by Leslie North
The meeting went even worse than expected. Sensing blood in the water, the senators took full advantage and demanded he accept cuts that would hurt the poor populations he was trying to help. They claimed it was the only way for the bill to perform on budget, but that kind of change was a hard ‘no’ for him. He refused to allow his first bit of legislation—or any of his legislation—to harm Danovar’s most vulnerable subjects.
The older senator stood up, pushing his chair back from the table with a scrape. “The money isn’t there,” he huffed. “I know you’re young and this is your first move into serious politics, so listen to me when I tell you, things simply can’t get done if there’s no money for them.”
Eric gritted his teeth at the condescension, but channeled it into a charming smile. “Please, Senator Winton, sit. I’m sure we can come to some sort of compromise.”
The other senator, a woman with her gray hair in a no-nonsense ponytail, leaned forward. “There is one other place we could make cuts,” she suggested. “The medical research laws. We could cut some of the grants there, limit how much funding the palace provides.”
Eric bristled. That would undercut the funding for Anna’s project, and for projects like hers. Still, if she got her research back on schedule and finished before the bill was enacted as originally planned, they wouldn’t have to worry about it.
“We’ll consider it,” he said at last.
It hurt his heart to even consider this, especially knowing how passionate Anna and her team were about what they were doing. He felt dirty, like he’d betrayed her, but if this was the only way to get the legislation through then what other choice did he have?
He adjourned the meeting and went back to his rooms, hoping the senators would find another place to make cuts—somewhere that wouldn’t break the heart of the woman who was starting to mean everything to him.
12
Eric arrived at Anna’s house that night to find an open bottle of wine and two glasses already on the table, with Anna herself nowhere to be found.
He sat down and poured himself a glass. He needed it, after a day like today. The five o’clock news had ran with the story and Anna’s quote, and he and Simon had been putting out fires all day. As a result he’d been out of touch with Anna—after he’d briefly texted her to verify that she actually had given the reporter that quote and asked to meet tonight, he hadn’t gotten the chance to talk to her further. He knew she was probably mortified about what she’d said and how the press was interpreting it. It wasn’t her fault, and he wasn’t upset with her, but it was clear she needed a bit more training on how to deal with the public now that they would be quizzing her more often in hopes of nabbing another juicy quote.
Anna strode out of the living room, pulling her hair out of its braid. She froze when she saw Eric. “I am so sorry,” she blurted before she even finished entering the room. “That guy ambushed me and I didn’t even know who he was, and I was so nervous about the whole rugby thing and so happy when he started asking me about research, which I did know how to talk about—or I thought I did—but I have no excuse. I’m so sorry. I hope your campaign can recover.”
Eric waved her to the table. “Come have a glass,” he said, and drained the rest of his. “I think you need it as much as I do.”
She sat and poured some for herself, shooting him little glances like she was still anxious. He moved his hand across the table and rested it atop hers. “Hey,” he said, “I’m not mad. And I think the campaign will be okay, or at least, as okay as it was before all this. I just thought maybe you could use a little refresher course with the small talk, that’s all.”
She blew out a breath and sat back. “I definitely could,” she admitted. “I’m still terrible at it, apparently.”
“Nah, you’re not bad at all once you get to know someone. And you’ve improved a lot since we’ve been working together. You just need a few more tips.”
She gulped down her glass of wine, and they both poured another. “Okay,” she said when half that one was gone too. “I’m ready.”
He laughed. “If you have to get drunk before you can make successful small talk, we may be doing this wrong.”
“I’m not drunk yet,” she protested. “This has thirteen percent alcohol content, it’ll take at least two glasses for me to get buzzed. I’ve tested it.”
That was so Anna, he had to laugh again. “Okay then,” he said, “let’s practice. Maybe some role playing would help. You be the reporter and I’ll be the subject.”
“Right,” she said, a little uncertainly. “So, Prince Eric, do you…have any hobbies?”
