Royal Holiday

by Guillory, Jasmine

  “I can’t sit here and drive back to Sandringham with you looking at me like that without doing this.” He put his arms around her, pulled her to him, and kissed her. She was so surprised, she didn’t kiss back at first. He sat back and relaxed his hold on her. “I’m sorry, I thought . . . Did you not . . . ?”

  She grinned, wrapped her arms around his neck, and leaned forward.

  “Oh, I did.”

  This time, she kissed him. His kiss was just what she would have expected from him: firm, powerful, and somehow also tender. She hadn’t kissed someone with this much abandon in years; she’d forgotten just how great a really good kiss could be. Finally, he pulled back and kissed her cheek on the way.

  “The last thing in the whole world I want is to stop this, but—”

  She nodded.

  “You have to get back, I know.”

  He sighed and reached over to put her seat belt back on her. Why did that tiny gesture touch her heart so much? Don’t get ridiculous, V. This is just a little Christmas fling.

  He put his own seat belt on and started the car again.

  “I very much hope no member of the royal family drove by and saw that, but then, I didn’t care enough about it not to kiss you right here in the middle of the road.” He grinned at her. “However, I did have the foresight to pull over with these trees to camouflage us.”

  She grinned back at him.

  “I’m very glad you kissed me in the middle of the road, Malcolm,” she said.

  He turned into the estate.

  “So am I.”

  A few minutes later, he dropped her off in front of Sycamore Cottage.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow? For riding?”

  She could feel the smile spread across her face.

  “See you tomorrow.”

  She walked up to the front door. She turned back when she got there, and he was still standing there smiling at her. James opened the door for her, and she waved to Malcolm. He waved back before he drove away.

  Chapter Six

  Malcolm looked over at Vivian, once again atop Polly, her seat just as perfect as when the Queen had commented on it.

  He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her all evening the night before. He wanted to come back to Sycamore Cottage and pick her up after he was done with work, to take her back into town and out to dinner, and to talk to her for hours.

  And he really wanted to take her back to his hotel room after that.

  But she was here in England in order to spend time with her daughter, and while he knew she liked him, and was pretty certain after that kiss that she was attracted to him, he didn’t know if she’d welcome him trying to monopolize all of her time.

  But she was so bright and vibrant and sparkling; how could he not want to spend more time with her?

  “Having fun?” he asked.

  She looked around, a wide smile on her face.

  “I love this,” she said. “Why haven’t I done this before in my life?” She laughed. “That’s a silly question. I don’t live a life where horseback riding is just a thing I can easily do. Not like going for a hike or to the beach or to get more avocados.”

  He laughed.

  “We live in very different worlds.”

  How did this woman feel so familiar to him, despite their differences?

  She patted the side of Polly’s head as they rode toward the trees in the distance.

  “I confess, as easy as it would be for me to do all three of those, the last one is the only one I actually do with any regularity. I don’t go to the beach nearly enough, even though I’m happy whenever I’m there.” A reminiscent smile spread over her face. “A while ago when I got a promotion and some back pay, Maddie and I rented a house right along the coast for a long weekend, and it was so wonderful. All we did was lie on the beach and read books and listen to the waves move in and out and eat snacks.”

  “That sounds heavenly,” he said.

  She nodded and sighed.

  “It was. Granted, it’s Northern California, so the beaches are often overcast, but I like the beach in any weather, even when it’s gray and cloudy. We said when we left we would keep going back, maybe on her birthday, or mine, but we haven’t done a weekend like that again, and it’s been . . . years.” She shook her head. “I don’t know why. Life gets busy, with so many things that aren’t actually important but feel important. And there are plenty of weekend days where I could decide to forget my to-do list, spend a few hours at the beach instead, but I’ve only ever done that if there’s a special occasion.” She looked at him and smiled again. “Life is short. I need to stop waiting for special occasions in order to treat myself.”

