Royal Watch

by Stacey Marie Brown

  “Katy.” He grinned at her, his gaze on her as they moved to each other. Irritation zinged down my spine as she went up on her toes, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. He hugged her with a smile I had never seen before. My attention dropped to my boots, kicking at the gravel.

  “Hoping you’d have a few horses that I could borrow for a ride.”

  “For you?” She winked at him. “Always.”

  Grrr. Okay, we get it. You want to get into his pants.

  I took a breath, chiding myself. She seemed really sweet, and there was no reason they shouldn’t flirt or hook up. Both were consenting adults. Voices argued back and forth in my head.

  “Oh, you brought someone.” You could see a slight tightening to her voice, giving away her feelings for him.

  I lifted my head, rolling my shoulders back when Lennox peered back at me.

  Yeah, you forget me?

  “Ohhh. Oh, my goodness.” Katy’s hand went to her mouth, then she was moving to me. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t recognize you at first. Duh!” She laughed, knocking her head, her tension evaporating with her identification of me.

  No longer a threat.

  “Spencer, right?” She reached out to shake my hand, her hand coarse from work and firm in mine. “It’s an honor having you here.”

  “Thank you.” I didn’t mean for the two words to sound so clipped.

  “I’m gonna take her out on a ride.” Lennox motioned me to follow him.

  “Oh, great.” Katy clapped her hands together. “You’ve ridden before?”

  “Yes.” Okay, again, a bitch had taken over my vocal cords.

  “Okay, great,” Katy replied, following Lennox into stables. The smell of hay, manure, horse, and leather oil drifted up my nose, easing my muscles like a soothing balm—calming.

  Home.

  The first horse in the stables stuck its head over the gate, neighing at me for attention. Running my hands over its nose, a smile of pure happiness curved my mouth.

  “I will set you up on this horse.” Katy gestured to another one. “He’s so good natured. He will be a nice ride.”

  “I want this one.” I stroked the horse’s head.

  “Oh. Penny Dreadful is… temperamental. She still needs to be trained a lot more. I don’t think she’s the best horse for you.”

  Penny Dreadful.

  “She’s perfect.”

  Katy looked to Lennox, her eyes begging for him to intercede.

  Lennox glanced over at me, and I tilted my head, raising an eyebrow. “She’s. Perfect.”

  He chuckled, shrugging at Katy. “She’s got this.”

  Katy was not convinced, probably thinking I was some amateur who rode a few times and claimed she was a rider. I started breaking in horses at six with my father, always liking the spunky ones.

  After saddling them up, Lennox and I walked the horses out, mounting the beautiful creatures.

  “You have my number if anything happens.” Katy touched Lennox’s leg.

  “Fuck’s sake,” I muttered under my breath.

  Lennox’s head jerked, an eyebrow hitching up, letting me know he had heard me.

  “We’ll be fine. Thanks, Katy.” I swore his voice purposely went down a few octaves. A deep flush went over her creamy skin, desire flaring in her eyes.

  I clucked my cheek, my heels tapping for Penny to go, tired of waiting for them to say their farewells to each other.

  Lennox soon caught up with me.

  “So you and Katy, huh?”

  “Me and Katy, what?”

  I glared over at him; he knew perfectly well what I meant.

  “Where does Hazel fit in?”

  “Where she wants.”

  Jab.

  “Poor Lennox, so many women trying to sleep with you.” I could feel the awkwardness circling me like a buzzard, but my mouth wouldn’t stop. “Have you and Hazel…?”

  “What do you want to know?” He arched an eyebrow. “Just ask if you want to know something.”

  “None of my business. I just saw the two of you the other night. You looked very cozy.”

  For a moment, the only the sounds were the horse hooves and the creaking of the leather saddles echoing in the air, the fresh rain making everything clean and crisp. Penny’s head tossed back, fighting the bit. My palms circled the fur on her neck, soothing her.

  “You’re awfully concerned about who I am fucking.”

  “I am not. I assure you.”