They continued in that vein as the level of wine in the bottle got lower and lower, and Anna loosened up and made some good progress in her small talk skills. Somehow, though, the conversation came back to their project.
“I’m worried,” Anna admitted. “This is my first foray into major research, and I don’t want to fail on such a large stage, with something that matters to so many people. I mean, your funding has helped a lot—but it’s also raised the stakes so much higher. It’s nerve-wracking.”
“I know what you mean,” Eric answered, staring grimly at his empty glass. “All my life, everything has come easily to me, and I loved it. I loved being the spare, the charmer, the life of the party. But now I’m being asked to help clean up my family’s reputation, and not only that, this bill means a lot to me on a personal level. And everyone’s watching, everyone’s judging me, everyone’s waiting for me to fail as a serious politician.”
“I don’t think you’ll fail,” Anna said. “I think you’re amazing.”
“You’re biased,” he accused, but with a smile.
“Maybe,” she allowed, “but you are. Everyone loves you. Even if you did fail—which you won’t—they’ll still love you. If I fail, I’ll lose my reputation, and it’ll be so much worse because that’s all I have.”
“No, it’s not. You’re much more than just your professional reputation,” he declared hotly. “You knit all those blankets for the babies at the neonatal care unit. Do you think their parents care about whether your research fails? No. They care that some kind, talented, incredibly generous woman has given their child a beautiful gift that will keep them warm for years to come. And what about Anderson, and the rest of your team? Those people love you. You know they’ll be in your corner no matter how this project turns out. You might not be the life of the party, but you’re the heart of whatever room you’re in.”
She stared at him, her eyes suddenly shining. She pushed her chair back, came around to his side of the table, leaned down, and kissed him. “Thank you,” she whispered. “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said about me.”
“It’s true,” he said staunchly.
“It’s true for you too,” she said. “You’re like the sun, and everyone else, they’re flowers. Anywhere you are, people are always looking to you—not because they’re watching and judging you, but because they admire and respect and genuinely like you. I genuinely like you. I always have, even at first when I didn’t want to.” She kissed him again, then sat in his lap to get a better angle. Overwhelmed by her praise, he reciprocated and deepened the kiss.
She leaned back, eyes bright with emotion, and pulled off her shirt. He eagerly followed suit. Soon they were naked and she was rolling a condom onto him, and he was holding her hips as she lowered herself onto him in the chair. She tilted her head back and gasped, a look of wonder on her face as he entered her. He remembered the fantasy he’d had long ago, imagining this very moment, but it was so much better than his daydreams ever could’ve produced: the erotic curve of her neck, the cascade of her hair against her naked breasts, the way the connection between them strengthened with every moment they spent together.
She shifted her hips, wriggling on his shaft, and he let her set the pace. She moaned, settling herself deeper, winding her hands through his hair, reaching around to palm his balls. He kissed one breast and then the other,
worshipping them. He spanned his hands across her hips, watching the awe play across her face at each sensation of this new position. He would never get enough of watching this woman try new things.
He reached down, touched her, watched her catch her breath and bite her full bottom lip. “Fuck, that’s good,” she whispered, trying out her new cursing skills, and he couldn’t help but kiss her. She tasted like wine and sex and wonder.
She lifted herself up then, grabbed onto the top of the chair behind him, and drove herself down hard onto his cock. He grabbed her hip in one hand and her hair in the other, anchoring himself, unable to stop himself from meeting her thrusts now. “Yes,” he whispered, “Anna, yes.”
Anna dipped her head to kiss him, her eyes shining again, as they drove each other to the brink of oblivious pleasure. A few more hard thrusts and then they were hanging on tight, shattering together. They stayed joined for a long time afterward, not wanting to let go, not wanting to leave behind the new connection they’d forged.
