Chapter 21
BASH
Eddie had retreated into the bedroom for a nap, and I stood in our small kitchen and tried to wrap my head around what had happened.
Three weeks. Three weeks until I’d be standing in front of actual royalty, helping to keep Eddie safe in the most high-profile environment possible while pretending I didn’t have feelings for him that could compromise everything.
Sweet Jesus, what had I gotten myself into?
The military part of my brain kicked in automatically—mission parameters had changed dramatically, and I needed to adapt fast. This wasn’t campus security anymore, where the biggest threat was someone recognizing Eddie from a distance.
This was the big leagues, and one wrong move could destroy my career, and, far worse, compromise Eddie’s safety.
But underneath the professional anxiety was something that scared me even more: the growing certainty that what I felt for Eddie had moved far beyond anything I could control or compartmentalize.
These past few days since North Carolina had been like living in some kind of dream.
Waking up with Eddie in my arms every morning, sharing coffee and quiet conversation, falling asleep to the sound of his breathing had become so natural, I’d started forgetting this was supposed to be temporary.
That there was an end date on this assignment, on whatever this thing between us had become.
And now that end date was staring me in the face like incoming artillery.
I thought about that moment on the plane ride back from North Carolina, when Eddie had been looking out the window with that soft, content expression, his hand warm under mine on the armrest. The way he’d turned to me with those beautiful moss-green eyes and said something about how different everything felt now, how much more settled he was in his own skin.
The intimacy in the small space between us had hit me like a freight train, and I’d realized that I was completely, thoroughly, head-over-heels in love with him.
I’d known I was in deep. Hell, I’d known that since the night he’d kissed me and turned my entire world upside down.
But sitting there thirty thousand feet above the ground, I’d understood with crystal clarity that this wasn’t attraction or friendship or even the intense connection we’d been building.
This was love—the real thing, the kind that changed you permanently and made you want to rearrange your entire life around one person’s happiness.
The kind that could destroy everything if I wasn’t careful.
Which brought me back to the current crisis: how the hell was I supposed to maintain professional distance for two weeks in England when the thought of pretending Eddie meant nothing to me made me panic?
I needed to get my head in the game. This was a job—the most important job of my career—and I couldn’t let personal feelings compromise my ability to do it well. Time to start preparing like the professional I was supposed to be.
My first call was to Rebecca Hartwell. Obviously, I used a secure line again, like I had done when I’d discussed our Thanksgiving plans with her. “Ms. Hartwell, it’s Special Agent Puller.”
“Ah, yes, Special Agent Puller. I assume you’ve been informed about the prince’s Christmas visit?”
“I have, and I’m happy to accompany him, but I will need a full briefing on security protocols for royal estates, coordination with British security services, and anything else you think I should know before I’m protecting a member of the royal family on their home turf.”
“Yes, I’d imagine so. I can send you an information package through our secure server. Once I have the preliminary schedule, I will set up a secure call to go over everything in more detail. There will be various locations involved, so make sure you study all the blueprints and protocols.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I assume everything has been uneventful on your end, considering I’ve received no updates after your trip to North Carolina?”
“Yes, ma’am. All’s good here.”
“Glad to hear it. Thank you for the call, Special Agent Puller.”
“Looking forward to hearing from you, ma’am.”
The next step was to send a text to JJ, my roommate back in DC.
He was a federal agent too, though for the FBI, and while we weren’t friends, we got along well enough.
If I was going to the UK, I would need my suits.
I’d only brought one with me, and that would not be enough, so I asked JJ to ship a few more.
He replied almost instantly that he’d take care of that. One more thing off my to-do list.
I spent the next two hours going through the preliminary security information Rebecca had already sent.
Eddie’s own London apartment would have been easy enough, since it had only one entrance/exit and was in a secure building, but he was expected to stay at his father’s residence, Frogmore Cottage.
And the other places he would visit were even more complex.
Take Sandringham House, one of the king’s residences and the place where they would celebrate Christmas.
It was a 20,000-acre estate with multiple buildings, extensive grounds, and security measures that made me dazzle—and I was used to the White House.
Keeping Eddie safe was my biggest priority, and so I studied floor plans until my eyes burned, memorizing exit routes and safe rooms, trying to anticipate every possible scenario.
This was familiar territory for me—the methodical preparation, the attention to detail, the constant assessment of potential threats. This, I could handle. It was the personal side of things that had me twisted in knots.
“You look like you’re planning a military invasion,” Eddie said, walking in from the bedroom with his hair sticking up in every direction.
“Might as well be. Your family’s security set-up is more complex than some countries I’ve served in.”
I held out an arm, and Eddie settled beside me on the couch, cuddling up against me. I kissed the top of his head. “Did you get a good nap in?”
“I slumbered a little. Had trouble falling asleep.”
He didn’t need to say more as we both knew what had kept him awake.
“Are you worried about the professional aspects?” he asked, looking at my screen.
“A little. It’s a high-profile assignment with a lot of moving parts and everything is unfamiliar to me. But mostly…” I trailed off, not sure how to articulate the real problem.
“Mostly, you’re worried about us,” Eddie finished quietly.