  They rode into some trees, and he grabbed her reins and slowed both of their horses to a stop. She looked at him, startled.

  “Now seems like a good time for one kind of treat.”

  He leaned over and kissed her again. She laughed as she realized what he was about to do, but then she kissed him back. He held on to her waist so she wouldn’t worry about falling, and he loved the feel of her body. She moved her hand up to his face and stroked his cheek. He wanted to stay like this forever.

  Finally, his horse twitched, and they laughed and broke apart. He couldn’t believe he’d kissed her twice where people could have seen them. Maybe even had seen them. And he couldn’t bring himself to care.

  “Kissing on horseback seems rather dangerous, Mr. Hudson,” she said.

  “Not with experienced riders like me around, Ms. Forest,” he said. “I would never let anything happen to you.”

  She smiled as they rode on.

  “I usually like to be the one who wouldn’t let anything happen to me,” she said. “But a little bit of danger never hurt anyone.” She grinned. “Everyone at work would be shocked to hear me say that. I’m usually the cautious one.”

  The sunlight made her face glow. How could anyone not smile back at her when she smiled at them like that?

  “Well, you’re obviously very good at your job, so let’s just call this different attitudes for different parts of life.”

  She laughed.

  “How is it obvious I’m good at my job?” she asked. “I am, but we’re over five thousand miles away from it, so how can you tell?”

  He touched her hand.

  “The way you can talk to everyone, the way everyone likes you—Tim, Julia, James, the Duke and Duchess—and the way you’ve managed to get me to talk about myself, which I try to avoid doing at all costs.”

  She looked down, then smiled up at him.

  “Well. Thank you for that. And I’m probably so good at my job because I love it. Granted, it’s really hard sometimes—as a social worker, and especially a social worker at a hospital, you see so much of the bad parts of life. But I also get to see so many good parts, or funny parts, and”—she laughed—“so many of the ridiculous parts. But I love when I know I’ve made a difference for a patient—connected them with services they’ve been desperately needing, helped fight some of their fights with the hospital or their housing or their schools for them, or done some of the heavy lifting with their families. I work with so many families who want to be good for one another, but they just don’t know how, and it’s wonderful when I can give them the tools to do so.”

  He liked how she talked about her work, with so much humor, but also kindness and warmth.

  “It must get really tough, though. I’m glad you have this break.”

  She nodded.

  “I’m glad, too. I think I needed a break more than I realized. And honestly, it feels great to be this far away from work right now, with the potential new job and all.” She sighed. “It’s a big deal and more money and all of that, but it means I’ll get to do a lot less of the parts of my job that I love—less working directly with patients and their families, less coming up with ideas to solve problems to really help them. It’ll all be a lot more global solutions for all of our patients, which is good, too, just . . .”—she sighed ag
ain—“different. And it also means I’ll be working a lot more—always needing to check my email and to be available from wherever, all of that stuff I don’t have to do now. So it was good to take this vacation, since it might be the last real one I have for a while.”

  She glanced around Sandringham with a wistful look on her face.

  Malcolm suddenly had a ridiculous idea.

  No, he definitely couldn’t do that. It made no sense.

  Or did it? Vivian said she needed more of a break, didn’t she? And Miles was always telling him he had to be more spontaneous.

  He looked over at Vivian and smiled.

  On the walk from the stables back to Sycamore Cottage, Malcolm reached over and took Vivian’s hand. She blushed and looked away as their fingers intertwined, like if she didn’t see it happening, it wouldn’t be real. It had definitely been a while since she’d walked hand in hand with a man. His hand was smooth and firm, and hers felt so secure within his grasp.

  “Should I bring anything for dinner tomorrow night?” he asked. “Thank you again for the invitation.”

  She smiled at him.

  “I’m delighted that you’re coming, but I’m not the person to ask that question. You should ask Julia,” she said.

  Was Christmas Eve going to be the last time she saw him? Probably, since he was going to leave Sandringham the next morning to go to his sister’s house for Christmas.

