Page 32 of American Royals II: Majesty
Normally Beatrice would have acknowledged the woman with a gracious smile. But she was out in a car without her Guard, about to eat a burger without worrying about how unflattering it might look in photos. Actually, no one was taking her photo atall.The prospect filled her with a childish excitement.
“Really? You think I look like the queen?” she said, and winked.
Later, when he’d dropped her back at the palace’s entrance hall, Teddy cleared his throat. “Before I go, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” he ventured. “My parents were wondering—would you come to Walthorpe for a weekend?”
Visit Teddy’s childhood home. Beatrice was surprised at the flicker of anticipation she felt at the prospect of learning more about him.
“I’d love to,” she agreed.
Teddy broke into a relieved grin. “Okay, great,” he said, thumbs looped into his pockets. “Well…I should get going. You need to rest your throwing arm for tomorrow’s big pitch.”
Oh, right. Beatrice had almost forgotten that tomorrow she was scheduled to throw the first pitch at National Stadium. It was a long-standing tradition in American baseball that the monarch opened one of the first games of the season.
“You’ve practiced, haven’t you?” Teddy added, at the look on her face.
“I was just planning on tossing it underhand. I mean, the whole thing is ceremonial. Won’t everyone just want me to hurry up and throw the ball, so the real game can begin?”
“You can’ttossit.” Teddy sounded horrified. “Beatrice, America judges people based on their throwing ability. As if your first pitch represents what kind of ruler you’ll be.”
“Great,” Beatrice said darkly. “Now when I throw it in the dirt, I’ll get booed off the field.”
“We won’t let that happen,” Teddy promised.
“What do you plan to do, teach me to throw a baseball between now and tomorrow morning?”
“That’s exactly what we’re going to do. Don’t worry, you’re in good hands,” he assured her. “I was captain of my high school baseball team. And I was the pitcher.”
“I thought you were captain of yourfootballteam.”
“Yeah, I was that too,” he said easily.
“What else were you, prom king?” When Teddy didn’t protest, Beatrice threw up her hands in exasperation. “Oh my god, youwere.You’re literally Mr. America! Nowonderthat woman called you the Dreamboat Duke!”
“Pleasedon’t use that name,” Teddy groaned. “Now come on, we’re wasting moonlight.”
Half an hour later they were out on the palace’s back lawn. A few moths fluttered nearby, their wings glimmering a silvery purple. The night was cool, but the air had a soft, expectant quality that held the promise of summer.
With the help of a footman, Teddy had tracked down some of Jeff’s high school athletic gear. He rifled through the box, grinning triumphantly when he emerged with a baseball and a pair of old gloves.
Pulling on the catcher’s mitt, he headed past her and crouched onto the balls of his feet. “Okay, show me what you’ve got, Bee.”
She froze. Only two people had ever used that nickname. “Where did you hear that? Calling me Bee, I mean.” She wondered if Sam had told him, or if he’d come up with it himself. After all, itwasthe first syllable of her name.
“You don’t like it?” Teddy gave a puzzled frown, and Beatrice shook her head.
“No, I like it. I just—I haven’t heard anyone say that in a while.”
Taking a deep breath, she threw the baseball. It veered wide to the right of Teddy’s face. When he tossed it back to her, she held up her glove, fumbling to catch it, but missed.
“Okay, so you can’t catch,” Teddy said bluntly, as she scrambled to grab the ball from the ground. “But that doesn’t matter, because you won’t have to catch tomorrow. Our problem is that you throw like—”
“Don’t you dare say ‘like a girl,’ ” Beatrice cut in, and he laughed.
“Please, I know better. You should see Charlotte’s fastball.” He shook his head. “I wasgoingto say that you throw like you’ve never held a baseball before.”
Teddy took off his glove and walked back over, to stand behind her. “Let’s try this again: slowly, one step at a time. I’ll talk you through the whole thing.”
Beatrice hardly dared breathe as his hands settled on her waist.
