bit more notice when presenting Cambric Hall and its children to His Majesty, but we will make the best of it. Yes, we will.”
A collective gasp from down the hall pulled Ellie toward the crowd of children who were crowded around a few of the front windows, peering out. Ellie turned to find Luke hovering near the hallway, his hands in his pockets and his attention focused on her.
She couldn’t read his thoughts.
