Chapter Five
Ivy stares at me for a moment, her eyes wide. “Uh, you do know who that is, right? Like you didn’t hit your head and now you have amnesia and forgot you hate him?”
I watch as Reid walks toward the bar at the end of the ballroom. He glances back as though making sure I’m where he left me. “I’m dancing with him. Nothing more.”
Anika steps in. She changed from the big, poofy traditional wedding dress she wore for the ceremony. She has a different dress for every event. The wedding and balcony greeting, which took place this afternoon. Then the coronation and luncheon. Now the reception with dinner and drinks and dancing. She wears a white dress with long sleeves and a plunging back, and she’s wearing the hell out of the royal jewels. “Did I see what I think I saw?”
Ivy has on a black sheath and some spectacular heels that still don’t make her Heath’s height. Not that he seems to mind. “You absolutely did. She danced with him and she didn’t even use the opportunity to stab him. I checked.”
The idea is ridiculous. Well, now it feels ridiculous since I don’t think I’ve ever felt as in synch with a man as I do dancing with Reid. I’m not much of a dancer, but the man knows how to lead. While he whirled me around the ballroom, he told me tidbits about some of the wealthy people in attendance. Like the fact that the Duchess of Claireborn divorced her husband when she found out he was allergic to her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel dog and was given an ultimatum. The dog totally won. Or the fact that two of Luca’s cousins once tried to date the same Norwegian prince, and the war that started is now officially called the Scandinavian Social Media Slaughter of ’18.
You know what they say. Never start a land war in Russia in winter and never post a bad picture of a royal princess unless you want her to release a TikTok of you eating a whole ham hock when your entire personality is vegan.
I love his stories. He seems to know everyone on the European side, too. They all nod as we dance by.
“We had a talk and realized we have more in common than I would have thought,”
I allow as I watch him walk up to the bar. There are waiters dispensing champagne and wine, but anything else must be acquired at the bar.
“Uhm, yeah, you both look like you’re going to devour the other,”
Anika says.
I frown her way. “I didn’t say that.”
Ivy’s head shakes. “You don’t have to. We have eyes. And I think I can smell the pheromones from here.”
“Oh, is that because Harper wants to jump TV guy’s bones?”
Darnell walks up, a plate in his hand. Darnell is Heath’s former roommate, though they’re still in the same building. I happen to know he feeds Ivy on a regular basis, and she’s his first and best beta reader. He’s got a science fiction novel coming out in a few months, and we’ll use it as another excuse to party.
Didn’t Jeremiah tell me Reid likes science fiction? And does Darnell have to be such a weirdo? “I’m dancing with the man not jumping him.”
“You kind of did hump his leg.”
Heath joins his best friend, and he also has a plate piled high with the treats they’re serving. Ivy, of course, immediately grabs one.
“It’s called a dip,”
I counter. “I had to wrap my leg around his so I didn’t fall back.”
It was super sexy. He looked at me and asked if I trusted him and I said no, and he winked and suddenly I was leaning back and he was holding me. My heart did this weird flip-flop thing. But my leg around his does not constitute humping.
Even if I kind of wanted it to.
“I thought they hated each other.”
Darnell blatantly ignores me.
This is how we gossip. In front of each other. No keeping the weird, awkward stuff behind the backs. Nope. We put it all out there for all our friends to see.
Ivy’s head shakes as she picks up another… It has a fancy name, but it’s a pig in a blanket. “No. She hated him because he thought she was hot and therefore couldn’t possibly spend her life in a hard hat.”
“Uh, not how that went down.”
I mean a little. But I wasn’t upset with him for thinking I’m hot. “He tried to get me fired.”
“Are we on this again?”
Luca slides in behind his bride. “Darling, did he ever actually talk to you about firing Harper? Or was it something he said to his brother when he didn’t realize everyone could hear him? Sorry, I have to be on Reid’s side in this. We both know the pain. I once talked to my aunt about not liking the pear tarts a certain German politician served and there was a reporter at the restaurant. It caused an international incident.”
Being royal must be hard.
Anika leans back against her husband, a dreamy smile on her face. “He never mentioned it beyond apologizing for causing trouble. And he sent a lovely bouquet to my mom’s place.”
