Once Upon a Royal Christmas

by Robin Bielman

  “Wonderful.” Eliza jumped to her feet. “I’ll let you two get back to business. Thank you, Your Highness.”

  “It’s my pleasure. Thank you for the invitation.”

  “I saw your grandmother’s gown for the ball,” Rowan said as Eliza stepped out of the room. “It’s beautiful. And your grandfather is wearing a tux. He also ordered a corsage for your grandmother, but please don’t tell anyone that. He wants to surprise her. The two of them are still so cute.” She twirled a strand of her long dark hair around her finger.

  “They are that,” he said in agreement. “What about you? You’re not planning on going to the ball?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “It really doesn’t matter.” She fiddled with the notebook in her lap. “Now where were we?”

  “Be my date,” Theo said.

  Rowan stared at him. He wasn’t sure if she was happy or put off by the suggestion, so he decided to rephrase it.

  “I mean, would you please do me the honor of being my date for the Christmas Ball?”

  “You want me to go with you?”

  “Yes.”

  She blinked as if he’d asked a much more serious question, like say, “May I kiss you?” Which, thankfully, he hadn’t voiced out loud. Damn his one-track mind. He would not be kissing Rowan. He simply liked to be around her. They were friends.

  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” True.

  “Why not?”

  “Because people will talk.”

  He shrugged. “People talk about me all the time. But if you’re worried about tarnishing my perfect image, don’t be. I can handle it.” One side of his mouth lifted in a smile.

  “Aren’t you cute? Thinking you’re perfect and I could negatively impact your reputation. I’m pretty sure you’ve taken care of that all by yourself, what with all the pictures of women I’ve seen you with. ‘Royal Bad Boy’ I think one publication called you?”

  She’d done a very thorough research job on him. Interesting.

  “You think I’m cute?”

  Rowan rolled her eyes. “Is that all you heard?”

  “No. But you shouldn’t believe everything you read in magazines or see on the Internet.”

  “I don’t,” she argued.

  “So, the ball then. Will you be my guest?” It wasn’t the wisest move, asking her to be his date, but he couldn’t stop himself. After last night, he wanted to dance with her in his arms. Hold her close. Breathe. Her. In.

  “I could go on my own, you know. See you there.”

  “If that makes you more comfortable, okay.” It really wasn’t, but he wasn’t used to chasing after a date. He also had a feeling she did want to go with him, but didn’t like the idea of saying yes too quickly. Rowan Palotay liked to be the one making the decisions.

  He’d best remember that and bury his attraction to her.

  He hadn’t come to Marietta to get close to anyone but his grandparents.

  Close.

  When was the last time he’d felt truly close to a woman? Let himself relax and not worry about paparazzi or other prying eyes. He couldn’t remember. And while the people of Marietta had definitely taken an interest in him, they didn’t have an agenda.

  “It does,” she said softly.

  “No problem. It’s a date then?”

  “Okay.” A sudden look of excitement lit her eyes.

  “What?” he asked, leaning forward and putting his elbows on his knees.

  “You’ve just upped the ball preparations big time. The committee was already working really hard, but now that you’ll be attending, I imagine no one is going to get any sleep until it’s over. Eliza has probably alerted everyone already, and I’m picturing party chaos to make the evening outstanding. I’m glad I’ll get to see the final result.”

  “Me, too.”

  Very glad. Which made him foolish, but he didn’t seem to care.

  *

  Rowan hated cancelling her plans with Theo. But worse, she’d planned to continue her work on the mural at the hospital this morning. She really hated not showing up there as promised, but in the middle of the night, she’d spiked a hundred and two degree fever that didn’t show any signs of weakening. Popping fever reducers every four hours helped in the short term, but her body still ached miserably. She was hot, then cold, her skin clammy, then brittle.

  She pulled the blanket tighter around her body and sank deeper into the couch. Outside, snow fell in big, fat flakes, but on the television screen, divers swam in an aquamarine sea as she watched Into the Blue for probably the tenth time. If a shirtless Paul Walker couldn’t make her feel better, nothing could.