  “When do you fly back to America?” he asked.

  He was apparently on her same wavelength. But she wasn’t ready to think about leaving yet. This trip had been better than she’d ever imagined, and she still had days to go.

  “The twenty-eighth,” she said. “Maddie and I leave Sandringham the day after Christmas—Boxing Day, as I guess people really call it here—and then we’re in London for a few days before we fly home.”

  “What would you think about staying a few extra days in London?” he asked.

  “What?” She stopped and turned to him. She tried to drop his hand, but he held on. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, Maddie would fly back on the twenty-eighth as scheduled, and you would stay an extra few days. With me. Maybe through the New Year. I’m on holiday all next week, and you just said that this is your last holiday for a while, so why not make the most of it? Plus”—he looked straight at her—“I’m not ready for you to go.”

  Oh.

  She looked down and didn’t say anything.

  “I’m not just flattering myself that you want to spend more time with me, too, am I?” Malcolm asked after a few seconds.

  She looked back up at him.

  “No, oh no, that’s not it. It’s just, this is so sudden. I’ve had a great time with you, Malcolm, but . . .”

  He stepped closer to her and held more tightly to her hand.

  “Didn’t you just say you need to treat yourself more?” he asked.

  She shook her head, but she couldn’t keep the smile off her face.

  “Stop throwing my words back at me,” she said.

  He reached up and touched her cheek.

  “I can’t get enough of you, Vivian Forest,” he said. “Stay here in England with me, just for a few more days.”

  Oh wow.

  “That does sound lovely,” she said.

  “It will be,” he said.

  He leaned down and kissed her again. She moved into the circle of his arms. Her body against his made her feel so warm and secure. And his hands on her body made her feel so desired.

  It would be nice to spend a few days without Maddie right across the hall from her bedroom.

  They walked hand in hand until he left her at the steps of Sycamore Cottage.

  When she got inside, Maddie ran toward her. Oh no. With Malcolm’s invitation swirling around her mind, the last thing she wanted to do was to get interrogated by her daughter.

  “Oh, thank God you’re here,” Maddie said. “Can you come up to the dressing room? We need your help.”

  Vivian turned to hand her coat to James and hoped Maddie hadn’t seen the relief on her face.

  “Of course. What do you need?”

  Maddie talked the whole way up to the second floor—or what Vivian had discovered was called the first floor here.

  “We originally had six options in the running for Christmas Eve, and when I got here, the Duchess and I narrowed it down to three, and this morning we managed to narrow it down to two, but between those two, she can’t decide.” Maddie lowered her voice. “You know I generally have no problem ordering clients around and telling them what to wear, but this is an unusual situation, so I’ve tried to just do a Vivian and give her the pros and cons of both dresses and let her make the decision.”

  Vivian grinned. Maddie always made fun of her for her pro/con lists; it was good to know her daughter did actually listen to her.

  “So, what do you need me for?” she asked.

  Maddie smiled.

  “She still can’t decide. She likes them both so much—which thrills me, of course—but both of them need a tiny bit of alteration, and she doesn’t want me to do that work for both for her to decide at the last minute, which obviously thrills me even more. So she said we should see what you think.”

  Vivian stopped and stared at her daughter.

  “The Duchess wants my opinion?”

  Maddie slid an arm through hers and pulled her along.

  “She does; thank goodness I know you have good taste.”

  Maddie ushered Vivian into the “dressing room,” which looked like an entire large bedroom devoted to the Duchess’s wardrobe. She stood in the corner, in a slim, off-the-shoulder, floor-length magenta gown.

  “Oh my goodness, you look wonderful,” Vivian said. “Is that one of the dresses?”

  The Duchess came over to her and took both of Vivian’s hands in hers.

  “It is, and thank you so much for coming up to give us your advice! I love both of them—your daughter did an excellent job—and I can’t decide what to wear.” She turned and walked back toward the window and then turned in a circle. “I want you to see them both from all sides.”

