by Emma Lea
“So?” Alyssa asked, leaning forward eagerly.
“What?”
Alyssa rolled her eyes. “How was lunch with Martin?”
I shrugged and started picking through the stuff on my desk ostensibly looking for something but really just to avoid the interrogation I knew was coming.
Alyssa threw up her hands and leaned back in her chair. “I’m not going anywhere until you give me the deets.”
“Deets?” I asked with a snort.
“I may be the queen but I’m still young and hip,” she said defensively.
I shook my head and grinned.
“I can wait you out,” she said. “I don’t have anywhere else to be.”
“I don’t believe that for one second,” I replied. “I know for a fact that if you are not back in your office in about five minutes, Priscilla will be knocking on that door to physically remove you and return you to whatever diplomatic meeting you are avoiding.”
Alyssa grimaced. “Okay, that might be true, but I am the queen and I could order you to tell me.”
I laughed. Alyssa threatened to order us to do all sorts of things, but she never meant it. She was neither a despot nor a dictator. She just liked to pretend she was tough with us.
“Okay fine,” I said with a gusty sigh. “Lunch was…nice. Lord Martin is…nice.”
“Nice?”
I really didn’t have any other words to describe my…date. Lord Martin was nice; polite, charming, friendly. He had impeccable table manners and was a wine aficionado—probably due to the fact that he owned a vineyard and produced his own wine.
“Come on, you have to give me more than ‘nice,’” Alyssa said.
“There isn’t much to tell. He took me to Juliard’s. I had the risotto and he had the fish. He chose us a lovely bottle of wine and we had a nice conversation.”
“That’s it?”
I nodded. “That’s it.”
“No goodbye kiss?”
I shook my head. “No kiss.”
Alyssa threw up her hands again. “Seriously? I thought for sure you two would hit it off.” She bit her lip and eyed me thoughtfully.
“No,” I said before she could say anything.
Alyssa opened her eyes wide and gave me a butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-her-mouth look. “What?”
“I know that look,” I said. “I’m done with your matchmaking.”
“I just want you to be happy.”
“I am happy. I don’t need a man in my life for that. I have my job and my friends. I am perfectly happy thank you very much.”
“What about Chase?” she said, and I froze.
I swallowed and averted my eyes, suddenly fascinated with a strip of fabric poking out of my desk drawer. “Who?”
“Chase Tanner. The man who was your partner at the dinner the other night. You two seemed to hit it off. Didn’t he ask you to go riding with him?”
I knew exactly who Chase was, but he wasn’t the one who made the pulse beat rapidly in my throat as I thought about that night. No. That honour went to the big lug who’d sat opposite me and stared lasers at me in between flirting with Hadley. The same tall cowboy who had kissed me until my toes curled and I forgot my own name and then walked away and left me standing there like an idiot.
“Savannah?” Alyssa was looking at me strangely and then she smiled like a light bulb had gone off in her head.
“No,” I said.
“No?” she asked innocently.
“No. I am not interested in Chase.”
“O-kay,” she said with a smug smile.
“Seriously,” I said, desperate that she understand. “I am not interested in him. Besides, isn’t he only here for a short time?”
“Not necessarily,” Alyssa said. “He’s here because he is interested in building a horse farm. He wants to use Mistborn to service an Arabian mare he owns and if the pairing is successful, then he will consider staying.”
I sucked in a breath. I didn’t know what happened between Chase and Jed, but something definitely had. They knew each other and for whatever reason, Jed hated Chase. The body language the other night had been unmistakable, not to mention the way Jed took me to task over going out with him. I wondered if Alyssa knew of the history between them. I wondered if Jed would allow his precious Mistborn anywhere near Chase or his mare.
“So, you see,” Alyssa went on, totally ignorant to my inner turmoil, “there could be a future for the two of you.”
“Stop,” I said holding up my hands in defeat. “Just stop. Yes Chase and I had a good time the other night but I am seriously not interested in him or any other man for that matter. I know you are happy. I know Alex and Priscilla and Jeanette and Meredith are happy. I know you’re in love and you want the rest of the world to be in love too, but I’m just not interested. Maybe one day, but for right now, I’m happy. Believe me. I have everything I could ever want or need.”
Alyssa opened her mouth to speak but the door opened and Priscilla stormed in looking ready to hog tie Alyssa. Alyssa closed her mouth and smiled serenely. She stood and with a little wave over her shoulder, she strode out the door. Priscilla rolled her eyes and followed. I slumped in my chair and let out a heavy sigh. I knew Alyssa wouldn’t give up that easily. This little tête-à-tête was not finished.
Chapter 10
Savannah
Déjà vu. I once again sat across the table from Chase and Jed. Something had changed between them, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. They weren’t exactly friendly to each other, but their vibe was far less incendiary than last time. The other change was the woman who sat beside me. Not Hadley. I probably could have handled having Hadley beside me better than the woman currently in the space. A woman I admired and liked and was now feeling irrationally irritated by. Lady Isabella de Vaughn. The first woman to take a position in the House of Lords. A fierce litigator and proponent of women’s rights here in Merveille, and someone I would have called friend. Only now I was tempted to revoke her friendship card all because Jed smiled at her and laughed at something she said and looked completely and thoroughly entertained and charmed by her.