“Yeah.” I met his eyes, seeing my own anxiety reflected there. “Two weeks of pretending you’re just another protectee, when you’re actually…”
“Actually what?” Eddie’s voice was soft, encouraging.
The words sat on the tip of my tongue—actually the person I’m in love with—but I couldn’t quite make myself say them. Not yet. “Actually mean so much to me,” I said instead.
Something flickered across Eddie’s face, an emotion I couldn’t quite read. “I know. Which is precisely why we need to be so careful.”
We spent the rest of the afternoon going over protocols, with Eddie filling in details about royal family dynamics that no security briefing could provide.
Who would be present, what the daily schedule would look like, which family members I’d need to be most careful around.
It was professional preparation with an undercurrent of intimacy that made everything more complicated.
By early evening, we decided we both needed fresh air and a change of scenery. The campus coffee shop had become our usual destination, a neutral space where we could sit together without the charged atmosphere of our apartment.
We were walking across the quad, Eddie pointing out changes in the landscaping while I maintained my usual subtle scan of our surroundings, when someone called out.
“Excuse me, but aren’t you Prince Gregory?”
We both stopped dead at that distinctively British voice. My hand automatically moved toward my concealed weapon as we slowly turned around.
The speaker was a young woman, maybe twenty, with the kind of earnest expression that suggested genuine recognition rather than malicious intent. She was approaching slowly, hands visible, clearly not trying to cause trouble.
“Pardon me?” Eddie replied.
“You’re Prince Gregory, right? I recognize you from magazine pictures.
My gran is subscribed to HELLO! and OK! And since her eyesight isn’t what it used to be, I often read them to her.
” She looked between us, taking in my protective positioning.
“Are you supposed to be incognito? My apologies, I didn’t mean to—”
I had to let Eddie decide how to handle this. She clearly wasn’t a threat, at least not to his physical safety.
“It’s quite alright,” Eddie said quickly, glancing around to make sure no one else was within earshot. “But I’m here undercover, so to speak, in an attempt to have a somewhat normal university experience.”
Her eyebrows knitted together. “It’s because of the tabloids, isn’t it? They’re bloody awful, always hounding celebrities with their big cameras, even children. It should be illegal.”
Eddie hesitated for a moment, then nodded, clearly deciding to trust her. “If they caught wind of me being here, it would ruin everything.”
She immediately nodded. “I completely understand. You royals have no privacy, ever. It’s abhorrent. I won’t say a word to anyone, I promise.”
“I appreciate that more than you know,” Eddie said with genuine warmth. He held out his hand. “Eddie York, International Relations student.”
She smiled at him as she took it. “Pippa Bowden. I’m doing a three-month project in the library here as part of my studies to become a librarian. It’s a pleasure to meet you… Eddie.”
Oh, she’d understood the assignment.
“Likewise. And again, I appreciate your discretion, Pippa. It will allow me to enjoy my anonymity.”
She waved his words away. “Not a problem at all. Enjoy your time here, Eddie. It’s been a wonderful experience for me so far.”
“Same,” Eddie said, shooting me a quick side glance that had me fight to hold back a smile.
Pippa waved goodbye, then walked off. I kept watching her to make sure she wasn’t secretly taking any pictures, but she didn’t even have her phone out.
“I think we’re good,” I said to Eddie, who nodded.
We continued walking, but the easy comfort of moments before had been replaced by tension that sat heavy between us. The encounter had been friendly enough, but it was a stark reminder of how precarious our situation really was.
“That was a close call,” Eddie said softly.
“It was the first time anyone recognized you here, though.”
“I know. Do you think she will keep my secret? I wasn’t sure what other option I had but to trust her.”
“Yeah, I think she will. She seemed sincere in her comments on the tabloid press. And like you said, it wasn’t like you had other options.”
Eddie was quiet for a while, and when he spoke again, his voice was small and sad. “In England, we have to assume that everyone will know who I am. We won’t have the luxury of anonymity even for a second.”
We reached the coffee shop and found a quiet corner table, but neither of us seemed particularly interested in our drinks. The weight of what we were facing in three weeks pressed down on us like a physical thing.
“Bash, what if we can’t do this? What if maintaining the pretense is impossible?”
“We’ll figure it out,” I said, though I wasn’t sure I believed it myself. “We have to.”
“And if we can’t? If someone notices something between us?”
I looked at him across the small table—the man who’d become the center of my world, who I’d have to spend two weeks pretending meant nothing to me while surrounded by his family and the highest levels of British society.
The man I was falling in love with more deeply every day, even though I knew it could destroy everything.
“Then we deal with whatever comes. But Eddie, I need you to promise me something.”
“What?”
“If it comes down to protecting your safety or protecting what’s between us, you let me do my job. No matter what else happens, no matter how you feel about me, I need to know you’ll let me keep you safe.”
Eddie was quiet for a long moment, and I could see him processing what I was really asking—that if it came to a choice between our relationship and his security, he’d choose his security. “I promise,” he said finally, though his voice was strained.
Of course, neither of us mentioned the bigger problem. Even if by some miracle, we survived the trip to the UK without anyone finding out about us, our time together would still come to an end once Eddie’s year here was up.
And I wasn’t sure there was even a solution for that.