At least I got cookies. Flowers die. Cookies are forever. That’s what my mom says. They’ll be on my hips forever, and then how will I get a husband? I might have mommy issues.
“Anyway, we talked and now we’re getting to know each other,”
I explain.
Five pairs of eyes stare at me knowingly.
“Not in a biblical sense,”
I shoot back. I look to Luca, who said something I have questions about. “Did you know Reid before Ani hired him?”
“Yes. I met him and his brother years ago. He did some work for people I know in London and then helped us out with some projects after the flood,”
Luca admits. “He moves in some of the same circles. We’re not close, but I’ve met him several times. He’s dated a couple of women I know.”
Oh, I want that gossip. I know I shouldn’t. I know it’s a slippery slope, but I can’t help myself. I’m right back to where I was the first time I saw him. Well, not exactly, but I’m definitely back to being interested in the man. “Really? What kind of a woman does he like?”
Luca suddenly finds his wife’s hair endlessly fascinating. “Very much like uhm…what I mean to say is… His relationships are somewhat complex. At least his last one certainly was. He tends to like…”
“Bitches.”
Anika nods her head and puts it out there. “He’s good at finding the ones who are super sweet to him and mean to everyone else. Or at least that’s what Jeremiah told me. We had lunch a couple of days ago and I asked. Because I still think you would be a cute couple.”
I groan. This is precisely why I should have kept my curiosity to myself. My friends have spent way too much time with Lydia. They think they’re matchmakers. “Guys, it’s not happening. Well, the couple thing isn’t happening, but I have to admit, I might not mind spending more time with him. But like you said, I’m not his type.”
I glance toward the bar, and he’s talking to a woman. Or rather she’s talking to him. He’s holding two glasses of whiskey and obviously trying to get away. The woman is roughly my age and dressed to kill in a slinky black dress and five-inch heels. She’s pretty but she’s got a definite pick-me vibe going. I know because I recognize her. I heard her talking at lunch about how she couldn’t understand why the king would choose an American, and a mouthy one at that. Anika, it seems, isn’t demure enough, isn’t willing to defer to her husband the way a good woman should. It was obvious she was a much better catch, but Luca got tempted by American television.
The good news is Reid does not seem at all interested. He seems wary, trying to back up though making it look like he’s not trying to back up.
“Oh, that one doesn’t like you, Ani.”
Ivy sat by me at the luncheon. She heard it all, too. “I guess she’s decided to change directions since Luca actually went through with the wedding.”
“Why wouldn’t I go through with the wedding?”
Luca asks, a confused expression on his face. “I’m surprised at all the press surrounding us. They’re very negative.”
Ani turns and gives her new husband a grin. “Babe, we met on the set of a reality dating show. They are not known for long-lasting marriages. More than half the couples aren’t together by the time the show airs. They have their reasons to be suspicious. Also, it sells papers and brings in viewers. There were definitely rumors out there that we did this all for press and would break up right before the wedding. And then there are the people who think I’m using you. I’ve been called a gold digger more times than I can count.”
Luca huffs. “Oh, well, then they do not know the state of my wealth.”
He puts a hand on his wife’s cheek, cupping it and looking adoringly into her eyes. “They don’t know that you’re the one who will save an entire country with your brilliance. I’m the gold digger. I’m the one who found the real treasure.”
Ivy and I exchange looks. Because…I mean, it’s a lot of mushy stuff. In this Ivy and I are in synch. I almost snort though when I see Heath staring at them indulgently.
Darnell shakes his head. “This is a messed-up group. And Harper,”
he begins, gesturing toward the bar, “the man you are absolutely never going to be a couple with looks like he could use some help. It’s hard on some men to deal with aggressive women. Not me. I tell them in a loud voice to get back, temptress. Or I yell she tried to touch my no-no zone. It makes them think twice.”
I glance over and sure enough, that harpy of a Euro minor royal has Reid backed up against the wall where he’s trying to keep two glasses of whiskey in his hands while protecting his no-no zone. He’s not doing a good job of it. She’s got one hand on his chest and is way too close. I’m not sure what she thinks she’s doing. If the genders were reversed, every woman in the place would be stepping in to help, but as a society we tend to think men want all sexual attention all the time.