  “Uh-huh,” he replied, staring off, the trail taking us up to a spot overlooking the city in the distance.

  “You are really full of yourself.”

  “Never said I wasn’t.” He smirked at me.

  “You certainly have never been a guard for the royals before.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Your vocabulary and bluntness.” I sounded far too snotty and uptight. Very unlike me; normally, I was the one pushing at convention.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “Let’s just say the word fucking is not in the royal decree. You would never hear Dalton utter that word.”

  “That you know of.”

  I shrugged. True, he could say it behind closed doors, but it would still shock me, he was so formal.

  “And what do you have against fucking anyway?” His tone was taunting, sliding over my body like fingers, skating between my thighs.

  I huffed, wagging my head, trying to dispel my reaction to him. Why did I care if he was hooking up with Hazel or Katy? He could sleep with thousands of women. Not my concern.

  “You know how to ride.” I nodded to him, switching to a safe topic. He was a natural on the horse.

  “Grew up on a farm.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. Why does that surprise you?”

  “I don’t know. You just seem so… city boy to me.”

  “Can’t say the it was the life I wanted. Couldn’t wait to get out… but… now I’m starting to see the appeal of the quiet.” He looked out again, his head wagging, lost in thought. “Can’t ever take the country out of the boy, I guess.” I could sense a pinch of sadness to his sentiment, making me feel there was so much I didn’t know about Lennox.

  I wanted to ask him more, but as if he felt my questions coming, he darted me a mischievous grin.

  “Come on, race you to the top!” Already encouraging his horse, Tornado, to speed up, his mount took off.

  “Hey!” I laughed, spurring Ms. Dreadful on. She was ready to be let free, her legs galloping after Tornado, her head down, set on overtaking him. I could see how she was still a bit wild. Horses for royal officers, parades, or the royals themselves needed to have that fire broken out of them. I loved her extra fire, could feel a kindred spirit. I could relate; the royals wanted to break me in as well.

  My body moved with hers as we sped up the hill. The wind whipped at my hair, laughter and exhilaration bubbling in my chest. I realized for the first time in weeks, I was happy.

  Free.

  Chapter 18

  The views of the city were stunning, the crisp air bursting my lungs with smells of wet grass, mud, and fresh air. Lennox and I raced our horses, trotted through dense vegetation, and paused at bluffs, looking down on the view. The top of palace and landmarks dotted the skyline with familiarity. The late afternoon began to dip heavier shadows within the forest.

  “We should head back.” He peered back at me. I couldn’t help noticing how well his arse fit in the saddle or how confidently he rode. My first crush was one of our horse trainers. I was, like, eight. I went out every day he was there, watching and absorbing everything he did. He seemed to enjoy me out there and would bring me in the corral with him to show me tricks and techniques to break a horse. He was so kind and patient. I adored him. Talked about him constantly.

  The moment I realized I liked him more than a friend, I was standing on the fence watching him climb on the horse, my eyes catching on the way his jeans cupped his butt and the way he calmed t
he mare as she started to reject him on her back, easing her with his hushed, low tones. He had that deep, sexy voice that had any animal or person wanting to do his bidding. I had fallen over my little riding boots for him after that. How handsome he looked mounted on the mare. Confident. In charge.

  Lennox had the same quality.

  Snapping my head to the side, I forced my gaze from his backside. His T-shirt and jeans fit his body far too well.

  It’s okay to find him attractive. He is. You can’t not notice that. But you love Theo. He’s just fun to look at.

  “Home?” He prodded, making me realize I never answered him.

  “Oh. Yeah. Sure.” I agreed, but it was the last thing I wanted to do. The palace was cold and lonely.

  He peered over at his shoulder at me, my eyes darting away, not able to hold his gaze.

  “I have a feeling if I asked if you wanted to keep riding, camp out here all night, you’d say yes.”

  I snorted, my head bobbing. “You’d probably be right.”

  “Not a fan of your new home?”

  “Not my home.” I shook my head. “I want to get my own flat, put some space between that world and mine.”

