“I gave an interview to Garrett Smith today.” The words tumbled out over each other, and I sensed it took Nicky a moment to understand what I’d said.
“You—what? An interview? And who is Garrett Smith?” His voice stayed calm, but I felt tension in his body.
“Garrett Smith is that reporter who follows me and shouts out inappropriate questions.” I paused. “Well, he used to. But it turns out he really was only hoping to get my attention, because even though he’s on the royal circuit now, he used to cover food sourcing issues for a big environmental publication. He worked for theGreen Waves Report.”
Nicky nodded slowly. “I’ve heard of that. So Smith worked for them, but now he covers you, and you decided to talk with him? I’m assuming you didn’t go through the press office.”
“No.” I shook my head. “He sent his request through Honey Bee, and so that’s how I did the interview—as the sourcing officer for the company. Not as Kyra, fiancée to Prince Nicholas.” Even as I said the words, they sounded ridiculous to my own ears.
“Because you’re two separate people? C’mon, Ky.” Nicky didn’t sound angry, exactly; perhaps just a bit weary. “You know better than that. Does anyone at the Palace Press Office know about this?”
“Ummmm ...” I swallowed and shifted a bit. “Well, not anyone who would object to it. And technically, the answer to the question of whether anyone from the press office knew that I was interviewed by Garretttodayis no. If we’re going to be very specific about the details.”
“But someone does know that you were approached about an interview.” It was a statement, not a question, so I didn’t feel I needed to answer it one way or the other. “And I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that person is Sophie.”
I wasn’t going to lie to Nicky. “Yes. Sophie spoke to Garrett outside her role as press liaison and learned about his past association with GWR. She passed the information onto me.” I was quibbling, and I knew it. “Full disclosure—Garrett and Sophie just began seeing each other romantically. But she found out about why he wanted to interview me before they became involved.” I had a hunch that it hadn’t beenlongbefore, but that part wasn’t any of my business, was it? “I told her to have him send the request through Honey Bee, because I knew the Palace Press Office would automatically turn him down.”
“Because there’s a policy about interviews with members of the Royal Family,” Nicky pointed out. “And there’s protocol. I imagine you’ve already gone over all of that with Lady Marjorie.”
“Well ... not in so many words,” I hedged. “She hasn’t specifically said anything about that.” I nibbled on the edge of my lip. “But that’s probably because it’s common sense. I knew that already. I just ... I wanted to do the interview, Nicky. You know how important my work—ourwork—is to me. Why shouldn’t I be allowed to talk about it? I didn’t say anything about the Royal Family, per se. I did mention you, but only about your role as patron of Want Not.”
Nicky was silent for a long time—so long in fact that I finally screwed up my courage to twist around and look at him. “Are you mad at me?”
“Kyra.” He sighed, and my whole body clenched. And then he tilted my chin up and kissed me softly. “No. I’m not angry. I’m slightly concerned about the fall out we’re going to see from this, once it goes public ... and I think we should probably talk to the press office, just so that they’re not blindsided by it.”
My stomach flip-flopped. “Do I really have to? Couldn’t we just hope that they don’t see it or hear about it?”
He laughed. “I admire your optimism, but I think I have to be the realist here. They’ll hear about it before it goes live, because that’s just how things work. There are networks, and they pass on information faster than light speed. As a matter of fact, it’s possible that they already know, and we’ll hear about it in the morning.” He grimaced. “I wonder if I should say something to the Queen. Just to head off any problems.”
Now my stomach truly clenched. “Really? Do we have to tell the Queen? Do you think she’ll be furious?”
“It’s hard to tell, but despite some indications to the contrary, my grandmother tends to want her family to have a measure of freedom to be who we are. That would definitely include you. But it all depends on how it’s presented to her. If someone from the press office gets her ear first and spins the story that you were flouting their direct orders, she might be unhappy. But if I can speak with her and explain how it all went down, I think she’d be sympathetic. She prefers all of us to stay out of the papers, unless it’s for something positive and happy.”
“I really didn’t say anything about us,” I assured Nicky. “I didn’t even mention the wedding or call you my fiancé. I referred to you as Prince Nicholas and said that you were a tremendous support to the work I do and that I admire what you’ve done with Waste Not, in raising awareness of how much perfectly good food is thrown away every day.”
“You admire me, do you?” His eyes glittered dangerously, and I shivered in anticipation. “Tell me more about this. What exactly do you admire?”
I pressed my lips together primly as I turned around to face him, my knees folded under me. “Your work ethic and commitment to leaving a better world behind for the next generation, of course.”
“My work ethic?” One side of his mouth ticked upward. “Is that all?”
“Well ...” I drawled, letting my gaze rake shamelessly down his still-nude body. “There might be one or two other things, but I promise, I didn’t bring those up in the interview.”
Nicky laughed, but at the same time, he dove for me, knocking me flat on my back and covering my body with his. “I would hope not. Explaining that to Granny would be a real challenge. However, I’m more than happy to listen while you elaborate at length to me now.”
“At length?” I rolled my eyes. “Someone’s slightly cocky.”
“More than slightly when it comes to you.” He dragged his lips down my neck. “And I have a feeling that I’m about to get significantly cockier. Right now.”
And so he did.
“This is unprecedented.” Aline, the usually unflappable woman who ran the Kensington Palace Press Office, glared at me across her desk. “Members of the Royal Family—andthat includes those who are engaged to be married to members of the Royal Family—” She paused long enough so that I couldn’t misunderstand her meaning. “—do not grant interviews except under the most prescribed circumstances.”
“I’m sure we both understand that.” Nicky smiled, but I recognized it as his professional, I-really-don’t-care-for-you smile. “But the fact of the matter is that the interview was sought via the correct channels at Honey Bee Juices, where Kyra is the sourcing officer, and it was granted in the same capacity. She spoke to Mr. Smith as an executive at the company her family owns and runs, and for which she works.”
Nicky was saying essentially the same thing I’d try to sell him on last night, but somehow, he said it much better and more convincingly than I did. I slid him a sideways look of congratulations, but he wasn’t paying attention to me. His attention was wholly focused on Aline.
“Sir, with all due respect, you know as well as I do that Ms. Duncan’s role as your fiancée comes before her position in any company. She is about to become the granddaughter-in-law of the Queen. She cannot simply go about giving away interviews as though she was some Hollywood starlet.” The way Aline wrinkled her nose when she said the wordinterviewsmade it clear that she saw what I’d done with Garrett Smith as lurid and tawdry. “And also, sir, if this was orchestrated by Ms. Duncan’s press liaison—the woman she insisted upon hiring against the advice of the entire press office—then we should think very seriously about whether or not we wish her to remain in the employ of the Crown.”
