38. Plans
38
PLANS
ODETTE
I wasn’t sure what we were yet. Wyatt had given me so much in one evening to digest. The next day, we were back to business. Apart from a quick kiss in the car while dropping me off, we had little more to do with one another. He took a work call. I filtered through emails. I was sore—not from our clandestine rendezvous, unfortunately. A car rolling into a ditch—even slowly—can make one very achy.
Wyatt rifled through his briefcase. “Uh-huh, yes. We see eye-to-eye.”
He sat back up, handing me a bottle of pills. Covering the receiver, he whispered, “Take two. It will help with the shoulder pain.”
“Oh, thanks,” I mouthed.
I grabbed water from the seat’s back pocket and swallowed two pills. They were an anti-inflammatory, but I hoped they would work. I could barely bend my neck with a full range of motion. I didn’t know how Wyatt was functional while I was so broken.
He hung up and looked over. “You looked uncomfortable. I know I’m sore.”
“I’m fine,” I lied.
“It’s okay to say you feel like shit, Odie.” Wyatt’s face was kind .
“Okay, I feel like shit,” I laughed.
“You never swear.”
“Guilt or something like it, Wyatt. You bring pain meds with you?”
“One, see how you are after thirty-five, Odette. Two, I cannot function with a headache and a crying child. I can only eliminate one factor, so I prepare for it.”
“Thanks either way.”
“Of course. I hope it helps. When you get home, take a long bath. And if you can get a massage, do it. I should take my advice, but timing. I’m sorry for multitasking.”
“It’s okay. You’d rather spend the day with Theo, I’m sure.”
“Yes. But… I wanted to talk to you. Tomorrow night, I’m free. I was wondering if you might want to do something.”
I did. I wanted to do everything . But as I struggled to move my head one way or the other sufficiently, I didn’t think it would amount to much.
“I’m so sore.”
His face fell. “Oh, of course, sure. I’m… I just thought I would ask.”
“I want to,” I said. “But I won’t be much fun like this.”
“Sure. When you feel up to it, I’d like to do something. If you’re still okay with it?”
“I would be,” I assured. “It’s not that I am opposed. I want to be mobile—fully mobile.”
“We would both prefer that, I think.”
I would need to be fully mobile for our next meeting. His gaze gave me goosebumps. This man wanted me. I’d thought Guy wanted me, but it wasn’t like this. Wyatt made his intentions clear, not with fanfare but with a look like he wanted to devour me. I bit my lip involuntarily and looked down. My face flushed bright red.
By now, we’d returned to Neandia—headed to the palace to drop me off. Wyatt insisted I make it home first. I hated that the trip was over. My freedom waned once more. While abroad, I’d been important and independent. Now, I returned home under my sister’s enormous shadow. I was untouchable once more.
The palace gates loomed large as I returned to my gilded cage. A footman rushed to open the door, but Wyatt leaned to kiss me before he did. It was a fabulous, slow, sweet kiss. Whatever pain ailed me fell by the wayside as he brushed my hair back. Then, the world returned to normal as he retreated. At least, I think it did for him. I sat there like an idiot, trying to speak English and failing miserably.
“Bon soir.” I made a face. Bon soir!? It’s not even noon yet!
To make matters worse, Alexandra stood in the service entrance doorway with Christophe holding onto the hem of her dress. She looked perplexed but also somehow impressed. Grieg followed, running up to Christophe.
“Are we macking in the car now?” she asked.
“Macking?” I asked as the gate shut.
“Old-timey slang that Rick uses,” Alexandra said. “Making out. Snogging.”
“Sorry. I didn’t think he’d go for it,” I said, mortified.
“It looked like a hell of a kiss.”
It was .
“I… some things happened while I was away.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I didn’t go away with that intent, but things… some things--“
“Auntie, I wuv you,” Christophe attached himself to my leg.
“Aww, thank you, darling,” I responded. “I love you, too. And your little ears are far too precious to hear anything more.”
“Oh, really?” Alexandra looked excited. “Well, I’m about to drop him with Rick. We can catch up.”
I followed her to Rick’s office, where he was on his computer watching a video recap of a Swedish reality show he didn’t actually watch. I blamed Ingrid for this problem. She’d caught him up to speed one night, and he’d gotten addicted to videos of people gushing about couples on the show or dispelling rumours. He also lived for the conspiracy theories.
“There’s my little mudlvarp ,” Rick cooed.
“When you call him that, it makes me feel ill,” Alexandra groaned.
The child climbed into Rick’s lap and immediately went to pick another video from the sidebar. He knew too much about the Internet already.
“Moles are cute, Lex. ”
“Only your people think that,” Alexandra said. “I am going to catch up with Auntie. Be good for Pappa, okay?”
Christophe was already bee-lining for a video. He didn’t have a care in the world.
Alexandra and I went to the drawing room near her office for tea. She and Rick usually hosted people here. Upon arrival, I felt special, getting genuinely royal treatment, but the rigid furniture didn’t help my back and neck.
“I’m in so much pain, honestly,” I said. “That’s all I can think about.”
“I’ll ring the palace doctor.”
Within five minutes, the man was there, fussing over me. He handed me a muscle relaxer, and I waited to feel like jelly after he left. All the while, Alexandra asked me questions.
“So, you two are… a couple?”
“I wouldn’t call us a couple .”
“How did it start?”
“I got jealous of his friend who is… a lesbian. I’m an idiot.”
“Who is the friend? Was she pretty?”
“Yes. The Vice President.”
“Oh, you live such an exciting life!”
“You went to the opera this weekend!” I declared.
“Fine, the opera is yours. Next, I need to know more. Is he a good kisser? What all did you get up to?”
I rolled my eyes. “Lex, I don’t kiss and tell.”
She was bursting. “Yes, yes, you do! I need to know. I am dying to! He’s cute and sweet, and obviously, you fancy him.”
“Just because you are sex-starved in pregnancy doesn’t mean the rest of us can make up for your lost time,” I sighed.
“First of all, I am unhinged while pregnant. Why do you think Rick is in such a good mood? Second, ouch. You’re being mean.”
“Really?” I pulled a face.
“Yes. It’s fun. You’ll understand when you get pregnant someday. Oh, this is exciting. So… did you two?”
“No,” I said. “Things were done. People were satisfied. I don’t want to say more.”
Talking about my sex life gave me hives. I wanted Wyatt to pin me to the bed and fuck me as soon as I was physically in shape for it. At the same time, I didn’t want to give Alex a play-by-play.
“Oh, boo.”
“I’m not Astrid,” I sighed. “Wait until Ingy gets a boyfriend, and it will get interesting again.”
“But he likes you? And you like him?”
“I adore him,” I said. “He’s gorgeous. And so incredibly sweet. Thoughtful, even. Grieg loves him, too.”
I looked over at my boy as he slept beside me.
Alexandra sweetly said, “He is a good judge of character, so we all must approve.”
“Rick isn’t going to freak out?”
“Rick wants you happy, so no . He would love for you to find someone worthy of your time.”
The implication was someone better than Guy. And the more Wyatt took care of me, the harder I fell. Maybe Wyatt was too old and complicated, but he’d only shown me respect. That was more than I could say about my ex.