But that was no matter. He was used to repressing his urges. After all, he regularly held himself back from throttling all the seemingly incompetent people on his staff.
It would be easy to keep the distance he’d created between himself and Katie.
Though…she did smell very nice.
And come to think of it, her scent still lingered in the air.
5
The three of them reached the top of the stairs along with the last remnants of the spring breeze that had caught in their hair on the way from school.
“And then I remembered that the French word for apple is ‘pomme,’” said Lily.
“I remembered it, too,” added Seraphine, not to be left out. “I just didn’t say it out loud. Lily always raises her hand faster.”
“But you still knew the answer,” Katie said diplomatically. “That’s wonderful, too.” She put a hand on the girls’ heads, their hair windblown and soft, and raised her head to find that Armin was waiting in the hallway.
That was different.
He usually spent the afternoons in his offices, joining the girls for dinner a few times a week at most.
“Prince Armin,” Katie said. “We were just returning from school.”
“Yes, I see that.” A smile lit up his face at the sight of the girls, but they only murmured their greetings and scooted around him into the large suite they shared. The lack of interest seemed to wipe the smile from his face.
Katie’s heart twisted. “Heavy backpacks.” She laughed lightly, trying to make it seem…at least a little true. “They can never wait to take them off for the day.”
“Of course.” He sounded…hurt. A little distracted. And Katie saw the opening.
“Was there something we could do for you?”
Armin looked back at her, frowning. “No, I…”
Before the silence could stretch too long, she jumped into the breach. “Because, since you’re here, I wondered if you had some free time.”
“Right now?”
“Yes.”
He seemed to consider this, looking into Katie’s eyes. “I do. The afternoon. But the girls have their piano lessons in an hour.”
Katie took a deep breath and stood up straight, trying her best to look warm and welcoming. “There’s still time to call it off and choose a little spontaneity instead. I’m sure the girls would love it.”
Armin’s eyes were full of doubt.
“Come spend the afternoon with us,” she pressed, before the girls tumbled back out into the hallway.
The prince shook his head. “I wouldn’t want to upset their schedule. They need the consistency.”
“Wha
t they need is family.” It came out more urgently than she’d intended. “Consistency of family, Prince Armin. A schedule is well and good, but it’s the people in our lives we count on.”
A skeptical grin turned up the corner of his mouth. “Are you sure about that?”
“A hundred percent. Think about it. It’s one afternoon. They won’t become uneducated miscreants if they have fun with their dad every once in a while.”
Something flashed in Armin’s eyes at those words. “Won’t they?”