  “You could run to a desert island, and that world will still follow you,” he said. “Just how it is now. You being with Theo makes it impossible to go under the radar. You’re not just a prince’s girlfriend, but possibly the future queen.”

  “I thought we would have more time to be us, you know?” I watched his stallion’s tail swish back and forth as we slowly made our way back, the stables just beyond the tree line.

  He huffed, staying quiet.

  “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Lennox,” I growled. “Just say it.”

  “Don’t ask unless you are ready to hear the truth.”

  “Just say it.”

  He took a deep breath, his shoulders easing down. “I told him to wait.”

  “Wait for what?”

  “To announce you guys. Granted, I didn’t know you, but what he told me, I thought it was too soon to toss you in so quickly after returning. I think he was hasty. And I thought you’d be a fool for saying yes to it.”

  An emotion I couldn’t decipher stirred me in my seat, crunching my forehead down tighter.

  Nope, I was wrong.

  Anger. I could feel anger.

  “Who are you to judge him or me? What, you guys met like two seconds ago, now you know what’s best for us? For me? I love Theo. I want to be with him. There was no point in waiting. And your opinion on something you know nothing about doesn’t make it the truth.”

  His head curved enough to see his profile, his hazel eye appearing black in the shadows. “I told you. Don’t ask me if you’re not ready.”

  “So easy to judge from your perfect perch, isn’t it? Have you ever been in love? Done something crazy because you’d do anything for that other person?”

  Lennox swung over his leg, jumping down from his horse, stomping to me. I hadn’t even realized we were back at the stables.

  “You know nothing about me, Baroness,” he spat, his eyes bursting with fire as he peered up. “And you know nothing about what I’ve done for someone I loved. It’s so easy to judge from your perfect perch, huh?” He tossed my words back in my face with a sneer. Whipping around, he grabbed Tornado’s lead and pulled him toward the stables.

  “Oh, hell no,” I muttered, sliding off Penny and marching after him. “Don’t you dare walk away from me.”

  “We’re done here, Spencer.”

  “Excuse me?” I rounded him, cutting off his path. “You do not get to end this conversation because it got flipped on you.”

  “Yeah.” He leaned in closer, freezing me in place. “I really can.” He moved around me, Tornado huffing, tossing his head at me like he agreed with Lennox.

  A vehement scream gurgled in my throat, my hands itching to strangle him. A soft nose nudged my neck, Penny Dreadful coming to comfort me.

  “Men.” I leaned my head into hers. “Am I right?”

  She snorted.

  “We don’t need them.” Animals, by far, were my preferred company over humans anyway. “Just us girls.”

  Penny’s head lifted at the same time I heard a holler from the barn. Katy stood with a bucket of oats.

  Without hesitation, Ms. Dreadful took off, leaving me in the dust.

  “Yeah.” I nodded, letting out a laugh at how fast she abandoned my arse. Our bond stopped at a bucket of oats.

  When I got to the stalls, Lennox and Katy were brushing down the horses together, her laughter bubbling like champagne through the stalls. Her cheeks flushed, her eyes glistening as they kept sliding over to Lennox.

  “Next time, maybe you and I can go out. Be nice to go ride for fun.” She brushed down Penny’s legs but stared hopefully at Lennox.

  I held back my groan. Yeah… sure she was talking about riding horses.

  “Can’t remember the last I had a good ride,” she said.

  I snorted, my hand clasping down on my mouth, holding in my laugh.

  Lennox looked back at me, his lids tapering.

  What? I innocently looked back at him.

  “Yeah, that’d be great,” he tossed back at her as he headed for me, his hand circling my wrist. “Sorry to rush out, but I have to get this one home.” He spoke to her, but his taunting gaze stayed on me. “Little duchess needs to be back in her tower before sunset.”

  “I’m not a duchess.” I glared at him.

  “Close enough.” He glared back.

  “She has a curfew?” Katy blinked at us.

  I swore even Penny Dreadful rolled her eyes.

  “Unless you want to see her turn into an ogre.” He grinned mischievously at me.