  Vivian walked around her.

  “You look incredible in this one. I want to see you in the other one, but it’ll have to be something out of this world.”

  The Duchess beamed at her, and Maddie raced over to unzip the dress. Vivian turned to the other side of the room and saw a row of boxes that she was sure contained jewelry. She thought of what Malcolm had said about how royal jewelry was a sight to see. God, she itched to open those boxes and peek inside. She moved away and looked at the many rows of shoes instead.

  Had Malcolm really just invited her to stay in England after Maddie left? With him? She couldn’t stop smiling. She’d known they were having a good time together, but she’d thought he was spending time with her mostly from a combination of boredom and loneliness. But no, he was interested in her; he wanted to spend more time with her. Not from boredom or politeness, but because he couldn’t get enough of her. Wow.

  “Okay, Mom. Here’s the second dress.”

  Vivian tried to dim her smile and spun around. The Duchess was now in a sequined emerald-green gown, with a high neck and a high—but not too high—slit up the side. She spun in a circle, and glints of green light sparkled around the room. Vivian laughed.

  “You absolutely have to wear that dress. I love the other dress so much—wear it to something else—but please wear this dress tomorrow night.”

  Maddie looked at her mom with a big smile on her face. She’d clearly picked Maddie’s favorite.

  The Duchess beamed at her.

  “I love it, too, but are you sure about the color?”

  Vivian nodded.

  “Positive.”

  The Duchess looked at herself in the mirror and smiled.

  “You’re right. Yes, this one.” She clasped Vivian’s hands again. “Thank you so much. I think I just needed you to give me that push.”

  Maddie smiled an
d started pinning the bottom of the dress.

  “I hope you’ve been having a good time while you’ve been here,” the Duchess said. Vivian tried to think about how to respond to that without referring to Malcolm, but luckily, the Duchess kept talking. “Maddie said this is your first time in England; it’s too bad you’re leaving so soon after Christmas, but I’ve already given her a list of things you two should do in London.”

  Vivian smiled to herself.

  “Yes, too bad we’re leaving so soon,” she said. Malcolm’s idea sounded better and better the more she thought about it.

  Chapter Seven

  Vivian went to bed that night with a smile on her face. She woke up the next morning—Christmas Eve—in a panic. There was no way she could stay on in England with Malcolm. What had she been thinking?

  First of all, she had responsibilities back at home! Sure, she was on vacation until January 3, but she needed to get her house in order, unpack, switch out her calendars, and water her plants—all the stuff she usually did after Christmas but wouldn’t be able to do if she stayed in England.

  Secondly, what would Maddie say? Vivian had spent decades keeping her dating life separate from her life with Maddie, and this would destroy all of that! Yes, fine, she’d invited Malcolm to Christmas Eve dinner, but she would pretend to Maddie that was Julia’s idea. There was no way she could pin an extra few days with him in London on Julia!

  But most importantly, she barely knew this man! Why the hell had she even considered being alone in a foreign country with a stranger? He’d mentioned staying with him—stay with a stranger, in his home? What if he was some sort of ax murderer or something? Maybe no one would ever see her again!

  No, she couldn’t do this. She wouldn’t stay.

  Yes, that was it. When he came for dinner tonight, she’d tell him she was sorry, but there was no way she could stay; she’d had a lovely time with him, but that was it, and Merry Christmas.

  Or Happy Christmas, whatever it was they said here.

  Okay. Good. That was the plan.

  Granted . . . she did have so much fun with him. And so what if it was just that vacation kind of fun, where they didn’t really know each other or need to fit into each other’s lives and nothing was at stake—it was only a few more days! They’d keep having vacation kind of fun—maybe even the better kind of fun—and then she’d go home and everything would go back to normal. Shouldn’t she be in favor of having more fun in her life? Especially since she wouldn’t have the opportunity to do something spontaneous like this again once she took the new job?