“I have to save him, don’t I?”
I kind of want to save him. I’ll admit I don’t like seeing that woman put her hands on him, and it’s not merely about social justice.
“If you don’t, I will,”
Ivy promises. I’m pretty sure her willingness is about social justice. She worked in tech for like a thousand years and understands what it means to be vulnerable. “It’s been a while since I put someone in their place. Or I could send CeCe after her. But then I would have to save him from CeCe. She calls them Hot Designer and Gay Designer. The fact that they both get an adjective means she’s practically in love.”
The last thing this wedding needs is CeCe in a fight. Especially since Lydia and Diane are here, and they’ve started acting like CeCe’s backup. Heath’s grandmother and Ivy’s mom once told me they didn’t like to fight, but you have to back up your friends.
And that was when we had to bail them out of jail in Atlantic City.
“I’ve got this.”
I start toward the impending assault. It’s not like I haven’t had to deal with this before. Some people don’t understand that no is a complete sentence and one we should honor. It’s just usually dudes I’ve got to deal with. Dudes can mostly be handled with threats and me pointing out that the cops won’t look at it kindly if they get physical with me. Chicks can oddly be more difficult.
“Why don’t you come to my hotel? I can show you some lovely designs.”
Okay, eww. She needs some better pick up lines. “Hey, we need to talk.”
Reid’s head turns my way, and there’s a flush to his face that lets me know he’s either embarrassed by the situation he’s in or worried I’m about to misinterpret something. “Of course, Harper. We should go somewhere and continue our discussion. Sonja, this is the woman I was telling you about. I’m working with her on the Banover Place project.”
He was telling her about me? I’m not going to read anything into that.
I’m totally reading too much into that.
“You can talk to her later. This is not the time or place for work,”
Sonja says with a confidence she does not deserve. Look, the woman’s pretty, but she’s got a perpetual sneer on her face. “It’s a wedding, and a royal one at that. It’s romantic. Despite the fact that the royals are… What you Americans call it? Bargain basement.”
Oh, we’re having a chat.
“I didn’t mean you, Reid,”
I correct. “I’m going to have a talk with Sonja here. So first off, don’t talk about my friends that way. They have more class than you can imagine, and that’s worth far more than money. Second, you need to up your game, lady. You asked him to come to your room to look at your designs? Everyone knows that means your vagina. Everyone.”
Her face goes red, and she glances around to see if anyone is watching. “How dare you.”
Pretty much the entire bar is watching.
I stop the nearest waiter because I have a point to prove, and I actually don’t want her to come around Reid anymore. I get the feeling this one could be tenacious if I don’t settle this here and now. “Sir.”
The waiter stops, offering me a lovely bacon-wrapped appetizer. Like all of the waitstaff, he’s in a formal uniform wearing the traditional colors of the St. Marten crest. Red and gold.
I take it because it would be rude not to. “Did you hear the offer this woman made to my friend here? The one about seeing her designs? In her private hotel room, because she apparently forgot to bring her portfolio? Unless she’s not talking about art.”
The waiter’s lips purse as though holding in a chuckle. He manages a professional, “Yes, ma’am. I did overhear that exchange.”
“Do you think she’s talking about architectural designs? Or perhaps she works in fashion?”
Reid takes the chance to move, claiming a place right behind me. Like I’m a wall between him and all that sexual harassment.
“That was not the impression I was under,”
the waiter says with a nod.
“Oh, she wants him to look at her female parts.”
An elderly woman sitting at the table beside the bar looks down her patrician nose at Sonja. She’s obviously some kind of Ralavian royalty because she has Luca’s accent and a thin tiara around her well-done updo of perfectly silver hair. She might be one of his aunts. “I don’t think he wants to. Young man, I believe that woman wants to take advantage of you.”
Sonja goes a brilliant shade of pink, says something under her breath in a language I don’t understand, and huffs away. If I wasn’t leaving tomorrow, I would worry about revenge, but she can find me in Manhattan if she wants to.
I down that app in one bite.