  A knock sounded on her door, and she frowned. Since when did her mom knock? “It’s open,” she called out. Her mom had phoned earlier to say she’d be by with homemade chicken-and-rice soup. It was Rowan’s favorite. Her mom rocked.

  The person who entered the house, however, wasn’t her mom. “Theo, what are you doing here? I told you I was sick.” As she sat up, the blanket fell to her lap.

  “Hi,” he said, gently closing the door behind him. “I thought I’d bring you something to eat.”

  Okay, so maybe the devastatingly handsome prince could make her feel better. With his light blue jeans and black windproof down jacket, he looked like he’d stepped out of the pages of a Patagonia catalog. He slipped off his beanie, and she gulped. She wanted to run her fingers through his mussed golden hair so badly.

  She sat on her hands.

  He stamped his black snow boots on the welcome mat, unzipped his jacket, and hung it next to hers on the wall-mounted coat rack. Ro’s mouth dropped open. It must be her fever, because his black, long-sleeved crewneck T-shirt showed off his broad shoulders and slim waist in a way that made her wiggle on the couch. When he turned, the stretchy thermal tee accentuated his muscular chest and flat abs.

  Could the guy just once look unkempt instead of hotter than any man had a right to be?

  “Thank you,” she managed to say, then more clearly, “but I don’t think you should be around me. Whatever virus I’ve got, I’m probably contagious. My fever hasn’t broken yet.”

  “I’ll risk it.” He placed a large brown bag on the coffee table and filled the couch beside her. His eyes touched every part of her face like he was looking over something important. Valuable.

  She felt his exploration all over her body. Tiny tingles that spread a delicious kind of warmth through her.

  His gaze dipped to her chest. And holy mother of pearl, the curve of his lips made her dizzy. She’d seen a lot of his smiles, but none like this.

  Glancing down to see what had him looking like the best thing since peanut butter, she took in her striped heather grey T-shirt and scrunched up her nose. Of all the shirts she had to be wearing, the one that said Let’s get naked! with a cartoon banana tossing off its peel was the worst. The skin-less banana had a black rectangle over its… private part.

  When she lifted her gaze, Theo stayed quiet, but his eyes danced with amusement, reminding her of their first meeting when she’d wanted him to say something. Anything.

  “Are you laughing at me?” She’d asked him the same question that morning a couple of weeks ago.

  This time, he answered. “Absolutely not. I’m just enjoying the view.”

  She dropped her chin to take another peek. Yep, he knew without a doubt that she wasn’t wearing a bra. Which didn’t bother her in the least. She liked her body and didn’t mind it being appreciated. So rather than cover up with the blanket like she suspected he thought she’d do, she took her hands out from under her legs and rolled her shoulders back to stretch.

  He made a deep, guttural sound, then cleared his throat and grabbed the brown bag. “I wasn’t sure what you’d be in the mood for, so I got a few things.”

  “That was really nice of you, but you shouldn’t have.”

  Theo took out a carton of orange juice and put it on the coffee table before swiveling toward
her. His expression turned serious. “You take care of people all the time and deserve to be taken care of in return.”

  “I don’t—”

  “You saved me from snowballs, helped when I hurt my ankle.” He reached out and brushed her hair off her forehead, his finger delicately tracing her hairline down the side of her face. She melted a little bit. “You gave me hand warmers when I thought for sure I faced possible frostbite, and you surprised my grandparents with a Christmas tree. You’ve made me feel a part of their lives, and a part of this town, by giving me an ornament to hang on that tree. I can only imagine all the other things you do so, for the next hour, let me take care of you.”

  Tears burned the back of Rowan’s eyes. He was right. She liked, no loved, giving, but had a hard time receiving. That he was here and saying such nice things, that he’d appreciated what she’d done, turned her world upside down. Turned her heart into one of those winged cartoon drawings, ready to take flight so it could make its home on his shoulder.

