Let Your Hair Down (Almost Royal Book 3)

by Rachel Lacey

  “I’m sorry.” Her heart ached for young Flynn, trying and failing to live up to his parents’ expectations. Obviously, he’d internalized those feelings and carried them with him into adulthood. “I wish you’d had more support when you were younger.”

  “I think I turned out all right anyway,” he said with a playful smile, clearly trying to lighten the mood.

  “You turned out more than all right.”

  He took her empty plate from her and began packing up the remains of their picnic. She tugged the oxygen tube out of her nose and lay back on the blanket, eyes closed, soaking up the warmth of the sun overhead.

  “This is perfection,” she whispered.

  “I’m glad.”

  She heard fabric shuffling and then Flynn was beside her, his hand sliding into hers. Birds twittered overhead, and the pungent scent of flowers filled her nose. “This isn’t how I planned to see Paris, but it’s not so bad.”

  “You’re getting a different flavor for the city than you would have as a tourist, that’s for sure,” he agreed.

  “Maybe I’ll come back sometime and do the tourist thing properly.”

  “You absolutely should.”

  “It’s so good to get out of the flat. Truthfully, I’m starting to get a little stir-crazy watching TV all day. I really wish I had my laptop or my Nintendo to give me something else to do.”

  “That’s the problem with getting sick when you’re away from home, isn’t it?” Flynn said.

  She nodded against the blanket. “You’ve been a nice distraction, though.”

  They lay together in the sunshine. Peace flowed through her, something she wasn’t used to feeling in a situation like this. Usually, she drew contentment from crossing off all the items on her to-do list before bed, feeling that she’d accomplished everything she set out to do that day. She’d done absolutely nothing today, but somehow it didn’t seem to matter, because it just felt right being here with Flynn.

  Her feelings for him were growing much stronger than she should have ever let them, given that they had to say goodbye soon. His life was here in England, and hers was in Virginia. She wasn’t prepared to give that up for a man, no matter how much she liked him. And she really did like him a lot. But maybe…was it so crazy to try a long-distance relationship, at least for a little while, just to see what happened?

  She rolled to face him, studying his profile. The unruly lock of dark hair that tended to flop over his forehead was behaving at the moment as he lay on his back, tamed by gravity. Stubble darkened his cheeks, and she reached over to touch it, letting her fingers skim over his skin. His stubble prickled against her fingertips, sending a delicious shiver through her body.

  She leaned in, replacing her fingers with her lips. His scruff tickled, but beneath it, his skin was warm and soft against hers. He turned his head, and their lips met.

  “Hard to believe we’ve only known each other a week,” she murmured against his mouth.

  He rolled onto his side, cupping a hand against her cheek, the expression in his eyes fierce yet tender. “Sometimes, when we meet someone, it feels like we’ve known them forever. I felt that with you from the moment we met.”

  “I did too.” She kissed him again, scooting closer to him on the blanket.

  “I think that’s a connection we’ll always have, even after we go home.”

  Ruby didn’t protest when Flynn carried her up the stairs to their flat an hour later. She stowed her oxygen tank against the wall and stretched, invigorated by the blood flowing through her veins, more energized than she had been in days. “That felt so good. I think we should do it again tomorrow.”

  “I’d like that,” Flynn said, moving to the kitchen to put away their leftovers.

  “I feel bad that you’re always having to take care of the chores around here,” she said, watching as he threw away their picnic trash. “I’ll be able to help out more soon.”

  “Don’t,” he told her. “It’s not as though I’ve been spending hours in the kitchen cooking for you.” It was true. They’d mostly ordered takeout, although he’d also kept them stocked with food from the market around the corner. “I don’t often get the chance to do this for someone. It’s good to feel useful.”

  “Well, thank you. Really.”

  At Flynn’s insistence, she lay down in bed to rest, and the next thing she knew, the ringing of her phone jostled her from a deep sleep. Apparently, all that sunshine had tired her out. Without her glasses, she couldn’t read the name on the display screen, but no doubt it was one of her friends or family calling to check in. “Hello.”

