“
It probably means nothing to you, but I run my own web design business,” Caitlyn said. “Maybe Cabeau doesn’t value entrepreneurs; I couldn’t speak to that. But I make enough to have a few employees, and I manage almost a hundred accounts now. Where I’ll end up, I don’t know, but in America, we at least pay lip service to the idea that even commoners like me can and should find a way to contribute to the world.”
Emrys felt his heart in his throat. His mother was sitting very, very still and kept her eyes on Eldon.
The king laughed.
“We do appreciate entrepreneurship here. However, technology has not been a large part of our economic growth, unfortunately,” he said, leaning forward on his throne.
“Well, not every country can or should try to make money that way.” Caitlyn shrugged. “Technology isn’t good in itself. It’s expensive and is too often treated as a buzzword for increasing business without any real understanding of what that would require. I’m sure your advisors and parliament know best how and when you want to develop in that area.”
“She’s clever.” Eldon looked to Emrys. “The connections aren’t what we’d like, but she is clever, I’ll give her that. We will think on the matter, Emrys.”
“That is generous,” Emrys said, with a final bow.
***
“I’m your fiancée!?” Caitlyn hissed as she pulled Emrys into a room down the hall from the ballroom. He’d been reluctant to leave the ball at all, but after an hour, her curiosity and irritation were reaching their peak. Whatever the official protocol for the ball was, he could slip away for a few moments to explain an outright lie to the king that he’d expected her to play along with.
“Well, I can explain that.” Emrys checked to make certain the door was closed, and then returned to her side and took her hand.
“It’s a bit late to propose now. Apparently I missed it!”
Emrys frowned at her. “Please, just listen.”
Caitlyn pulled her hand away and crossed her arms. “I wait with bated breath.”
“You really do belong here, you know,” he drawled. “I was speaking to my mother when we arrived, and she incorrectly assumed that you were here as my fiancée. I should have explained right away that she was mistaken, but…”
Caitlyn sighed and let her arms fall to her sides. It was so hard to stay mad at him when he did foolish things trying to please his parents. Her own parents were just tickled pink that she’d graduated from college and gotten out of their little town. Nothing else seemed to faze them, aside from her perpetually single status.
“In any case, if you were my fiancée, everything would be much smoother. People wouldn’t question your presence here or the time we spend together. We’re much freer this way. I am sorry that I didn’t bring it up to you before now. I wasn’t certain how to do it or how you might take it.”
Caitlyn lifted her chin. “What do you mean?”
Emrys put his hands on his hips. “It would be very beneficial for me to marry. My trust fund doesn’t release until I’m forty. I’m not hurting for money, but at the same time, it’s galling to be held back in this way. My father is very controlling.”
“I can see that. But you’re not actually marrying me. Won’t that put a kink in the plan?”
“It would. But would you like to?”
Caitlyn thought her heart might have actually stopped. “L-like to? What, marry you?”
“If you go along with the plan—” Emrys came to her side again and put his hand on the small of her back. “We could make our engagement real. If you want to.”
“We’re not getting married!” Caitlyn laughed before she could think about it. Emrys’s lips twisted in displeasure and she grabbed his lapels before he could pull away from her. “I’m begging you to be serious here, Emrys. I care about you a lot. But I’m not going to marry someone just to help out with his trust fund! And we’ve just barely reconnected.”
“Well. I suppose that much is true.”
“We work well together,” she admitted. “Better than I’ve ever worked with anyone else. But we can’t do it like this. I’ll play along. It’s fun, being the fiancée of a prince, and I wouldn’t want to make anyone’s family drama worse.”
“Fair enough.” Emrys leaned forward and kissed her lips lightly, to avoid mussing her lipstick. “Play along this week, while my father is here, because I cannot smooth anything over with my mother while that man is at the palace. And then what?”
Caitlyn shrugged and pressed her palm to his chest. “If you fall in love with me, we can make our engagement real.”
“You don’t ask much, do you?”
“More than you do, apparently. Why would you ever marry anyone other than the woman you loved, after everything you went through with Miranda?” Caitlyn shook a finger at him.