  A big part of her wanted to argue with him, but the soft parts inside of her won this time. She stared into Theo’s bottomless blue eyes, knowing she was helpless to fight what he offered.

  “Okay,” she said quietly. “Thank you.”

  He returned to the task of emptying the brown bag. “Liquids are important and orange juice is rich in Vitamin C, so we’ve got that along with some flavored waters with electrolytes. Soup is the go-to when sick, so I brought chicken noodle and vegetable.” He placed the items on the coffee table in a straight line. “We’ve also got yogurt, bananas”—he cut her a quick side glance—“and the ultimate fever reducer, cayenne pepper.

  We.

  He kept saying ‘we.’

  She didn’t know what to make of that.

  Wait. “Cayenne pepper? I’ve never heard that before. What do you do with it?”

  “Sprinkle it on your food. It helps you sweat out the fever and promotes blood circulation.”

  “Yeah, because it’s hot and spicy. I’m not a fan of hot and spicy.”

  “No?” Theo asked with a gleam in his eye. “I bet I could change your mind.”

  Oh, boy. Was it warm in here? Her body on fire, Rowan reminded herself she didn’t let a guy get the upper hand, even if she couldn’t stop thinking about having his hands all over her body.

  “I’ll just have a yogurt please, minus the cayenne pepper.” All the food was such a lovely gesture, but her mom had made special soup and would be over soon, so Rowan didn’t want to spoil her appetite. What little of it she had.

  “Is it okay if I put the rest of this away in the kitchen and grab you a spoon?”

  “Sure. Thank you. It’s at the end of the hall.”

  She watched him pull a small spice container out of the bag and place it on the coffee table before he gathered everything else up and walked into the kitchen without a word.

  If she didn’t already feel herself liking Theo waaaayyy too much, this sealed the deal. She could fight against the physical attraction, but getting to know the man on the inside made it difficult not to fall for him a little bit.

  It wasn’t the first time she’d been smitten with a man who was unavailable. Yes, she’d been misled the last time, but she’d never make the same mistake again.

  Besides, everyone in Marietta was smitten with him. In the grocery store yesterday, she’d overheard more than one conversation where women fantasized about Theo. Gushed about him and his good looks and manners.

  Cutting herself some slack, she reached over to pick up the spice. Mustard powder. She had no intention of putting that on her food either.

  Theo seemed very busy in her kitchen, the sound of cupboards opening and closing and the faucet running grabbing her attention. She stood to go find out what he was up to, the blanket falling to the floor, and, oh, yeah. All she had on besides her banana T-shirt was boy short panties.

  She quickly sat back down and wrapped the blanket around her waist and legs. She’d been so hot earlier that she’d flung her pajama pants off when she’d gotten out of bed to watch TV.

  Noise in the kitchen stopped. A moment later, Theo appeared holding the red ceramic bowl she used for popcorn. “Since you’re opposed to cayenne pepper, this is the next best thing,” he said, handing her a spoon as he knelt to put the bowl at her feet. It was filled with water.

  “My mom used to do this whenever my brother or I had a temperature.” He opened the mustard powder and added maybe a couple of teaspoons to the water. “Your feet, malady.”

  He pushed the bowl closer to the edge of the couch while she lifted the blanket and tucked it around her knees. If her bare legs surprised him, he didn’t let on. She, on the other hand, was painfully aware of her lack of clothing with him so close.

  “The hot water and mustard powder draw blood to your feet, which also increases blood circulation, and can remedy fevers.” He lifted one foot by her heel and placed it in the water, then did the same with her other foot. Her size sevens fit with no problem.

  She gave a sigh of bliss at Theo’s warm hands and gentle touch. He looked up and their gazes collided. Held. The sound of her phone chirping with an incoming text broke their connection. Perfect timing.

  Rowan leaned over to look at the screen of her cell. The text was from her mom saying she’d been held up and would be over in time for dinner instead of lunch. “Love you” and several emoticon hearts followed. Her mom had recently become a big fan of texting and one emoji was never enough.