  “Hi,” Megan said. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

  Ruby cleared her throat, coughing. “Just napping, no worries.”

  “Ah, crap. I should have texted first, shouldn’t I?”

  “No,” Ruby told her honestly. “I’m glad to hear your voice.”

  “How are things? Feeling any better?”

  “I am. In fact, Flynn and I walked down to a little park nearby earlier. It felt so good to get out of this damn flat, but I guess it tired me out.”

  “Well, that’s good. Any word yet on when you’ll be able to fly home?”

  “Best case scenario is next week,” Ruby told her. “I have a follow-up appointment at the clinic tomorrow to see how my lungs are doing, but I think I’m making good progress. I might just have to be one of those people who wears a mask on the plane and bathes in hand sanitizer to keep from exposing myself to any unnecessary germs during the flight.”

  “Oh God, I didn’t think of that,” Megan exclaimed. “We’ll have to fully decontaminate you when you get off the plane. Actually, let me talk to Theo when he and Elle get home from their honeymoon. I’m sure he could send the Langdon jet for you. That has to be more sanitary than a commercial flight.”

  “You know, that’s not a bad idea.” Ordinarily, Ruby felt uncomfortable using Theo’s wealth to her own advantage, but having a private jet at her disposal would undoubtedly allow her to come home sooner. But did she want to come home sooner? Or did she want to stay here with Flynn? Of course, he had to leave soon to fly to Dubai.

  One way or another, their cozy time together here in Paris was coming to an end, sooner than either of them might be ready for.

  “Elle and Theo will be home on Sunday, and I’ll mention it to him then,” Megan said.

  “I appreciate it.” She stared up at the vaulted ceiling overhead, watching shadows play across it from the trees outside her window.

  “I’ve got to get ready for a photography session, but I’ll check in with you later.”

  “Thanks, Meg.” She said goodbye and ended the call, laying for a few minutes while her thoughts swirled in a million different directions. Somehow, after all this, she wasn’t ready for her trip to end, wasn’t ready to go home. But she was getting ahead of herself. She had at least another week in Paris before her lungs would be healed enough to fly.

  So, she got out of bed, went into the bathroom to freshen up, and headed into the living room to find Flynn. He was—as she expected—sitting at the desk against the wall, hard at work on his design for Aidan.

  “Can I see?” she asked as she walked up behind him.

  “Of course.” He stood, motioning for her to take the chair. “Did you have a nice nap?”

  “I did. I’ve gotten awfully used to being lazy all day,” she told him with a self-deprecating smile as she sat.

  “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem for you once you’re well.”

  “No?”

  He shook his head. “I get the impression you’re a very driven woman, and I think you’re already itching to get back to your busy life.”

  “You might be right about that.” Despite her reluctance to leave Flynn—and Paris—behind, she missed her friends and her life at Rosemont Castle. “It’ll be good to go home. I’ve never been away from my cats this long before. I really miss them.”

  “Cats, huh?”

  “
Simon and Oliver.” She swiped the screen on her phone and scrolled through her camera roll until she came to a selfie she’d taken a few days before she left for London. “That’s Simon sprawled across my lap, and Oliver’s laying next to me. He likes to be close, but he’s not a lap cat.”

  “Pretty cats,” Flynn commented.

  “They’re Siamese. Littermates. Someone found them in a bag in a garbage can in downtown Orlando. They were the only two to survive.”

  “That’s awful.”

  “It happens all the time, unfortunately,” she told him. “At least, it does in America. Maybe things are different here.”

  “I doubt it. Humanity is what it is,” he said with a frown.

  “You’re probably right. Anyway, I volunteered at the shelter on weekends during college, and I was there when they came in. I took them home to bottle feed them, and by the time they were old enough to be adopted, I decided to adopt them myself.”

