Enchanting Sebastian (Big Sky Royal 1)

There are school pictures. Me on a bike. My prom photo. All kinds of things.

“This was my first job,” I say with a laugh. I’m dressed in a black and white uniform, serving burgers. Then it changes into me working for Christian. There’s a photo of Christian and me on the red carpet at the Oscars.

And finally, we come to a selfie of Sebastian and me. And then the last photo is a candid from our wedding day.

“It may seem silly, but I just thought—”

“This is the best present anyone’s ever given me,” he says, looking through it all over again. “I love it. I’ll treasure it always.”

“I’m glad.” I feel kind of silly that he’s staring at my senior photo that my mom had hanging in her bedroom. I took it out of the frame and put it in the album. “I had bad hair in high school.”

“Didn’t we all, darling?”

“Ha. That we did.” I lean my cheek on his biceps. “Happy Birthday, Sebastian. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Chapter Twenty

Nina

THE PARTY LAST night was a hit.

Ellie, Callum and Harrison are having a good time.

And today has been a lazy one around the house. I think the past couple of days caught up with everyone with the travel and the party last night, so I haven’t seen anyone today. Which is fine. A quiet day is nice now and then.

I spent the morning brainstorming a few job ideas for myself watering flowers around the property. Now that things are calming down, it’s time I get to work. I enjoy working, and being a princess doesn’t change that. Now, I can choose to work in areas I’m passionate about, and maybe make a difference somehow.

I’m sitting on the deck, curled up with a good book and a fresh cup of coffee. The weather is still beautiful, not a cloud in the sky, but autumn has taken hold. You can just feel the first nip of fall in the air.

Soon, it’ll be time to put the boats away for winter, and I’m sure we’ll head back to London. So, for today, I’m just going to sit here and enjoy my view of the lake.

I’m not sure where Nick is. Since nothing’s going on, I assume he’s at the guest house, keeping an eye on me via modern technology.

Which also feels great. I’m a homebody by nature, so this is my favorite kind of day.

“What are you doing?”

I turn to find Ellie walking through the glass doors, holding a can of Coke. She looks well-rested and happy.

“Being as lazy as possible.”

“That seems to be going around today,” she says with a laugh. “I slept forever. I guess the jet lag caught up with me.”

She sips her Coke and sits next to me.

“I’m not sure where the guys are,” I say. “I assume your brothers are off doing something together.”

“I think they ran into town for something,” Ellie says with a shrug. “Maybe coffee or something.”

“Good. I know they don’t get to spend a lot of time together.”

“Callum and Sebastian were always super close, even though they’re not as close in age as Freddy and Sebastian. I think they’re just kindred spirits.”

“And who are you close to?” I ask her.

“All three of my brothers, for different reasons,” she says with a grin. “Being the youngest with three older brothers was a curse when I was small. I had to learn to fight back. Not because they’re mean, but because they were rough.”

“I guess it’s the same for everyone, whether they’re royalty or not.”

“Absolutely.” She nods and sips her Coke. “I have an idea.”

“Okay.”

“Let’s go on the boat.”

I raise a brow. “Now?”

“Right now. No one’s around to stop us.” She gives me an evil grin. “Let’s sneak out, just the two of us.”

“I don’t know. We might get into trouble.”

“Oh, we definitely will.” She stands and takes my hand, pulling me up with her. “But at the end of the day, we’re the boss. Not them. Let’s just go spend some time together, you and me, without a bunch of people around to listen in.”

Well, put like that, it sounds wonderful.

“Okay, let’s go.”

We hurry inside and change into our bathing suits, I snag the boat key from the hook by the door, and then we’re off, hurrying down to the dock.

“Hurry, climb in,” she says with a giggle, like a little girl who’s trying to get one over on her parents.

I unhook the ropes, push away from the dock, fire up the engine, and take off across the lake. When I glance back, I see Nick sprinting out of the guest house to the dock, waving his arms.

“So much trouble,” I mutter as I speed away from the house to the middle of the lake.

“Oh my God, this is brilliant!” Ellie calls, holding onto the wide-brimmed hat she threw on. She’s in sunglasses, and her smile is as wide as Montana. “The breeze is perfect!”