Whereas Drew’s horse seemed to be just barely moving. As I got closer, I could see Drew nervously holding the reigns. Abigail was right—he clearly hated riding.
He saw me watching them, and I could see the frustration on his face. Clearly, he’d rather I not be here. Maybe it was a mistake to come.
I wasn’t going to walk away yet. Not until they finished and I had the chance to try my new technique on them.
They finished up the lesson, and the trainer helped them take the horses to the stables. It was Abigail who came sprinting out of the stables first, a grin plastered across her face.
“Did you see me?” she asked excitedly. “Did you see how good I was?”
I had to laugh at her confidence. I hoped she would never lose that. Confidence tended to be beaten out of you as you aged.
“I did! You were amazing. A real pro.”
“My horse loves me!” she said as she skipped forward along the path.
Drew came out behind her, looking considerably less enthused. He tried to ignore me as he passed by.
“Hey, Drew. What’s wrong?” I asked.
He looked at me, frustrated. “I’m no good. I’ve been learning for years… I’m just no good at this.” He waved his hand at the stables.
“Hey, that’s not a big deal,” I told him. “You know, you don’t have to be good at everything.”
“I do,” he said disappointedly. “My brother, Edward, is good at everything. He’s going to be king. I could probably never be king… I can’t even ride a horse.”
“Hey, there! A king doesn’t have to ride a horse.” I put a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Drew, I promise you, there were a lot of things your brother wasn’t good at when he was your age. It’s just that he’s older, and he’s had more time to learn, so it looks like he’s an expert at everything. I promise, he’s not. Nobody is.”
He looked at me curiously. “Not you either?”
I had to laugh. “Of course not, me either! Especially not me. There are so many things I’m bad at, I can’t even count them, there’s a lot of things I’m good at too. Like reading and learning. That’s why I work as your tutor. I do the things I’m good at in life because it makes me happier than focusing on all the bad.”
He seemed to understand this. “I’m pretty good at reading too.”
“Yeah, you definitely are. I’m really impressed with how knowledgeable you are.”
He smiled at hearing this, and I nudged his shoulder playfully. “I bet Edward wasn’t such a good reader when he was your age.”
He seemed contented with this. I felt more at ease. Millie was right. These kids had enough authority figures in their lives. I wanted to be someone they could talk to, someone they enjoyed learning from.
I’d be happier in that position more than anything else. I had a feeling the kids were going to be happier for it too
6
Edward
I found my younger sister nearly hopping along the hallways, looking positively delighted.
I narrowed my eyes at her. “What’s gotten into you, Abby?”
“Miss Maggie said that today we get to have our lessons outside!” She told me happily. “I can’t wait until she gets here!”
Ah, yes. Maggie… Of course, when I finally get the woman out of my head, my little sister had to bring her up.
“Outside? Really?” I asked.
This was odd to me. In all my lessons at the castle growing up, I’d never done any of them outside. It seemed pretty unorthodox, but it was interesting.
“Yeah! She said it’ll be better if we learn outside today. I don’t know why.”
Drew came down the hall after her, his books in his hands.
While Abigail was entirely enthralled to be having lessons outside, I had a feeling that Drew was dreading it. If Abigail loved Maggie as a tutor, Drew probably hated her.
That was usually how it went anyway. Abigail and Drew got along just fine, but they were complete opposites. Anything Abigail loved, Drew hated, and vice versa.
I’d known him to be pretty hard on his teachers and tutors. He had a penchant for learning and had high standards for anyone teaching him.
“So how do you feel about the new tutor?” I asked.
“She’s really nice.” He smiled, to my surprise.
“Uh, really? You like her?”
“Yeah. She seems smart. She explains things really well. Especially for Abigail. She’s even got Abigail to pay attention during lessons.”
“And you don’t mind going outside for lessons today?”
“Not at all. I’m sure if Maggie wants us outside, it’ll be educational.”
Wow, this was impressive. A tutor that both my brother and sister liked. Maybe my instincts weren’t off about this one. She must have been something special if both my siblings were happy with her.
“Well, that’s good. I’m glad you guys are happy with her,” I told them as I made my way down the hall.
“Edward, want to come with us outside?” Abigail smiled at me.
She was a sweetheart, and she was always eager to spend more time with me. Both of my siblings were really, and I did enjoy my time with them. I knew so well the difficulty they experienced growing up as royals, and I wanted to alleviate that for them in any way that I could.
I didn’t think it would be appropriate for me to spend time with them right now when they were going to be with Maggie. I had every intention of trying to pursue her in the future, but I wasn’t going to do that in front of my siblings. I needed to smooth over the rejection first and win her over. It would take some charm, but I was a prince after all.
“I’m not so sure that’s the best idea,” I told Abigail.
“What’s not the best idea?” I heard a soft voice say from behind me.
I turned around to see Maggie standing there, looking at me curiously.
“I asked Edward if he wanted to come out with us this afternoon!” Abigail gleamed.
“I was just about to say that I didn’t think I should be interrupting any lessons.” I smiled politely at Maggie.