I tried to ignore it. I tried to be as thoroughly engaged with Chase. I tried to smile and laugh and even flirt, but my heart wasn’t really in it. I think Chase knew. I also think he knew why I was doing it. He was a good sport even if I was being a terrible date.
The final course was removed and Chase came around the table to offer his arm to me. I took it gratefully. There was not even a hint that Jed was going to drag me off into the garden like he did last time. He seemed to be having too much of a good time with Isabella to even notice I was in the room.
“Don’t be fooled,” Chase whispered in my ear as we walked toward the drawing room.
“What?”
Chase nodded his head in the direction of Jed who was walking arm in arm with Isabella in front of us.
“It’s all an act.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Chase huffed out a sigh and rolled his eyes. “I don’t know what is going on between the two of you but I do know that something is going on.”
“Nothing is going on,” I said, more forcefully than I needed to.
One side of Chase’s mouth quirked up. “Okay, but I think the lady doth protest too much. All I’m saying is that the whole performance tonight was fake. I think he’s trying to make you jealous.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I said, but secretly my heart leapt at the thought.
“I know Jed. I’ve known him for a long time and I know when he is faking it.”
“But how can you be sure?” I asked before I could stop myself. “I mean, not that I believe you or even care if he is pretending or not, but you seem so sure.”
Chase smiled knowingly at me and I felt a blush heat my cheeks. “Look at how stiff he is. And when he laughs or smiles, it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. I can guarantee that he will make some excuse to leave early.”
We stepped into the drawing room and I took a glass of deep red port from a waiting footman. Chase led me around the room so that we stood by the windows and had an unobstructed view of the entire gathering.
I watched as Jed handed a glass of port to Isabella and they chatted. I sipped my port, nerves bumping around in my stomach. Jed took Isabella’s hand and lifted it to his lips and I sucked in a breath, choking on the port. I coughed and Chase patted my back and turned me around so that I was facing him and could no longer see Jed and Isabella.
“He’s leaving,” Chase whispered.
I didn’t know why Chase was being so kind to me and I was embarrassed that he’d been able to read me so completely. I hoped to God that no one else had picked up on my inappropriate interest in a certain horse trainer.
Chase opened the glass door and ushered me out into the cold night.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Go and find him,” Chase said.
“What?”
He smiled at me. “He isn’t interested in Lady Isabella,” Chase said gently. “He was putting on a good show but you being here with me is really getting under his skin. And I know seeing him with her is getting under yours, so I suggest you go to him. Find him and tell him. Tell him that you have no interest in me.”
“Why?” I asked. “Why are you doing this?”
Chase sighed and stared out into the dark night. “Because, despite what happened between us, I still consider him my friend and I want to see him happy.” He turned back to look at me. “And I think you make him happy.”
I snorted indelicately. “Hardly. All we seem to do is fight.” And kiss, but I didn’t say that out loud.
“There is obviously chemistry between the two of you,” Chase said with a grin. “I could feel it snapping and crackling between the two of you the first time I met you.”
“Chemistry isn’t always a good thing,” I said, biting my lip. Chemistry was what had gotten me into trouble with Archer’s father. Chemistry and lack of self-control.
“Maybe not,” Chase said, “but if the two of you don’t work it out, it is going to combust in ways you are not going to be able to control.”
He was right. I knew it even as I wanted to deny it. Every time Jed and I were in close proximity, the connection between us simmered, getting hotter each time. If we didn’t do something about it soon, it was going to boil over and then we would have no control over the consequences.
“He’s probably in the stable,” Chase said. “With Mistborn.”
I looked up at Chase and smiled. Pushing up onto my toes I pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Thanks,” I said before walking quickly toward the stables. I had no idea what I was doing, but it was the first time in six years that I felt like I was being truly myself.
Jed
I breathed in the familiar scent of hay and horse. It was usually enough to fix whatever ailed me, but not tonight. A few of the horses stuck their noses over the stalls as I walked past. It wasn’t that it was unusual for me to be in the stable at this time of night. I was here most nights, but they were looking for the treats I usually carried in my pockets.
“Sorry guys,” I said, “no treats tonight.”
I reached the end of the long barn and turned into the second wing where Mistborn lived. The horse and I had a complicated relationship and most of the time he annoyed the heck out of me, but on nights like this when my world felt like it was turning upside down, being with him grounded me.
I detoured through the storeroom and grabbed a few treats from the bin before stepping into his wing. Yes, the high and mighty Mistborn had his own wing. Mostly because none of the other horses wanted anything to do with him and kicked up a fuss if they were forced to room with him. I wondered if he got lonely. I knew he was not impressed when he first came to the palace and had pretty much cemented his reputation in those first few weeks, but did he regret pushing everyone away?
