New York wasn’t home to me. This hotel was just a room stuffed with my misery. Scotland was the only place I wanted to be, the home away from home that became permanent. I wanted to be exactly where I belonged—not stuck here for a minute longer. “Let’s go home.”
It was nice to be home again.
I’d only been gone for a week, but it felt like a lifetime. Misery was suffocating, a blanket of sadness that nearly smothered me. I couldn’t do anything but exist. I wasn’t sure when I would have finally left that hotel room and found an apartment and a job. Probably a while.
My belongings were returned to the room I shared with Crewe, but now that we planned to spend our lives together, everything felt different—in a good way. I loved my ring, and it made me feel special knowing his mother had worn it as well.
Crewe didn’t go to work like he normally would have. He took time off to be with me, to make up for the time we lost. It was only a week, but for both of us, it felt like an eternity. There wasn’t much talking involved, just a lot of sex.
He didn’t mention Ariel.
I didn’t either.
We managed to stay in bed all day, having our meals left by the door while we were wrapped up in the sheets. The only time we left was to eat and shower. The rest of the time, our naked bodies were wrapped together.
Crewe placed my left hand on his chest and ran his finger over the red ruby in the center of my engagement ring. “It looks great on you.”
“I think we go pretty well together, actually.”
“You’re right.” He brought my hand to his lips and kissed the back of my knuckles. “So, when do you want to get married?”
“I don’t care. Don’t you have to have a royal ceremony and all that stuff?”
He shrugged. “I’m supposed to. I probably should…but I don’t want to.”
“What would you like to do?”
“Something with just the two of us. Maybe a few witnesses.”
“Like on Fair Isle?” I asked with a smile.
He smiled back. “That sounds perfect, actually. It’ll be a little cold, but if the sun is out, it’ll be beautiful.”
“That sounds nice to me. Maybe we could have our own ceremony then do the big royal thing later?”
“That sounds fair. Let’s do that.”
“Perfect.” I cuddled into his side and wrapped my arm around his waist. “You sure you want to marry a peasant?”
“Absolutely.”
“That means I’ll be a duchess?”
“Yep.”
“That’s kinda weird…”
“Not really. All you have to do is look pretty. It’s the easiest job in the world.”
“You’re oversimplifying it.”
“Oh, and fuck your husband every chance you get. Forgot that one.”
I pressed a kiss to his chest. “That doesn’t sound so bad. I’d do that even if he weren’t my husband.”
“Good answer.”
As much as I enjoyed him spending time with me, I knew he couldn’t neglect his business forever, especially since Ariel was no longer around to help him with anything. “Are you sure you don’t need to get back to work?”
“Trying to get rid of me already?” he asked with a smile.
“No. I just don’t want to make your life more complicated.”
“Maybe I like complicated. I did ask you to marry me.”
“Hey.” I gave him a playful slap.
“You should let Joseph know what’s going on. I’m sure he’s curious.”
“Why would he be curious?” Last time he knew, I was in New York. My phone was in my bag somewhere because I forgot about it the second Crewe whisked me into his arms. The battery probably had died by now.
“Well…he called me and told me why you left.”
“He did?” My natural response was to be furious, but seeing how things worked out, I guess it didn’t matter.
“Ariel was in the process of telling me herself, so I would have found out anyway. He’d probably like to know you’re here.”
It was a sweet thing for Joseph to do, considering the fact that he didn’t like Crewe. I guess that was the best blessing I was going to get. “I’ll call him later.”
Crewe sat up in bed and looked at the clock. “I should probably get in the shower. Unless you’d like to join me?”
I loved to see that hot and naked body under the warm water any day. “I would, but I should probably call my brother.”
“You can always take a peek some other time.” He winked then fished his phone out of his pocket. He tossed it on the bed beside me before he walked into the bathroom.
When I called Joseph, I barely heard it ring once before he answered. “Crewe?”
“Actually, it’s me.”
“London?” he asked excitedly. “Looks like my message went a long way. I called you a few times, but it kept going straight to voice mail. I assumed you just didn’t feel like talking.”