The Royals Next Door

“And yet they’re still here.”

“I know all of this seems bad to you. I know that seeing those boats out there, or being accosted by the media outside your house, or being written about in your local paper, is aggravating and depressing. It is bad, and you don’t deserve any of it. You’re just an ordinary citizen. But believe me when I tell you, it can get worse. And no matter what happens here, it won’t ever be as bad as it was for me back in the UK.”

“Do you think you’ll end up moving here forever?” I ask.

She rubs her lips together in thought, folding her slender hands in her lap. “I don’t know. I just know that I want this time to be barefoot and pregnant. Time to be alone with Eddie. Time to figure stuff out. I’m sure I’ll be back in London for the birth—the Queen would disown Eddie if our child wasn’t born on British soil.”

“What’s she like?” I can’t help myself.

“The Queen? She’s . . . she’s okay. I admire her a lot, you know. She had to go through so much growing up and at such an early age. She’s always been kind to me, though there’s a lot of distance between her and her family. It’s nothing personal. Just the way you have to be when you’re a monarch.”

“If Prince Daniel doesn’t have any children, does that mean Eddie will have to take up the throne? Is that something he even wants?”

“Eddie would be amazing at it,” she says quietly. “And I would support him one hundred percent. That’s the deal I made when I fell in love. You can’t choose who you fall in love with, but you can choose to be with them, and that was my choice.”

I mull that over as I have another sip of my wine, and she studies me carefully.

“Can I ask you a question?” she says.

“Of course.”

“Why are you still single? What happened with your ex wasn’t recent.”

I feel my cheeks flush. “Guys just don’t know what a catch I am.”

“Oh, I’m not suggesting there’s something wrong with that,” she says quickly. “I was just curious. Please, I’m sorry if I offended you.”

“I’m not offended. It’s true. It’s hard to get to know people if you’re hiding away most of the time. It’s not like I’m hitting on any single dads who come for parent-teacher interviews.” Though there was this one dad last year who was pretty damn cute. I didn’t do anything about it because of my own parent-teacher codes, and now I’m not even sure if he lives here anymore.

“Besides,” I add, “I have the worst taste in men. I figure it’s just easier to be by myself.”

“You know,” she says slowly, “there are photos of you on the internet.”

My chin jerks back. “What?!”

She nods. “Nothing bad. From Friday. I guess someone at that bar knew who the both of you were.”

“Oh,” I say slowly, wondering where she’s going with this.

“You looked really happy,” she says. “And so did Harrison.”

“Well, Harrison was drunk,” I tell her.

She smiles. “I know. I think that’s good for him too, to let off some steam. But there’s a photo of the two of you, you’d swear you were on a date and enjoying it.”

Uh-oh. My pulse starts to quicken. Is this the reason for the girls’ night?

“It wasn’t a date,” I say as casually as possible.

“I know it wasn’t. So does he.”

“And I know it wasn’t,” I fill in. “You know I just wanted protection, a buffer.”

“You wanted to upstage your ex in a way, I get it. And I’m glad you did it.”

And yet I can tell she wants to say more. I want to say more too. To deny, to tell her again that there’s nothing going on, because there truly isn’t.

“Look,” she says, pressing her fingers against the table. “I’m not going to tell you what to do or what not to do. You’re a grown woman, and Harrison is a grown man—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I tell her, holding my hand out in front of me, my palm out. “You’re so mistaken here. There’s nothing going on between us.”

“He didn’t come home until very late.”

“Well, did you ask him what happened? He didn’t want to go home, so I took him to my bed. I slept on the couch. That’s what happened.”

“He’s skirted the question . . . as he often does when it’s anything personal.”

“Nothing happened between us.” I’m practically pleading.

She nods. “Good. I was worried for a moment there.”

Wait. Wait, why was she worried?

“Why would you be worried?”

She gives me a wry smile. “Because I like you, Piper. And Harrison is like a brother to me. And knowing him, and knowing you, it would be a disaster if you were to get together.”