Page 73 of Loyally, Luke
She stared at him too long. Too heartachingly long. And then she looked away with a shrug. “I suppose it would be best if we weren’t left alone for long periods of time.”
“It would certainly help keep temptation at bay.”
“Two months, Luke.” Her gaze moved back to his, her breath shallow as she stretched her hand out toward him. “Can we be friends for two months and then go on with our lives?”
Dangerous. Impossible. She held his attention. But she didn’t want to let go.
He took her hand into his, the rough edges smoothed with fresh familiarity against her skin. “But just so you know, Princess”—his smile brimmed in his eyes—“I still expect you to work as hard as you did before.”
“Deal.” She raised a brow, though a voice in the back of her mind told her that the hardest work—to not fall in love with Luke Edgewood—had only begun.
Chapter13
Text from Luke to Izzy and Penelope:I feel certain that Penelope knows even more than I do about my current situation, likely from some ability to place spies among the orphans at Cambric Hall, so I figured I’d just get it all out of the way in one text thread. We’ve agreed to be friends until I leave in two months.
Penelope:Friends? With a princess? I wonder what could possibly go wrong. (Or right, if you ask me.)
Luke:I didn’t ask for feedback, as I recall.
Izzy:Are you sure you can DO that, Luke? The friendship thing?
Penelope:Izzy, Luke has lots of friends who are girls. Why wouldn’t he be able to be friends with a woman who also happens to be a princess? *chime*
Luke:No chimes, Penny-girl, or I’ll stop texting you anything at all.
Izzy:Wouldn’t it be difficult to move to friendship after kissing her?
Penelope:YOU KISSED A PRINCESS???!!!!
Luke:Izzy, I will no longer message you for the rest of time.
Izzy:Ack! Sorry, Luke! I thought with all her movie-induced foresight, she’d have known already.
Penelope:But, Luke! It’s too early to have kissed her. That always leads to trouble. You’re not supposed to kiss a princess until near the end of the story, or right after you two agree on happily ever after. Early kissing is sure to lead to turmoil.
Luke:You have no idea.
Penelope:I feel as though I need to rewatch a few royal movies so I’m better prepared for your life, Luke. How exciting!
Luke:Not exactly what I’d call it, but I will say, as strange as it sounds, if we’re going to be working together, I’d rather have us on friendly terms than acting like we don’t know or care about each other.
Izzy:That’s going to be tough.
Luke:Sure is.
Penelope:What if she wants you to be her prince, Luke? Oh my goodness, I can’t even believe I typed that IRL! Prince Luke... hmm, maybe you should go by your middle name. Stephen is more princely.
Penelope:Oh, sorry, Luke. Matt just reminded me that Ellie is expected to marry someone from Skymar as part of their effort to build back the population and support for the country. I wonder how long getting citizenship takes?
Luke:I’m not the prince sort, Penny-girl. I’ve already been down the road of trying to measure up to the impossible. I’m not interested in doing that again. Besides, I’m a happy citizen of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the U.S. of A. So keep the royal romance talk out of the conversation. I just shared so you’d realize we’re moving forward as friends and that’s that.
Izzy:Well, I’m glad you guys can be friends now. And hopefully it won’t negatively impact your work.
Luke:Shouldn’t. And her dad asked if I’d meet him and Ellie for dinner tomorrow evening to talk about some of my ideas.
Penelope:You’re having a private dinner with the KING OF SKYMAR???!!!!
Penelope:Sorry. Matt just told me that the royal family are incredibly approachable and that King Aleksander ishighly involved in learning new ways to help his people. Doesn’t he sound like a lovely man? You’ll have to tell me all about him after your dinner. Wow! With the king!
