Eighteen
The views of the city were stunning, the crisp air bursting my lungs with smells of wet grass, mud, and fresh air.
Lennox and I raced our horses, trotted through dense vegetation, and paused at bluffs, looking down on the view.
The top of palace and landmarks dotted the skyline with familiarity.
The late afternoon began to dip heavier shadows within the forest.
“We should head back.” He peered back at me.
I couldn’t help noticing how well his arse fit in the saddle or how confidently he rode.
My first crush was one of our horse trainers.
I was, like, eight. I went out every day he was there, watching and absorbing everything he did.
He seemed to enjoy me out there and would bring me in the corral with him to show me tricks and techniques to break a horse.
He was so kind and patient. I adored him. Talked about him constantly.
The moment I realized I liked him more than a friend, I was standing on the fence watching him climb on the horse, my eyes catching on the way his jeans cupped his butt and the way he calmed the mare as she started to reject him on her back, easing her with his hushed, low tones.
He had that deep, sexy voice that had any animal or person wanting to do his bidding.
I had fallen over my little riding boots for him after that.
How handsome he looked mounted on the mare. Confident. In charge.
Lennox had the same quality.
Snapping my head to the side, I forced my gaze from his backside. His T-shirt and jeans fit his body far too well.
It’s okay to find him attractive. He is. But you love Theo. He’s a bit of fun to look at.
“Home?” He prodded, making me realize I never answered him.
“Oh. Yeah. Sure.” I agreed, but it was the last thing I wanted to do. The palace was cold and lonely.
He peered over at his shoulder at me, my eyes darting away, not able to hold his gaze.
“I have a feeling if I asked if you wanted to keep riding, camp out here all night, you’d say yes.”
I snorted, my head bobbing. “You’d probably be right.”
“Not a fan of your new home?”
“Not my home.” I shook my head. “I want to get my own flat, put some space between that world and mine.”
“You could run to a desert island, and that world will still follow you,” he said. “Just how it is now. You being with Theo makes it impossible to go under the radar. You’re not just a prince’s girlfriend, but possibly the future queen.”
“I thought we would have more time to be us, you know?” I watched his stallion’s tail swish back and forth as we slowly made our way back, the stables just beyond the tree line.
He huffed, staying quiet.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Lennox,” I growled. “Just say it.”
“Don’t ask unless you are ready to hear the truth.”
“Just say it.”
He took a deep breath, his shoulders easing down. “I told him to wait.”
“Wait for what?”
“To announce you guys. Granted, I didn’t know you, but what he told me, I thought it was too soon to toss you in so quickly after returning. I think he was hasty. And I thought you’d be a fool for saying yes to it.”
An emotion I couldn’t decipher stirred me in my seat, crunching my forehead down tighter.
Nope, I was wrong. Anger. I could feel anger.
“Who are you to judge him or me? What, you guys met like two seconds ago, now you know what’s best for us? For me? I love Theo. I want to be with him. There was no point in waiting. And your opinion on something you know nothing about doesn’t make it the truth.”
His head curved enough to see his profile, his hazel eye appearing black in the shadows. “I told you. Don’t ask me if you’re not ready.”
“So easy to judge from your perfect perch, isn’t it? Have you ever been in love? Done something crazy because you’d do anything for that other person?”
Lennox swung over his leg, jumping down from his horse, stomping to me. I hadn’t even realized we were back at the stables.
“You know nothing about me, Baroness,” he spat, his eyes bursting with fire as he peered up.
“And you know nothing about what I’ve done for someone I loved.
It’s so easy to judge from your perfect perch, huh?
” He tossed my words back in my face with a sneer.
Whipping around, he grabbed Tornado’s lead and pulled him toward the stables.
“Oh, hell no,” I muttered, sliding off Penny and marching after him. “Don’t you dare walk away from me.”
“We’re done here, Spencer.”
“Excuse me?” I rounded him, cutting off his path. “You do not get to end this conversation because it got flipped on you.”
“Yeah.” He leaned in closer, freezing me in place. “I really can.” He moved around me, Tornado huffing, tossing his head at me like he agreed with Lennox.
A vehement scream gurgled in my throat, my hands itching to strangle him. A soft nose nudged my neck, Penny Dreadful coming to comfort me.
“Men.” I leaned my head into hers. “Am I right?”
She snorted.
“We don’t need them.” Animals, by far, were my preferred company over humans anyway. “Just us girls.”
Penny’s head lifted at the same time I heard a holler from the barn. Katy stood with a bucket of oats.
