I shook my head. “Don’t be.”
“Maybe Eric will take you to dinner and that will make you feel better?”
“I don’t think I should be using Eric as a band-aid to my Dmitri problems.”
Lia nudged me. “Some band-aids might seem like band-aids, but in actual fact they’re a cure.”
“I take it things are–”
Lia and I both looked back to the laptop quickly.
“Wait…” Lia said slowly. “What did she just say?”
I reached for the keyboard and rewound the live stream a few seconds.
“…certainly the most qualified and best match for the crown prince,” Gunter was saying.
“And I have it on good authority that Miss Schuller had been awarded the only permission to have direct contact with the crown prince while he is on military business down south,” Annelise said.
Lia and I looked at each other in alarm as Gunter asked, “What good authority told you this?”
Annelise’s smirk was smarmy. “Let’s say a little birdie told me.”
“She wouldn’t…” Lia breathed.
“Who wouldn’t what?” I asked.
“How many little birdies would be telling stories like that?” Lia said.
I blinked. “They make up stuff like that all the time.”
“Yes. But did that not feel an awful lot like they wanted you to know they thought that came from an actual reliable source this time?”
I frowned. “But she couldn’t. Could she? Alaina’s team would stop her.”
“If they knew. Annelise didn’t strictly say that is came from Amanda. She only hinted verily heavily.” Lia was chewing her thumb again.
“Well maybe she does have permission to have direct access to him?”
“When even Rex and Hilde don’t? Unlikely.”
I sighed. “No, you’re probably right.”
“What are you two doing?” Dad asked and I slammed my laptop lid shut.
Unfortunately, laptops don’t work the way they do in movies and the sound was still playing as the computer went through its shut down process.
“…just don’t see how he could pick anyone but Miss Schu–”
I laughed weakly as Dad rolled his eyes and tried not to smile at us. “Not you too, Lia,” he said sarcastically.
Lia shrugged guiltily and sat up. “I know. I know. But it’s so damn addictive.”
“Just please tell me you don’t believe any of the nonsense they sprout.”
“I dunno,” Lia said looking at me. “Apparently Anya’s going to have Nico’s baby.”
Dad froze, his eyes on me looking like they were going to bug out of his head.
“Please tell us you don’t believe any of the nonsense they sprout, Dad,” I said to him and his absolute horror melted into sarcastic humour.
“Ha ha. You want my job, kiddo? Just ask for it. Murdering me by heart attack is not necessary,” he answered.
“But how will anyone be able to prove it was me?” I teased as Lia asked, “You want Dad’s job?”
I shrugged as I sat up as well. “I’m thinking about putting Media Relations and Communications down as options when I apply to uni is all.”
Lia grabbed my arm and shook me. “Why am I only just hearing this now? And then the news that…” She looked at Dad and I would have been more annoyed she’d been about to give away my secret had she not also stopped shaking me.
“News that what?” Dad asked suspiciously.
Lia cleared her throat. “That…Anya and…Eric…were going out tonight. On a proper romantic date!”
Dad smiled at her fondly and I sighed as he said, “If you want to lie to people, sweet, learn to do it better. Anya? Your turn.”
“How about we start with are you here for a reason or just to say hi? And if it’s a reason, can I distract you with it?”
Dad and Lia laughed. “I hadn’t heard from or about either of you in a little while so I thought I’d check on you.”
“You’re on a loo break, aren’t you?” I said and he nodded.
“Rex needs me back ASAP, but I thought I’d pop in a say a quick hello, reassure you I’m still alive, and remind you that I love you.”
I sniggered. “You make it sound like we’ll never see you again.”
Dad ran a hand over his chin. “It might be a while.”
“I love you too, Dad!” Lia cried, jumping off the bed to hug him.
I nodded. “Love you too.”
He blew me a kiss, kissed Lia’s head and headed out.
“They’ve been at it non-stop for days,” Lia remarked and she wasn’t wrong.
It seemed that Dad, Rex and the council had been on double-time since Dmitri and Nico had left. I didn’t know if it was because they’d left, if Rex’s letting Dmitri go had anything to do with why they were now working so hard, or if it was just a coincidence. But we’d barely seen anyone but Hilde in days, especially since Kostin had left again on some errand or something and wasn’t due back until just before Valentine’s Day.
I just hoped that Dmitri was safe.
Well, I also hoped Nico was safe.
But he wasn’t the one I was worried about doing something stupid.
Chapter Ten
“Have you got Nikolai?” Dad asked absently.
I rolled my eyes. “Kol’s not a phone, Dad. I can’t just put him in my bag.”
He looked up from the papers she was shuffling through. “No. Of course.”
Something felt off. “Is there something wrong? Should I not be going out or something?”
Dad shook his head, but it was the sort of headshake that was unbelievable. “No. You get to live your life, kiddo. Just…” He sighed as he looked around like he’d lost something. “Be careful, yeah?”
“Are you sure everything’s okay?”