But later, when Eric was lying in bed with her in the dark, he couldn’t help but worry. Earlier, she’d talked about how he’d made things better and worse—given her something important, but heightening the stakes too. Being with her, falling for her, it was like that. She’d given him an incredible gift…but now he was more nervous than ever that somehow, it would all go wrong.
13
Anna was finishing up paperwork with a test subject—Mrs. Grady, an older woman who always showed them endless pictures of her grandchildren—when Eric arrived at the lab a few days later. The woman perked up immediately. Eric was a favorite among the patients.
“Morning, handsome!” Mrs. Grady called across the room.
“Morning, beautiful,” Eric replied, but his greeting was more subdued than usual.
“Someone piss in your cornflakes?” the woman asked with a grin, noticing as well.
Eric shrugged and smiled back. “Nah, just didn’t get much sleep.”
“In a good way, I hope?” She winked.
Anna narrowed her eyes. She hadn’t been with Eric last night. If he hadn’t gotten much sleep, it must’ve been because something was bothering him, not because anything fun was keeping him up.
Confirming her suspicions, he just shrugged again and wandered into Anna’s office.
Anna turned to her patient. “I apologize, but I think I need to speak to the prince.”
“You do that, hon. Don’t let that one get away, eh?”
Anna hesitated. “What do you mean?” she asked carefully.
“Oh, we all know you two are together now,” the woman answered. “It’s all over the tabloids—that sweet nerd date he took you on. Did he really rent a whole B&B for the night?” She sighed, overcome by the romance of it.
Anna stared at her, flustered. “Oh,” she managed, and then, “forgive me, I really need to go talk to Eric.”
She hurried to her office while trying not to look like she was hurrying, and quickly closed the door behind her. “Is it true?” she hissed at Eric. “Is our nerd date really in the tabloids?”
This was bad, so, so bad. What would her colleagues think? Would they believe he was the reason her research had gotten behind schedule? She’d been terrified all along something like this would happen—that he or his support would ruin her professional reputation.
“I don’t know,” Eric said, startled. “Why do you say that?”
“Mrs. Grady knew all about it, the B&B, everything!”
He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, agitated. “The B&B’s owner must’ve given the info to the press. I’m sorry, I didn’t know, I thought she was trustworthy.” He pulled a dossier from his bag. “But I’m afraid I have more bad news. The Queen Mother is pressuring me to throw another gala, one that celebrates the results of your study. I’m worried that it’ll enhance the appearance of me only being good for parties.”
So that was what had been bothering him. She started pacing. “That’s a terrible idea. We aren’t ready for anything like that yet. We can’t throw a party for successful results before the results are even in. What if something goes wrong at the last minute?”
“Does it look like that might be the case?”
“No,” she admitted. Everything was going wonderfully, if a bit behind schedule, and her gut told her the results would be as spectacular as they’d anticipated. But as a scientist, she couldn’t announce anything until it had been tested, finalized, and double-checked. “But still, it’s not a good idea. It could make my reputation look even worse than it does now. We should just go radio silent until everything is done.” When her results were published, the scientific community wouldn’t care about her nerd date or perceived unprofessionalism with Eric. Throwing a party too early, though, that could backfire spectacularly.
Eric shook his head. “I don’t know. This party could help rally support for the bill, get us those last few votes we need. I can take being labeled a party boy. I can’t take being a failure.”
Anna stopped pacing. “No, Eric, you can’t throw the party. It’s far too soon!”
He held up a hand. “You don’t have to be a part of it, though. You can go radio silent the way you wanted, stay out of the public eye from here on out. I can take over with the publicity campaign and you can just focus on the testing. Divide and conquer, right? And hopefully that’ll help you get the research done on time, too.” He slid the dossier back into his bag, mind made up.
Anna stared at him. The party was a bad idea, but ultimately it was his choice, and if he chose to throw it she couldn’t be a part of it. What he was offering was what she technically wanted—so why did it feel like a breakup? “Are you sure that’s what you want?” she asked, mouth dry.