Without hesitation, Ms. Dreadful took off, leaving me in the dust.
“Yeah.” I nodded, letting out a laugh at how fast she abandoned my arse. Our bond stopped at a bucket of oats.
When I got to the stalls, Lennox and Katy were brushing down the horses together, her laughter bubbling like champagne through the stalls. Her cheeks flushed, her eyes glistening as they kept sliding over to Lennox.
“Next time, maybe you and I can go out. Be nice to go ride for fun.” She brushed down Penny’s legs but stared hopefully at Lennox.
I held back my groan. Yeah… sure she was talking about riding horses.
“Can’t remember the last I had a good ride,” she said.
I snorted, my hand clasping down on my mouth, holding in my laugh.
Lennox looked back at me, his lids tapering.
What? I innocently looked back at him.
“Yeah, that’d be great,” he tossed back at her as he headed for me, his hand circling my wrist. “Sorry to rush out, but I have to get this one home.” He spoke to her, but his taunting gaze stayed on me. “Little duchess needs to be back in her tower before sunset.”
“I’m not a duchess.” I glared at him.
“Close enough.” He glared back.
“She has a curfew?” Katy blinked at us.
I swore even Penny Dreadful rolled her eyes.
“Unless you want to see her turn into an ogre.” He grinned mischievously at me.
The gloves were off and formalities were out the door now, huh? Fine. Game on.
“You sure you don’t want to stay? Katy sounds like she really needs a—”
“All right. That’s enough.” He shoved me out, making me stumble and grapple for footing. “Thanks again, Katy. Appreciate it.”
“Anytime.” She trailed us out for a bit. “Text me if you want to ride or maybe grab a coffee.”
My mouth opened.
“Don’t even think about it,” he muttered so low only I heard, his body herding me forward.
“But come on…” I whined, trying to hide my smile. “That’s just asking for commentary.”
“No.”
“But it hurts…” I rubbed at my chest. “Keeping it in.”
He huffed through his nose, his mouth twitching with amusement, moving me quicker down the path, back to the SUV.
“You are mean.” He let me go, grabbing for the door.
“Mean?” I gaped. “I didn’t say anything.”
“You wanted to.”
“Come on,” I exclaimed. “She wasn’t even trying to cover up the subtext there.”
“What if she really just wants to go for a ride… on the horses.”
I hmphed, raising one eyebrow, my arms folding.
He chuckled under his breath, knowing that was not what she wanted from him.
“Katy is sweet.” He motioned for me to get in. I crawled into the car. “Unlike you.”
“Hey. First, I am nice. Just not around you, it seems.” I grabbed the seatbelt. “And second, I can’t imagine you with a sweet girl. You’d be bored out of your mind.”
A shadow passed over Lennox’s face, his Adam’s apple bobbing, his eyes going to the side. I felt the change, something in his past swooping through him like a ghost, shading him in darkness.
“Sorry.” I shook my head. “That was totally inappropriate. I have no idea what I’m talking about.” Folding my hands, I stared at my lap. “Katy really is sweet. She’d be perfect for you.”
He shifted his weight, about to close the door, but didn’t. “No. You were right,” he rumbled, not continuing with his thoughts. Silence descending on us, filling the air. Which one was I right about?
He still didn’t shut the door, wiggling me against the seatbelt.
“Before I become bitchy Spencer again,” I tried to laugh but came out flat, “I want to thank you for today. After this morning… this couldn’t have been a more perfect place to bring me.
Get my mind off the disaster I created.” I hadn’t even thought about social media or what storm the press was stirring up. I hadn’t thought about anything else.
He nodded, his mouth tightening, then cleared his throat. “Since I could hear your stomach growling back on the trails, how about I grab us a pizza on the way back?”
“Sounds perfect.” I nodded as Lennox shut the side door, walking to the driver’s side.
The royals had chefs and two full gourmet kitchens, but when the family went away, they were on-call, letting them leave the palace and do normal things.
I would never want to take that away from someone.
And sometimes a greasy pizza from a shop was all you wanted.
It did jar me a bit to know the one person who couldn’t stand me seemed to know exactly what I needed today.
Would Theo have thought of bringing me here? Not that he could get away and do this for a full afternoon, but would it even be something he would think about?
The smile slipped from my face as I shoved those thoughts away.
That wasn’t fair. Theo was going to be king, and he had a lot of other things to concern himself with.
The smell of pizza wafted up my nose as Lennox handed me the box through the car window. The SUV’s motor still running, he let me out at the personnel entrance, leading to the private residence.