Dad nodded. “Ja. I just can’t find my…” He sighed. “Never mind. Have a good night,” he finished in Gallyrian as though he hadn’t realised he’d switched.
Not convinced everything was okay, I didn’t press. I just went over to kiss his cheek before heading out to meet Eric.
Not wanting my sister to be a total liar, I’d reached out to Eric and asked him if he was interested in going to dinner. It wasn’t going to be the night Lia had said, but two nights later didn’t seem so bad really.
“Lady Tatiana.” Eric bowed when he saw me and I paused to give him a little bob as I walked towards him.
“Lord Baker. How are you?”
“Very happy you called.”
I smiled. “Well I need something to occupy my time while everyone else is busy.”
“Lady Malmont and Barr couldn’t make it?”
“Are we supposed to double date every time we go out?”
“We went to lunch just the two of us.”
“That’s true,” I conceded.
“Besides, is this a date?” he teased as Nikolai held the door open for us and we started down the steps.
“Is it not a date?” I asked and he looked at me playfully. “I just think I should know where we sit on the date scale.”
“Well…” he replied thoughtfully as he held my door open. “I’m happy to sit on the yes side of the scale. How about you?”
I nodded. “I think so.”
His grin widened for a moment, then he went around to the other side of the car and got in. It seemed that while the Penrose’s and the ruling family favoured a particular variety of Maybach, Eric preferred a more regular style of sedan car.
“So,” I said when the car started – this time with Nikolai in the front, “where are you taking me tonight? Another hip joint for the young and famous?”
He laughed. “Not tonight. Tonight is a surprise.”
“A surprise?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because surprises are nice. Aren’t they?”
“What
if I hate surprises?”
Eric laughed. “I can tell you the name, but I’m not sure it would matter. Didn’t you tell me to choose because you didn’t know any restaurants?”
“I have mastered Google. Thank you.”
“Oh. You’ve mastered Google?” he teased.
“Yes. Black belt level.”
He laughed openly. “I didn’t know you could get belts for Google.”
I nodded. “You can.”
“And yours is black?”
I nodded again. “Yes.”
We both looked at each other and laughed.
“Okay then.”
The rest of the ride was full of banter and jokes and laughing.
Like Dmitri, I couldn’t say what Eric’s favourite colour was. I couldn’t say what his favourite wine was, or if he liked beer or whiskey better. I couldn’t say where he went to school or name any of his friends except Rafferty Fitzcharles, and that was only because he had the most unique and definitively British name I thought I’d ever heard a real person own.
But I was getting a good sense of who Eric was. He was funny and made me laugh easily. He understood and even seemed to like my sense of humour, no matter what popped out of my mouth. I was comfortable with him when it was just the two of us or we were with other people, still feeling that sense of living the perks of our status without as many of the stresses.
Despite all those amazing qualities, though, he wasn’t Dmitri.
Eric didn’t immediately set my heart to fluttering merely by existing. The smile I had when I thought of Eric or I was with him wasn’t the totally unwitting, goofy smile of the totally smitten. But it was a happy smile, it was a smile I wanted to feel more of, and that was a good start.
“The Little Lemon?” I asked as the car stopped.
“That’s the one,” Eric answered.
I frowned at him. “Am I overdressed?” I asked and we both looked at my body to the dress we couldn’t see hiding under my coat.
“I don’t know. But I think if you are, so am I.”
He was wearing a tuxedo and waistcoat so I was happy knowing that my navy blue and white dress at least complimented his level of dress code.
“Okay then.” I nodded.
Eric flashed me another grin before jumping out of the car and coming round to open my door.
I was starting to think that I’d get back to Adelaide for a visit and forget how to get in and out of cars on my own, and find myself stuck while Jenn, Bea and Mum just laughed at me.
Nikolai found himself somewhere to hang out and wait while Eric and I had our coats taken and then were shown to our table – another booth-like thing which looked much fancier than your average diner booth, but afforded the same sense of privacy.
Eric then took my hand as I slid into the booth, only knocking the table with my knee once as he grinned and I winced.
“Are you all right, my lady?” the waiter asked in Gallyrian and I nodded.
“Yes. Great, thanks,” I replied in kind.
He nodded once in acknowledgement. “Here are your menus. I will be back shortly to take your drinks order.”
“Takke,” I said before he bowed and left.
“When did you start learning Gallyrian?” Eric asked as I passed him the wine list.
I scrunched my nose while I tried to work it out. “Something like November nineteen?” I guessed.
“Last year?”
I nodded. “Yep.”
“You’ve picked it up fast.”
I smiled at him. “Lessons were pretty intensive and constant. I tried watching TV in Gallyrian too – with English subtitles of course – to try to understand some more.”
“Did that help?”
I shrugged. “I don’t think so,” I said with a smile as I took a cursory glance over the menu.
He laughed. “Fair enough.”
“I still have no hope when Dad and Dmitri go at it though. They talk too fast and it’s all broken.”
“Fighting?” I didn’t blame him for sounding surprised.
I shook my head. “No. More like an uncle teasing his nephew. Or when they’re discussing state stuff that.”