Eric was not her boyfriend. Eric was a prince, with responsibilities, with a past and his own needs. And she was a professional—a scientist, who should be much more concerned about her research than a man. She needed to remember that. She shouldn’t be feeling like crying right now. Going their separate ways with the project didn’t necessarily mean they couldn’t pick up where things left off after the project was over, anyway. But somehow, this decision felt big. Inevitable. It felt like a turning point, and she was worried they might both have the wrong priorities.
“Yes,” Eric said, and her heart broke a little.
“Okay,” she said after a minute, pulling herself together. “It sounds like we have a plan, then.”
When she watched Eric walk out of the room, a terrible sense of finality wound its way around her heart. What had he done?
What had she done?
14
On the day of the party, Anna was late to the palace. She hadn’t gotten up the courage to tell Ella she wasn’t going yet, and her sister had requested she join her for a makeover session beforehand. And since Anna wanted the girl time with Ella, who she hadn’t gotten to see much of lately, she’d agreed to let herself be outfitted in a beautiful new dress and have her hair and makeup done. She figured she could break the tough news gently during the session.
Breathless, she hurried into Ella’s rooms. “Back here!” her sister called. She already had her hair done by the time Anna found her.
“Sorry I’m late,” Anna said, plopping down into the chair next to hers. A servant came up behind her and wrote down her measurements, then darted off to find a dress. Anna winced, deciding to wait a little while to tell them she wouldn’t need one.
Ella beamed at her. “No problem, sis,” she said. “I’m just glad we finally got some time together. I’m sorry I’ve been so busy lately. Being queen can be a lot of work some days.”
“You mean it’s not all trying on tiaras and petting your hunky husband’s abs?” Anna teased.
Ella snorted. “Who even says hunky anymore? But I’ll admit, there is quite a lot of ab petting.” She raised her eyebrows smugly, making Anna laugh.
“I’m glad you two are doing so well.”
Ella smiled dreamily. “We really ar
e. Did I tell you he got me a colt as a wedding present?”
“Only a hundred times,” Anna answered, but Ella went on as if she hadn’t heard.
“He’s a gorgeous little thing. Thinks an awful lot of himself, though. When he’s around the fillies you can practically see him preening. And you should see him after I don’t get the chance to visit him for a few days—he sulks in the corner until I bring him a sugar cube.” She rolled her eyes. “Phillip picked him out himself. He says when he’s old enough, we can start a royal breeding program with him. Isn’t that perfect?”
“Absolutely,” Anna said dutifully. She liked horses pretty well herself, but they were more Ella’s thing than hers. Anna’s room had always been decorated with artistic renderings of viruses and atoms and electron microscopes. When she and her sisters had gotten glow-in-the-dark stars for their ceilings, Anna had spent a week arranging hers into astronomically accurate constellations.
Her smile faded. Thinking of constellations made her think of her nerd date with Eric, which was now splashed all over the tabloids as if it were everybody’s business and not a private moment that she cherished.
Eric. He was probably getting ready for the gala right now, worried that everyone would see him as less of a serious politician than he wanted to be. She’d tried to tell him several times over the last week that holding the party so early was a bad idea, but he’d brushed her off, urging her to focus on getting the research done on time. What she hadn’t told him was that there was no longer any way that was going to be possible. With a big project like this, snags inevitably arose and timelines were delayed. It happened to the best of scientists, and now it had happened to her team. She’d gotten more and more uneasy as the party approached, knowing that the results weren’t anywhere near ready and likely wouldn’t even be ready before the bill passed—if it passed—but she didn’t want to tell Eric that she’d gotten so much further off schedule than he’d anticipated. Instead, she’d been working her butt off, hoping she could make up the time without having to disappoint him. Eventually, though, she would have to tell him that the study probably wouldn’t be done in time to provide the publicity boost he’d been hoping for before Parliament voted on the bill that meant so much to him.