Page 86 of Duchess Material

“Will I get to meet her?”

“You will. She’s going to meet up with us in Chicago. We’re going to stay with her brother.”

“What? And you didn’t invite me?”

“I feel like maybe George and Patrick couldn’t handle Tom. He might be too much.”

“No such thing as too much. It’s just a bunch of queer folks and then you two straights. And you don’t think the world could handle it? C’mon.”

“I will talk to George. I know Tom is a bit of a gay icon. Perhaps Patrick will swear by it.”

“Um… hello? I’m not?”

“You’re a lesbian icon?”

“Nice attempt at a save. You’ll have to do better than that with Her Highness. She seems smart.”

“She’s terribly clever, yes.”

“You love her.”

Ed grinned. “Of course, I do. I miss her like mad.”

“Good that you get to see her all over the news every day—even here, huh?”

“She’s going to watch the highlights reel. It’s embarrassing how much she talks me up.”

“Aww, that’s downright sickening, Ed. I love this for you, sweetheart.”

“Thanks.”

“And she’s… good to you? This is not—”

“This is not an Arabella situation. It’s not that she doesn’t want to travel with me. It’s that she can’t. I can’t travel with her, either. We’re making it work, okay? But it’s not that. She’s truly amazing. I miss her now, thanks to you.”

Katie smiled broadly and shook her head. “There is no shame in that. What would be a shame is if you were all this way here, jet lagged, and not missing her. That would tell you want you need to know.”

It was true. Arabella, Ed’s ex, had never been keen on travelling to events like this without the promise of something more. She didn’t like him palling around with female swimmers—even if most of his female friends were gay—and she ran off his male friends who were single for fear they would launch him into a world of strippers, prostitutes, and cheating. She was afraid of everything. In the lead up to the last Olympics, Ed had been battling injuries and fighting with her more than he wasn’t. When he would go out on the road, he would be relieved to be done with the arguments. It should have been a sign. The red flag came when she didn’t stay for his last event at the Olympics. He tore his rotator cup and had to be shipped home. When he arrived there bruised and battered, he was greeted with a set of divorce papers.

Ed did not miss his ex-wife. Natalie was different. She wasn’t pushing him forward or making demands. She wasn’t causing trouble or calling out his friends. She was just loving and supporting him. Her life was messy, but it seemed a small price to pay for her affection, support, and ability to drive Ed absolutely mad. He would miss her on the road. There was no doubt.

16

THE OTHER MAN

Lucy knew what was going to hit before she made it back to London. She expected things to go sour but perhaps not as much as they did. Lucy and Natalie were gifted one free day in Paris shopping after their conference assignment finished. It was supposed to be a day of freedom. What it turned into was Lucy going out to grab them a morning coffee at Natalie’s favourite café to the sound of clicking shutters. She was being papped. Natalie was used to this. Lucy, apart from a bit of a blind-item-brouhaha post-breakup, had been largely unbothered.

A photographer chased her as she was carrying drinks back to their hotel room. “Lucy! Lucy! Did you begin dating the Earl before you broke up with The Prince?”

It had taken Lucy ages to understand who they were talking about. Who was The Earl? What earl? After a moment, she realised it was Winston and knew where this story was going. Lucy made a beeline for the hotel door, its VIP elevator, and the suite. She found Natalie sitting on the couch painting her toenails a loud shade of green.

“There are paps everywhere,” Lucy announced.

Natalie didn’t look up. “What? Still over the war comments?”

“Not for you, Natalie. For me.”

“What?”

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