He stepped up to the edge of the stall and eyed me warily. Never eager to show his approval of anything, he sniffed the air. I held out a treat and he took a step closer, lifting his head over the stall door, but not too far. He wouldn’t reach for the treat but it was enough to show me he was interested in it. I stepped closer, holding the treat out on the flat of my hand. He looked at it before picking it up delicately from my hand, his soft lips brushing my palm.
He munched on it happily and I stepped closer still. Close enough so that I could scratch him between the ears. He sighed gustily and his eyes closed, he even leaned into me. A rare show of affection from the horse that spent most of his life holding himself aloof from everyone and everything.
“Who hurt you?” I murmured.
We didn’t know much about the horse. We had his breeding papers but he was a gift to the queen and we knew very little about where he came from and what conditions he lived in prior to being gifted to her. All we knew was he was bad tempered and unsocial and he had an exceptional bloodline.
A noise outside this section of the stable had Mistborn pulling back into the stall so as not to be seen. I turned to the door and was surprised to see Savannah standing there looking unsure of herself. She bit her lip and I had to stifle a groan. When she didn’t speak or come any closer I cocked an eyebrow at her.
“What are you doing here?”
She took a breath and shook herself, straightening her shoulders and arranging her features in the usual haughty look that I associated with her…the one she wore when she wasn’t kissing me.
“I came to find you,” she said, taking a hesitant step toward me.
“Me? Why?”
“You left so suddenly—”
I snorted and looked away from her. How was she able to get under my skin so readily? After Caroline I purposely built myself a nice suit of armour—figuratively speaking—but somehow Savannah managed to slip right under it. I promised myself that I would never allow myself to feel so much for a woman again, not with their fickle hearts that could so easily crush mine. But again, Savannah had come into my life and all those rules had fallen away. I couldn’t help but be drawn to her, which made seeing her with Chase even harder to deal with.
Her eyes narrowed at me. God help me but I even liked the fire in her veins. Getting her good and mad was one of my favourite things to do, as was giving her that completely dazed and abandoned look on her face after I kissed her.
“The queen—”
“This isn’t about the queen and you damn well know it,” I said, cutting her off and striding toward her.
“No it isn’t,” she said, looking up at me. I had stepped close enough that we were barely millimeters apart. Each time she took a breath, her body brushed mine and I could see the pulse in her throat thumping madly.
Her hands came up and gripped the lapels of my suit and she swayed toward me. My eyes went to her lips. Plump and luscious, coated in pale pink gloss. I knew what those lips felt like pressed against mine. I knew what she tasted like and I wanted to taste her again.
I lowered my head and she tilted her chin up, letting her lips part slightly. I groaned softly in the back of my throat and closed my eyes, closing the distance between us. My lips slid over hers and the tension that had been tying my shoulders in knots for a week, slid away. She made a soft noise and moved closer to me, her body plastered against mine as her hands slid into my hair. My hands went to her waist as I deepened the kiss. My mind blanked until it was just her and how she felt in my arms.
Needing to take a breath, we broke the kiss and there was my very favourite look on her face. She blinked up at me like she had been just as lost in the moment as I was. I lifted a hand and brushed a soft tendril of hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear and gently trailing my fingers across her jaw and down her neck.
“What are you doing here Savannah?” I asked, my voice a rough whisper in the quiet of the barn.
“I—you.” She took a breath, her eyes focusing on me as the effects of the kiss wore off. “I came to s
ee you. I came to tell you…”
She tapered off and bit her lip, her eyes dropping to my chest as she flicked at imaginary piece of lint on my jacket.
“You came to tell me what?” I asked cautiously, desperate not to spook her. I wanted to hear what she had to say but more than that I wasn’t ready to let her out of my arms.
She looked back into my eyes, a spark of fire in hers. “I came to tell you that I didn’t like seeing you with Lady Isabella.” She tried to pull away from me, but I held on tight.
“I didn’t like seeing you with Chase,” I growled in her ear before pressing my lips to the soft skin of her neck.
She sighed and tilted her head, inviting more kisses. “You didn’t?”
“No,” I said, lifting my head to look her directly in the eyes. “I didn’t.”
Her eyes flicked between mine for a moment like she was looking for something, maybe trying to decide if I was telling the truth.
“You looked like you were enjoying yourself,” she said, “and Lady Isabella has a lot to offer—”
I kissed her again to shut her up. “I don’t care what Lady Isabella has to offer,” I said against her lips. “I have no interest in her. I have no interest in anyone other than you.”
Her eyes widened as she looked at me, like she couldn’t quite believe what I was saying. She was in good company because I couldn’t quite believe the words had come out of my mouth, but that didn’t make them any less true.
“You can’t deny that there is something between us, Savannah,” I murmured.
She slowly shook her head and then nodded. “No, you’re right. It’s why I came to find you.”