The last time I’d seen her, she had been looking thoroughly embarrassed after discovering I was the prince. I wondered if she still felt any humiliation over that moment.
“You won’t be interrupting,” Abigail said. “Right, Maggie?”
Maggie forced a smile. “Right, of course not. You’re welcome to join us.”
I didn’t think this invitation seemed genuine. It felt as though she was only saying so to be polite, knowing that I was essentially now her boss. I doubted she actually wanted me there.
I couldn’t resist her welcoming me, though. Looking at her again now, it was easy to see why I’d been struggling to get her out of my head. Man, she was gorgeous.
“Sure, alright. I’ll tag along then.”
“Yay!” Abigail cheered.
Maggie looked a tense.
I understood this. Even if I hadn’t been rejected by her, and even if she hadn’t realized I was the prince, it was hard to do your job with your boss standing over your shoulder.
I wasn’t her boss, though. If anything, Ms. Mitchell was her boss. I may have hired her, but I had little interest in bossing her around.
“Well, let’s head out then. I brought us some snacks.” Maggie held up a picnic basket that she had hidden behind her back.
That was really sweet of her. Initially, I wanted to hire her because I was intrigued by her. I was glad she actually seemed to take a vested interest in this position.
We went out to the courtyard where Maggie spread out a large red blanket in the grass. She pulled out some simple snacks: crackers, cheese, yogurt, some juices. She moved to hand me a juice box, but I waved her off.
“I’m fine.”
She took one for herself, though, which I thought was cute. I watched her sip that juice box and imagined her slurping on something much different…
No, stop it, Edward. Don’t you dare think about anything
gross when you’re out here with your kid siblings and their tutor. I needed to behave as an adult. I was only here to spend time with my siblings.
“So I brought you guys outside today for two lessons. Let’s do Abigail’s first. Abigail, remind me and Drew of what you’re learning about in science this week.”
“We’re learning about, uh…” Abigail trailed off with her thought.
“About the plants, right?” Maggie encouraged.
“Oh, yeah! About photosynthesis.”
“Right. So I thought we’d take a walk around the rose gardens and talk about some of the plants that get their food by photosynthesis… instead of yogurt.” She held up her cup.
Both Abigail and Drew had a chuckle.
“See all this green grass in front of us? Really pretty color, right, Abby?”
“Right!” Abigail agreed.
“What is the reason that it’s all so green?”
“Chlorophyll!” Abigail said proudly.
“That’s right. That’s why so much of the beautiful nature we get to enjoy is so lush and green. Without chlorophyll, the world would definitely look like a much drabber place.”
It was adorable watching her with the kids. I could tell that she actually cared about them. If this was just a job to her, she could be quizzing Abby on words like photosynthesis and chlorophyll indoors. She was actually going out of her way to instill in Abigail a love of learning, a reason to care about the concepts she had been taught about in her science class.
I sat back quietly as I watched the rest of the lesson. She engaged both Abigail and Drew, and they were so enthralled with her, they hardly noticed my presence. Which was saying something since my siblings usually wanted to spend time with me above all others.
I couldn’t believe I was actually enjoying watching a child’s tutoring lesson.
She went on from the photosynthesis, and then she turned her attention to Drew’s work. They talked about the water molecule for a while as I stared into her eyes and thought about how they were the familiar blue of the ocean. Of course, this quickly turned into thoughts of her on the beach in a bikini… I reminded myself again to snap back to reality.
“I don’t get it,” Drew said suddenly.
“Don’t get what?” Maggie asked.
“You said that we had to be outside for both me and Abby’s lessons today. Why did we need to learn about water outside?”
“Oh, uh, well…” Maggie looked at me hesitantly.
“What?” I asked. “What is it?”
“It’s just… I kind of planned something, but I’m not sure it’s appropriate now that you’re here. And, uh, dressed so nicely.”
I looked down at my clothes. I thought my outfit was fairly simple today, but evidently not.
“Well, I definitely don’t want to interrupt the lesson. You should continue with whatever you had planned.”
“Are you sure?” Maggie asked me skeptically.
“Yeah, I’m positive. Go for it.”
“Okay…” She still seemed hesitant as she stood and walked away from the blanket.
Drew looked over at me with curiosity in his eyes. “Where is she going?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged.
She walked over to a nearby shrub, and from behind it, she pulled out a very large bucket that looked like it was full of … balloons?
No, not just balloons—water balloons.
She grabbed one and threw it toward Abigail. It landed next to her with a splash, and she burst into laughter as both she and Drew eagerly walked over to the bucket to grab balloons.
I couldn’t help but grin watching them. It was so simple, so childish, and it made my brother and sister so happy.
Abigail ran up to me and viciously threw a water balloon right at my chest. It burst on my shirt and soaked through it instantly.
“Oh, no, no, you do not want me to get into this fight,” I threatened as I hopped to my feet and ran to the bucket.
I threw one at Abby, and then Maggie hit me in the chest again. I nailed her back, getting her shirt soaking wet.