  “That’s quite a story,” Flynn said, leaning a hip against the desk. “I’ve never had a pet, I’m afraid.”

  “Never?”

  “Never.”

  “Do you like cats, though?”

  “I don’t not like them.”

  “Well, I suppose that’s a good enough answer.” She nudged him playfully. “I don’t think we could see each other again if you didn’t like my cats.”

  Flynn’s eyes darted to hers, and for a moment, they just stared at each other. “I’m sure I would like them quite a lot,” he said finally. But he’d probably never get the chance to meet them, a point she had just inadvertently driven home for both of them.

  “Anyway, tell me what I’m looking at.” She gestured to the screen in front of her, where she could see blueprints for the house he was designing, hoping to diffuse the suddenly melancholy mood between them.

  “I have to go to Dubai, Ruby,” he said quietly.

  “I know you do. And I have to go home to Virginia.”

  “I wish it weren’t that way.”

  “Me too.” She threaded her fingers through his, remembering her thoughts from the park. “But we’ve come a long way since we met, when we thought we’d only get that one day together in London. Maybe we should try to find an excuse to see each other again after we go home.”

  “I’m not sure it would be wise,” he said, eyes downcast.

  “No?”

  “I’m a man who’s always on the move, Ruby. I don’t think I could make a long-distance relationship work.”

  She forced a smile. Where were these feelings coming from anyway? She’d barely started thinking about the possibility of a long-distance relationship, but now that she’d thrown the idea out there and he’d rejected it, she felt a crushing disappointment. “Maybe I just meant we could stay friends. But anyway, show me the house.”

  Flynn leaned in, pointing to the screen. “This is a two-story, contemporary style home, but I wanted to incorporate the feel of the area.” He clicked the mouse, bringing up a gallery of photos. “See these pictures? This is the home site in the Wye River Valley in Wales.”

  “Wow.” The home site itself was wooded, overlooking a lush green valley, which sloped down to the river at the bottom. Its hillsides were dotted with quaint little houses. “It’s stunning.”

  “I thought so too. I wanted to make sure Aidan’s house maximized his views of the valley and also blended in with its surroundings.” He spent the next thirty minutes showing her every detail, from the floor-to-ceiling windows in the master bedroom to the enormous deck overlooking the valley. His final rendering showed a house built of a reddish wood with white trim, rustic and almost antique-looking, while also undeniably sleek and modern in its design.

  “Flynn, this is really something. I mean…not that I doubted your talents or anything, but you’ve created something really unique and beautiful, and from what you’ve told me, it also suits exactly what Aidan’s looking for.”

  A wide smile broke over Flynn’s face, so unabashedly pleased and proud that it melted her heart into a gooey lovesick mess inside her chest. “You really think so?”

  “I do. It’s amazing.” You should be doing this full time instead of overseeing the construction of hotels that all look exactly the same. But it wasn’t her place to tell him what he should do with his life. After all, family ties were important and strong, and only Flynn could decide if and when to break free of them.

  She returned to the couch, buzzing with a kind of restless energy that had been building inside her over the last day or two. She really needed something to do now that she was starting to feel better, or she was going to go crazy cooped up in this apartment.

  “I went shopping while you were asleep,” Flynn said, closing his laptop and joining her on the couch.

  “Oh yeah? What’s for dinner?”

  “Not that kind of shopping.” He reached into a paper bag beside the couch and pulled out a Nintendo Switch.

  Ruby gaped at him and then at the gaming console in his hands. “You bought a Switch?”

  “Yes. I thought you could show me how to play.”

  “Really?” She couldn’t contain the grin she felt spreading across her face.

  “I was curious after hearing you talk about video games.” He handed her the box, shamelessly letting her take the lead in setting it up.

  Thirty minutes later, they were seated side by side, each holding a joy-con while she kicked his butt in Mario Kart. She laughed until her lungs ached when Flynn got taken out by a Goomba. God, she’d missed this so much. She hadn’t even realized how much until the console was back in her hands.