“You have to look after the men,”
the woman with the tiara says, lifting her glass of champagne my way in an obvious salute. “They are impressionable at this age. Very tender hearted. They can find themselves in trouble with predatory females.”
The waiter simply grins and walks on.
I nod the woman’s way. She’s obviously wise. “They are our greatest gift, and we must protect them.”
Reid’s laugh booms through the room.
So the guy can take a joke.
He’s smiling when I turn his way. He bows slightly and offers me the glass in his left hand. “For my knight in shining armor.”
I take it and gesture the way Sonja exited stage left. “Was she an old friend?”
Reid winks back, likely at the woman with the tiara before putting a hand on the small of my back and leading me toward my friends again. “Not exactly. She’s the wife of a wealthy former client of mine.”
I feel my brows rise. “She’s married?”
“You say that like it’s shocking,”
he says under his breath. He smiles at the people we pass, but it feels like a professional expression. Not the smile he’s given to me more than once tonight.
“It is. She was practically humping you in public.”
I say it through my own professional smile. I’ve probably made enough scenes for the day.
“She’s had a bit to drink, and I heard her husband has a new mistress,”
Reid offers. “So I’m certain she’s emotional. This is kind of the way at this level of society. Not for everyone, of course. I suspect Luca is going to be happy with Anika, but there are still a lot of marriages that are somewhat arranged. Luca, in many ways, was lucky.”
He winces. “I shouldn’t use that word because I know how the flooding damaged this country.”
I get what he’s saying. “But if he hadn’t been forced to use a good deal of his personal wealth to save his people, there would have been pressure on him to find the right wife, a woman of a royal line. Because he had no money, no one expected a royal to marry him.”
“Oddly, yes. Not many of the women who will hit on him for the rest of his life would have walked into the situation Anika finds herself in now. Sometimes we lose everything and find someplace completely new. I know it seems like tragedy, but it can also take the blinders off our eyes so we value what truly matters.”
I stop and stare at him for a moment. “Do you believe that?”
“I do. I know it’s true.”
He’s close, our bodies nearly brushing together. “There will always be bad things that happen in our lives. How we deal with them is what makes us who we are. Sometimes in order to change and grow, we have to let go. Even when it feels like the worst mistake we could make.”
He’s talking about the show. I don’t know why or what made him leave, but he walked away for a reason, and not because he got bored. Not because he didn’t want to do it anymore. “You’re serious about Banover Place.”
“I am very serious about Banover Place.”
He steps back and takes a short sip of the whiskey. “I’m serious about finding something new for me and Jeremiah and some of the crew we worked with. This isn’t some vanity project for me. How about you? Are you simply doing it to help your friend?”
I’m not. There are many reasons this job Ani offered me feels like a lifeboat. I’ve been mired in the daily act of running a company for so long. “In college I studied business. My father pretty much made me. They wouldn’t pay for it otherwise. But I minored in architectural design. I took a ton of woodworking classes and specialized courses in restoration. All on my own dime, of course, because my parents didn’t think those things would help me build apartments.”
“But you love the work.”
I love the silence sometimes, the almost communion-like feeling I get when everyone else has gone home and I’m still working in a house. It’s not the same in a big, new building. I don’t feel the history. “Oh, I fell madly in love with it. Even in high school I loved it. My shop teacher was Mr. Hubbard, and he spent his weekends working on this old farmhouse outside the city. Sometimes a couple of students would go out, and his wife would make these big lunches and he would teach us how we could take something old and make it new again.”
“I don’t do many new home designs. They don’t make me feel the way redesigning older homes does. There’s something about the history, the knowledge that one family has already lived there.”
I nod because he understands. “I was away from it for a long time after my dad died. I had to concentrate on the company, and the company makes way more by tearing stuff down and starting over than carefully bringing back something worn and used but with great bones. And then one of my best friends ended up on a reality TV show about a king who needed a wife, and she found herself staying at Banover Place. I managed to talk my way into a job there as a kind of handy Girl Friday. I was there so Ani had someone to talk to, but I fell in love all over again. I feel centered and happy when I’m working like I am on Banover.”
He holds up his glass. “Then we can do some good together.”
I touch my glass to his. “We can.”
When we turn and join my friends, I feel more hopeful than I have in a long time.