“Sounds like your families really are close.”
I nodded. “More like one big family a lot of the time. Now, what should I have?”
“Shall we start with wine?” He paused. “Or is that not good for the baby?”
I looked up at him and he winked, transforming my stress into only slightly embarrassed humour. “You heard that one, huh?”
He nodded. “I totally did.”
“And you didn’t believe it?”
He shook his head. “Not even for a second.”
I snorted. “That makes one person.”
“You make two, surely?”
“Oh I don’t know. Annelise is pretty damn persuasive,” I joked.
He grinned and I took a moment to appreciate the way it lit those green eyes. “She is at that. You know she decided we were announcing our engagement on the thirteenth?”
I frowned. “No. I missed that one actually.”
He nodded. “Yeah. Apparently you wanted to get back at the crown prince for not choosing you so you’d hijack his big day with an announcement of your own.”
“Well engaged to one man while pregnant with another’s baby would probably steal the Crown Princess Watch finale’s thunder.”
He chuckled. “That it would.” He paused and looked at me. “On that note…”
“What?” I squeaked.
“Tatiana, I know we haven’t know each other long–”
“Ohmigod!” I blurted, my heart thudding. “You’re not actually going to propose, are you?”
Eric smiled slowly. “No. And…judging by that response, it would be a very long time before I’d even consider it.”
I felt mortified I’d jumped to conclusions and horrible if I’d broken any illusions he had about the time we’d been spending together. “Sorry.”
He shook his head and took my hand. “It’s fine. I was actually just going to ask if it was okay we had a frank discussion about something. Not in any way marriage related. Sort of,” he added quickly.
I nodded, not sure where this might be heading anymore. “Of course.”
“I think we’d say we were friends, yes?”
“Definitely.”
His smile grew. “And I think it’s safe to say we both know we were introduced for a specific purpose.”
I was smiling now, but it was mainly awkwardness. “Yes.”
“And that’s not to say that I don’t enjoy hanging out together…”
“Not at all.”
“It’s just that…”
“We haven’t known each other very long.”
“Exactly. And I’m not saying that it could never be more…”
“It just isn’t right now.”
He breathed heavily like a great weight had been lifted off him. “So we’re on the same page?”
I nodded. “It sounds like it.”
He squeezed my hand. “Okay. Great.”
“Yes. We might be more one day. But for now we’re just…close friends.”
“I just wanted to you to know that if I was going to give you a ring, it wasn’t going to happen soon. I didn’t want you expecting that now we’d gone out a few times that it was going to happen. But I also didn’t want you thinking there was zero hope…”
I laughed and he smiled at me questioningly. “No. I…get it. I think. This whole noble matchmaker thing is…”
“Weird?”
I nodded. “Weird. Yes.”
He grinned. “I mean, I like spending time with you and I’m all for seeing where this leads as long as you do. I just also want you to know I don’t think you owe me anything. I haven’t gone into this thinking you’re going to marry me next summer and have my baby within the following year.”
“Oh good,�
� I laughed.
“Oh. You laugh now,” he said mock-seriously.
“Wait. People actually go into these things thinking that?” I asked and he nodded.
“Happened to my cousin. When she realised he had no intention of proposing within two months of their meeting, she threw a massive hissy fit and he found himself married the next summer.”
“And the baby?” I asked.
“Has two younger siblings.”
“Oh God.” I squeezed his hand now. “Well, you don’t have to worry. I feel the same way you do.”
Right now, Eric felt entirely like a band-aid and I wasn’t sure that was strictly fair on anyone. But if he didn’t have any expectations past getting to know each other then it hopefully wasn’t so bad. And maybe Lia was right and he’d become a cure in time.
“So… Just to be sure…” Eric said slowly. “We’re not announcing our engagement on the thirteenth?”
I snorted and leant into while I tried not to burst into laughter.
“That’s a no, then?”
I nodded. “Yeah. That’s a no.”
“Can we drink Champagne anyway?”
I looked at him. “Yes. That we can do.”
“They might think you said yes.”
“Let them,” I told him.
He gave me a warm crooked half-smile as he raised his hand for one of the waiters.
We spent a long time just eating and drinking and talking and laughing. As the night progressed, we ended up closer and closer to each other on the seat until he was whispering jokes in my ear that made me smile so much my cheeks hurt.
“Okay,” I said, waving my hand to try to control my giggles. “I have to know what your favourite colour is.”
He laughed. “You have to know?”
I nodded. “I can’t in good conscience tell my best friends back home about our date without coming back with the basics.”
“Well, we couldn’t have that. What are the basics?”
“Usually school first, but I don’t think it matters when it will mean nothing to them.”
He nodded. “All right. So colour?”
“Yes.”
He smiled. “Orange.”
I pulled away and looked at him suspiciously. “Really?”
“Really. What’s next?”
“Favourite band!”
He frowned. “Uh… Good question. Am I a terrible cliché if I say The Verve?”
Some Proposal (I'm No Princess Book 4) Page 8