The fabric clung to her, and I tried to keep myself from staring at the amazing curves of her body. I did my best to focus on the epic fight instead.
We were all laughing, soaked, when Drew suggested to Abby that they go try to get the gardeners with the balloons. Abigail naturally loved this idea and off they ran, leaving Maggie and I alone.
I smiled at her as I began to unbutton my sopping wet shirt.
“That was really sweet, you know,” I said. “I don’t think they have a lot of fun like that. I can tell they really love spending time with you.”
This made her smile. “I love spending time with them too. They’re really great kids.”
As I peeled my shirt away from my skin, I could swear I saw her staring at my abs. Not to be too cocky, but I did spend a fair amount of time working out.
I stared at her back, letting my eyes actually linger on her torso. She didn’t seem to mind, so I moved closer and turned my gaze directly toward her eyes.
“You know, I think wet clothes suit you…”
“Yeah?” she asked expectantly, moving closer to me too.
I was about to turn my head to kiss her, but before I could, Drew and Abigail came running back.
“We totally got them!” Drew said excitedly.
“I think Mr. Hansen was pretty mad, though!” Abigail chuckled.
I couldn’t focus on their words at all. Instead, I was focused on my raging desire for Maggie.
I had to have her.
Whatever it took, I was going to find a way to have Maggie all to myself one of these evenings.
7
Maggie
It had been a few weeks since I started working with Drew and Abigail, and I was loving every second of it. Not only was I less stressed about money and dealing with my father’s hospital bills, but I’d really connected with the kids and was excited to go to work every day.
In a way, work had actually become my escape. Not that I didn’t love spending time with my dad at home—of course, I did. I treasured every moment we had together. All those moments were certainly a stark reminder that he was ill and that I didn’t know how much time we had left together.
Being with the kids was just a simple relief. With them, I could forget about the stresses of my father being ill and just enjoy our time together. They had both become so eager to learn. I had expected it from Drew, but even Abigail had a new zest for knowledge.
The only real downside to this job was Edward.
Okay, he wasn’t a downside per se. I actually really enjoyed the time I spent with him, but that was kind of part of the problem. I had become enthralled with the man, and the last thing I needed was to become interested in any man. I definitely didn’t want to be interested in my boss, of all people.
I did everything I could to avoid him, but he stopped in on our tutoring lessons fairly often. Every time he walked into the room; I could feel my heartbeat speed up. I hadn’t felt like that since I had my first major crush in high school. Something about him just sent my head spinning.
I didn’t know if it was his good looks or his devil-may-care attitude. he intrigued me. I was simultaneously desperate to learn more about him and eager to get as far away from him as I possibly could.
Which wasn’t far since he lived at the castle as well, or so I assumed.
He hadn’t asked me out since I rejected him, which was both a relief and a disappointment. As much as I knew rationally to stay away, I wanted him to press my boundaries and push for more. I wanted to explore with him.
Maybe I’d been too harsh in my initial rejection of him. Perhaps he didn’t want to push boundaries lest it come off as sexual harassment. Or hell, maybe hiss attraction to me had worn off after spending countless hours with me and the children during tutoring.
I didn’t really think that was the case, though. I could see the way he looked at me. He felt the same way I did—
I could sense it.
Even though it made no damn sense to me at all. I mean, the man was a freaking prince, and who was I? Nobody. Some unknown American girl who struggled to make ends meet and spent her Friday nights taking care of her father. I wasn’t his type. I wasn’t rich, entertaining, and I could never go on crazy, elaborate vacations with him.
For some reason, that hadn’t changed his mind. He still wanted me. Which I was grateful for.
And simultaneously worried about.
I heard a knock on the door and expected it to be Ms. Mitchell.
“Come in,” I called out.
It wasn't Ms. Mitchell; instead, it was Edward.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he said as he stepped through the door.
“Oh, no, you’re not interrupting at all!” I answered, more eagerly than I intended to.
“I just wanted to stop by and ask if you’d like me to accompany you to the royal educational dinner tonight.”
“Uh…” I furrowed my brow. “The … what now?”
“The royal educational dinner. Didn’t they tell you?”
“I’m pretty positive they did not. What exactly is that?”
“It’s an annual dinner we host for all the members of our educational staff. It’s tonight. You should have received your invitation and outfit. Wait, hold on…” He pulled out his phone. “You do live in the Wayfield Flats … number 67?”
“Uh, no… Number 76.”
“Ah, well, I guess we figured out the problem. I’ll make sure they deliver a dress to the correct address this time. It should arrive by seven this evening, just in time for you to make the eight o’clock dinner.”
“I … don’t think that will be necessary,” I told him. “I’m busy tonight. Actually, I’m busy most nights. I have prior responsibilities.”
Edward tightened his lips. “I’m afraid you don’t really have a choice. It’s a requirement for your position. All our educators must attend.”
Great. I’d have to ask my dad’s caregiver if she’d be willing to work overtime tonight.
“Then I suppose I’ll be there,” I said, defeated.
Royally Loved: The Royal Romances Books 1-5 Page 5