  The gloves were off and formalities were out the door now, huh? Fine. Game on.

  “You sure you don’t want to stay? Katy sounds like she really needs a—”

  “All right. That’s enough.” He shoved me out, making me stumble and grapple for footing. “Thanks again, Katy. Appreciate it.”

  “Anytime.” She trailed us out for a bit. “Text me if you want to ride or maybe grab a coffee.”

  My mouth opened.

  “Don’t even think about it,” he muttered so low only I heard, his body herding me forward.

  “But come on…” I whined, trying to hide my smile. “That’s just asking for commentary.”

  “No.”

  “But it hurts…” I rubbed at my chest. “Keeping it in.”

  He huffed through his nose, his mouth twitching with amusement, moving me quicker down the path, back to the SUV.

  “You are mean.” He let me go, grabbing for the door.

  “Mean?” I gaped. “I didn’t say anything.”

  “You wanted to.”

  “Come on,” I exclaimed. “She wasn’t even trying to cover up the subtext there.”

  “What if she really just wants to go for a ride… on the horses.”

  I hmphed, raising one eyebrow, my arms folding.

  He chuckled under his breath, knowing that was not what she wanted from him.

  “Katy is sweet.” He motioned for me to get in. I crawled into the car. “Unlike you.”

  “Hey. First, I am nice. Just not around you, it seems.” I grabbed the seatbelt. “And second, I can’t imagine you with a sweet girl. You’d be bored out of your mind.”

  A shadow passed over Lennox’s face, his Adam’s apple bobbing, his eyes going to the side. I felt the change, something in his past swooping through him like a ghost, shading him in darkness.

  “Sorry.” I shook my head. “That was totally inappropriate. I have no idea what I’m talking about.” Folding my hands, I stared at my lap. “Katy really is sweet. She’d be perfect for you.”

  He shifted his weight, about to close the door, but didn’t. “No. You were right,” he rumbled, not continuing with his thoughts. Silence descending on us, filling the air. Which one was I right about?
/>   He still didn’t shut the door, wiggling me against the seatbelt.

  “Before I become bitchy Spencer again,” I tried to laugh but came out flat, “I want to thank you for today. After this morning… this couldn’t have been a more perfect place to bring me. Get my mind off the disaster I created.” I hadn’t even thought about social media or what storm the press was stirring up. I hadn’t thought about anything else.

  He nodded, his mouth tightening, then cleared his throat. “Since I could hear your stomach growling back on the trails, how about I grab us a pizza on the way back?”

  “Sounds perfect.” I nodded as Lennox shut the side door, walking to the driver’s side. The royals had chefs and two full gourmet kitchens, but when the family went away, they were on-call, letting them leave the palace and do normal things. I would never want to take that away from someone. And sometimes a greasy pizza from a shop was all you wanted.

  It did jar me a bit to know the one person who couldn’t stand me seemed to know exactly what I needed today.

  Would Theo have thought of bringing me here? Not that he could get away and do this for a full afternoon, but would it even be something he would think about?

  The smile slipped from my face as I shoved those thoughts away.

  That wasn’t fair. Theo was going to be king, and he had a lot of other things to concern himself with.

  The smell of pizza wafted up my nose as Lennox handed me the box through the car window. The SUV’s motor still running, he let me out at the personnel entrance, leading to the private residence.

  My brows furrowed, taking the box from his grip. “Aren’t you coming?”

  “No, I was going to head home.” He cleared his throat, his tone formal. “Unless you need anything else, my lady?”

  “No…” I shook my head, a rush of disappointment and apprehension crashing into my chest. The huge palace behind me loomed with emptiness and silence. I had never had a problem with being alone; I thrived off it actually, but as night crept heavily in, I didn’t want to be by myself with time to think about today or my future. Longing to hold on to the peace I felt a little longer, the lightness in my chest, the smile on my face, my mouth moved without my guidance. “Will you stay? Eat with me?”

  Lennox’s eyes found mine for a moment, no emotion on his face. The extra beat of silence had chagrin overflooding off my tongue.