“Okay,” she said after a minute, pulling herself together. “It sounds like we have a plan, then.”
When she watched Eric walk out of the room, a terrible sense of finality wound its way around her heart. What had he done?
What had she done?
14
On the day of the party, Anna was late to the palace. She hadn’t gotten up the courage to tell Ella she wasn’t going yet, and her sister had requested she join her for a makeover session beforehand. And since Anna wanted the girl time with Ella, who she hadn’t gotten to see much of lately, she’d agreed to let herself be outfitted in a beautiful new dress and have her hair and makeup done. She figured she could break the tough news gently during the session.
Breathless, she hurried into Ella’s rooms. “Back here!” her sister called. She already had her hair done by the time Anna found her.
“Sorry I’m late,” Anna said, plopping down into the chair next to hers. A servant came up behind her and wrote down her measurements, then darted off to find a dress. Anna winced, deciding to wait a little while to tell them she wouldn’t need one.
Ella beamed at her. “No problem, sis,” she said. “I’m just glad we finally got some time together. I’m sorry I’ve been so busy lately. Being queen can be a lot of work some days.”
“You mean it’s not all trying on tiaras and petting your hunky husband’s abs?” Anna teased.
Ella snorted. “Who even says hunky anymore? But I’ll admit, there is quite a lot of ab petting.” She raised her eyebrows smugly, making Anna laugh.
“I’m glad you two are doing so well.”
Ella smiled dreamily. “We really ar
e. Did I tell you he got me a colt as a wedding present?”
“Only a hundred times,” Anna answered, but Ella went on as if she hadn’t heard.
“He’s a gorgeous little thing. Thinks an awful lot of himself, though. When he’s around the fillies you can practically see him preening. And you should see him after I don’t get the chance to visit him for a few days—he sulks in the corner until I bring him a sugar cube.” She rolled her eyes. “Phillip picked him out himself. He says when he’s old enough, we can start a royal breeding program with him. Isn’t that perfect?”
“Absolutely,” Anna said dutifully. She liked horses pretty well herself, but they were more Ella’s thing than hers. Anna’s room had always been decorated with artistic renderings of viruses and atoms and electron microscopes. When she and her sisters had gotten glow-in-the-dark stars for their ceilings, Anna had spent a week arranging hers into astronomically accurate constellations.
Her smile faded. Thinking of constellations made her think of her nerd date with Eric, which was now splashed all over the tabloids as if it were everybody’s business and not a private moment that she cherished.
Eric. He was probably getting ready for the gala right now, worried that everyone would see him as less of a serious politician than he wanted to be. She’d tried to tell him several times over the last week that holding the party so early was a bad idea, but he’d brushed her off, urging her to focus on getting the research done on time. What she hadn’t told him was that there was no longer any way that was going to be possible. With a big project like this, snags inevitably arose and timelines were delayed. It happened to the best of scientists, and now it had happened to her team. She’d gotten more and more uneasy as the party approached, knowing that the results weren’t anywhere near ready and likely wouldn’t even be ready before the bill passed—if it passed—but she didn’t want to tell Eric that she’d gotten so much further off schedule than he’d anticipated. Instead, she’d been working her butt off, hoping she could make up the time without having to disappoint him. Eventually, though, she would have to tell him that the study probably wouldn’t be done in time to provide the publicity boost he’d been hoping for before Parliament voted on the bill that meant so much to him.
“Everything okay?” Ella asked, frowning over at her.
Anna snapped out of her reverie and gave a stiff smile as one of the servants tugged her hair into a regal updo. “Yes, of course, I’m just tired.”
Ella watched her a moment longer. “Are you sure?” she asked gently. “I’ve noticed you and Eric have become close—is that bothering you?”
“You read the tabloids too, huh?” Anna asked ruefully.
Ella laid a hand on her arm. “No, I just know my sister,” she answered, then shrugged a shoulder apologetically and added, “and yes, I read the tabloids. I hope you know that you can talk to me whenever you want, though. So if you do want to talk…” She waited.
Anna was surprised to realize that she did. “Eric is amazing,” she said truthfully. “He makes me feel amazing. He’s sweet and thoughtful and so funny and charming, and oh good Lord, even that man’s forearms are sexy. It’s unfair, really.”
Ella laughed. “It sounds like you two are doing well, then.”
“Not really. We…kind of ran into a snag in our work together that’s affecting our relationship. Though it’s a pretty unconventional relationship anyway.” Faintly embarrassed, she explained the small-talk and seduction lessons that had led to their romance, and then the roadblock they’d hit with the tabloid scoop.
Ella was leaning forward, her chin in her hand by the end of Anna’s story. “Wow, I didn’t know you had it in you,” she said, impressed. “Go, girl!”
Anna blushed. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
“But now?”
“I mean, I don’t regret it. I’ve learned so much about men, and about myself. And about Eric. But I’m worried I may have messed it all up now.”