  “Everything okay?” Theo asked.

  “Fine.” She settled back into the couch with her yogurt, more than ready to concentrate on something besides Theo. “This feels nice. Thank you,” she said, wiggling her toes in the hot water.

  “My pleasure.” He sat back down next her. “What are we watching?”

  “Into The Blue. We can change it though, if you want. I’ve seen it several times.”

  He picked up the remote and scrolled through the guide. “A Million Ways to Die in the West. Know what that’s about?”

  “Oh my God. It’s hilarious. It stars Seth McFarlane and Charlize Theron and—”

  “Say no more.” He clicked to the station where the movie was scheduled to start in a minute. “I’m a big Seth fan. And western movie fan. Growing up, my mom and I would watch westerns all the time. She might have taken to the Mediterranean with ease, but…but deep down, she was still a country girl.”

  The note of pain in Theo’s voice had Rowan putting her yogurt down to squeeze his hand in comfort. “I bet she loved sharing that with you.”

  Rather than let go of her hand as the movie started, he held on. She’d never thought much of handholding, previous boyfriends not being big on that particular gesture of togetherness. But sitting with Theo, her small hand laced with his much larger one, felt more intimate than kissing some of those bad boys she’d been attracted to in her youth and early twenties.

  Soon, Theo’s hour of company turned into three. They watched the entire movie, laughing at the same parts, stealing glances at each other at the same time, too. They paused the film twice. Once, so he could take the basin of water into the kitchen, and a second time so he could grab a cold drink and ibuprofen for her. She could get used to this kind of attention.

  After the movie, they talked. About family, his love of flying, dogs, stupid things they did as teenagers, and food. He told her about the cuisine in Montanique—lots of fish, vegetables, rice, pastas, and olive oil.

  “As soon as I’m better, I’m going to take you for pizza that will blow the taste buds out of your mouth,” she said.

  “I look forward to it.” He stood to leave, glancing out the window where snow fell in thicker sheets than when he’d arrived.

  She wrapped the blanket around her body so she could see him to the door. “Thanks for coming over. I’m…I’m glad you did. But you cannot blame me if you get sick.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it,” he answered good-naturedly before his attention caught on
the side table near the coat rack. “Wow.” He picked up one of the cards she’d hand drawn. “Did you do this?”

  His notice of something so personal made her uncomfortable. She plucked the card out of his hand and put it upside down atop the others. “Yes. I like to make my holiday cards.”

  He stole another one out from the pile before she could stop him. “They’re fantastic. When you said you got arrested for graffiti as a teenager, I wasn’t picturing…”

  “Something good?” She couldn’t believe how easy it had been to tell him about her troublemaking youth. But the nonjudgmental, interested look in his eyes had her spilling things she didn’t normally share. And maybe she was trying to give him reasons not to like her because that would be a lot easier than dealing with his friendliness.

  “This is more than good. You’re really talented.”

  “It’s nothing. Just a hobby.” That she loved. When she drew and painted, she forgot about everything else but the artwork.

  Theo looked around the room as if searching for more artwork. “Have you done anything larger?”

  Yes. “Okay, buddy, enough with the questions. You need to go so I can take a short nap before my mom gets here and wants to hear every detail of our afternoon together. If I tell her.” Who was she kidding? Ro told her mom everything.

  “Should I stick around to meet her?”

  “Only if you want to be trapped here for another two hours and asked a gazillion questions. I didn’t get my inquisitive nature from my father.”

  “That would make me very late for dinner at my grandparents’ house, so I’d best be on my way.” He slipped his arms into his jacket. “I’ll check in and see how you’re doing tomorrow. Feel better.”

  “I will.” She had too much to do to be sick. A deadline she had to make even if it meant working all through the night.

  “Soak your feet again later.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  He smiled. She returned the gesture. Then she discretely inhaled his delicious scent one last time and watched him go, grateful for the gust of frigid air that came through the front door and cooled her overheated body.

  A feverish feeling that had nothing to do with being ill.