Her smile reminded me of Nance’s, with its ability to immediately set a person at ease. It didn’t feel like pretense or like she’d held any negative thoughts about me and my motives for being with Owen, unlike his brother.
“Here he is,” she said. “The one everyone’s talking about. Well, come here. Let me get a closer look at you.”
I obeyed.
“And take off your hat. I need to see what you look like. Obviously, I’ve googled all the pictures.”
It was weird, thinking that someone could so easily find me through a Google search—one of the many new aspects of my life I was adjusting to.
She repositioned her specs on the bridge of her nose, inspecting me. “Oh yes, very nice. Very nice specimen indeed.” She sounded so serious before she looked at Owen and added, “He looks like fun.”
It was as though she could reach into our brains and see all that we had been up to the night before.
“He is fun,” Owen assured her.
And I’d thought I blushed too much before…
“My dear Keegan, you can call me Sharon or Mère, whichever suits you. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“The pleasure is all mine.”
“I’m so glad you stopped by for tea before the King arrives. It will be wonderful to have a chat and—”
“The King?” Owen asked.
“Yes, he only just messaged me about being on his way.”
“And no one thought to text me?”
“I have to admit, I was a little worried if I’d said anything, you might have found a way to sneak off before his arrival, and I wanted to meet Keegan so badly.”
Owen’s expression had quickly shifted from playful to cross.
“I’m not sure I appreciate the way he went about it. He could have just stayed here if that’s what he wanted.”
“Owen, your brother needs time to take this all in.”
“I feel like if that was all it was, he would have said something to me about coming over. Why the surprise?”
“I’m sure it was a last-minute decision. You two are so impulsive sometimes.”
Sharon glanced between the two of us before adding, “At least we can both enjoy the awkwardness together. Can’t we, Keegan?” She winked, and I managed an uneasy chuckle as this breakfast had gone from making me uneasy to downright anxious.
22
Owen
Ishould have known Lucas would plan a surprise visit.
If he had wanted to meet Keegan, he could have just stayed at the palace. Although, a part of me suspected he wanted to catch us off guard to prevent us from, as Mère suggested, being able to plan for his visit the way we’d planned for our first interview together.
It was a smart move, but it annoyed me all the same.
“You’re not going to sneak him out the back door, are you?” Mère asked, surely noticing the perturbed expression on my face.
“Of course not, but that’s not such a terrible idea.”
“Do I need to leave?” Keegan asked.