  “Oh no.” He threw his hands in the air as his cart spun out on the track, but he was smiling. “I’m rubbish at this game.”

  “Like all things, it takes practice.” And she had a feeling they’d be getting a lot of practice over the next week, both at the game and at playing house here in Paris. How was she ever going to let him go when the time came?

  12

  “Will you stop fussing?”

  Flynn raised his hands in surrender as Ruby huffed past him into the stairwell. Part of him wanted an excuse to sweep her into his arms and carry her down the way he’d done the first time they’d gone to the park together, but that had been over a week ago, and she was much better now, almost entirely recovered, in fact. And he was so glad for it, despite it meaning their time together was coming to an end.

  “Have you got your mask?” he asked as Ruby pushed open the door that led onto the street.

  “Yes,” she told him with exaggerated sweetness. He knew she appreciated his fussing as much as she also felt frustrated by it. “I’ll put it on when we get there.”

  “Perfect.” He stepped ahead of her to the car idling at the curb and spoke briefly with the driver, confirming their itinerary for the day before opening the rear door for Ruby.

  She slid inside with a smile, energy and excitement radiating off her. Yesterday, she’d finished her antibiotics and been given a clean bill of health by the doctor she’d been seeing here in France. Her immune system was still compromised, and her lungs were weak, so she had to take it easy, but more or less, she was back to the same Ruby he’d met at Theo’s wedding almost three weeks ago.

  “You know, hanging out with you does have its perks,” she told him with a wink as the car slid away from the curb.

  “I’m glad.” Public transportation was out of the question while she was so vulnerable to germs, so he’d chartered a car to take them around the city today. In fact, he’d spared no expense to make sure they enjoyed a fun but quiet day that in no way risked her health.

  “And I’m not just talking about the fancy car,” she said, her tone gone serious.

  “I know.”

  “I wish I didn’t have to go home tomorrow. I mean…I’m so ready to go home, but I’ll miss you.”

  “About that,” he said. “My father has a business associate in Washington DC that he asked me to check in with before I head to Dubai. How wo
uld you feel about me flying over with you? We could spend a night together in Virginia before I head up to DC.”

  Ruby gave him a wide smile, eyes brimming with affection. “I would love that.”

  “All right, then.”

  She hadn’t mentioned a long-distance relationship again since the afternoon he’d shown her the plans for Aidan’s house, but he felt her mood dampen every time either of them mentioned going home. In truth, he felt the same way. He wished they could live in this faux domestic bliss forever. But, at the same time, he was already itching to get moving again, to get back to Wales and check in with Aidan, to get on with his project in Dubai. And that was exactly the reason he could never ask Ruby to take a chance on him, no matter how much it would hurt to let her go.

  She chattered excitedly the rest of the way to the Eiffel Tower, practically bouncing in her seat. When the car slid to a stop in front of the grand lawns that led to the landmark, she let out a little gasp. “Wow. It looks…smaller than I was expecting.”

  “I thought the same thing the first time I saw it.”

  Dutifully, she reached into her bag and put on the purple mask they’d gotten at the pharmacy earlier that week. It covered her nose and mouth, protecting her from germs. Still, they weren’t going inside any public spaces today that might put her at risk. He gathered the bag containing their picnic and climbed out of the car, coming around to open her door for her.

  “A girl could get used to this, you know.” She gripped his hand as she stood, eyes darting around to take in their surroundings.

  “Perhaps American men need to try harder to impress.”

  “Oh, they definitely do. Let’s go a little closer before we spread out our blanket.” She led the way across the grass, a bounce in her step that he hadn’t seen since the day they’d spent together in London.

  They chose an open spot on the grass and laid everything out for their picnic. Today, they’d brought sandwiches from the deli down the street.

  “How long will you be in Dubai?” Ruby asked as she ate, having taken the mask off for the task.