Didn't things like that only happen in sappy HEA TV movies and rom-coms? Surely, not in real life.
"I'm okay. I think." She didn't move.
"I'm sorry I ran into you." His voice rumbled underneath her cheek.
"I'm pretty sure I ran into you."
"Either way."
She kept her eyes closed and felt herself relax against him.
He let her stay there for another minute before he cleared his throat then moved away from her slowly enough that she could hold herself upright.
"I'm fine." She rubbed the spot on her head gently. "I might have a little bit of a bump, but it's not like I'm going to have a black eye for the first day of shooting."
His nose wrinkled into an adorable wince. Since he was still crouched next to the bed, she got a good look at it. Elise didn't think he would appreciate her thinking he looked adorable.
"That would be bad, wouldn't it?" His nervousness made her smile.
"It wouldn't be the first time I've shot with a black eye," she told him with a shrug, scooting herself to the head of the bed so she could lean her back against it. "OnSPACE Musical 3, I hadan encounter with an errant piece of the set and broke my nose. It wasn't bad, but I did have two black eyes. They were fairly easy to cover up, but it's not preferable."
"You can sleep in here." He straightened and she realized again just how tall he was. "I'll make sure someone wakes you about thirty minutes before we land."
Elise shook her head. "I'm not taking your bed. Besides, I got some sleep last night. More than you did." At least based on what she'd heard whispered about in the palace - something about an extraordinarily long phone meeting with someone on the other side of the world. She started to swing her legs over the side, but his glare made her stop.
It didn't scare her, but it did make her reconsider.
Staring into his stormy blue eyes, she found them locked in a seeming impasse. She wasn't going to stay in his bed. He didn't want her to leave.
Finally, she huffed. "Fine. I'll stay here, but only if you do, too. We're both adults. We're on a plane with a number of other people, any of whom could walk in at any minute." The expression on his face told her the likelihood of that happening. "We both need some rest." She looked at the other side. "It's huge. We probably won't even realize the other person is there."
He looked skeptical, but when he crouched back down next to her, she could see a weariness in his eyes she hadn't noticed before.
Could it be more than a busy week and not enough sleep the previous night?
His eyes searched hers before he spoke again. "Are you certain you're all right with that?"
Elise couldn't hide her grin. "I feel certain that you will be nothing but a gentleman. Nothing I've ever heard of, and - more importantly - have ever seen or heard myself would give me reason to think otherwise."
She pulled her legs up to her chest so she could slip her feet underneath the already turned back covers. Closing her eyes, Elise tried to resist the urge to comment on the luxury. Though no stranger to top-of-the-line bedding, this was next level.
But as she sunk into both the mattress and the pillow, she couldn’t stop herself. "This is incredible." It came out as almost a sigh, and it seemed unlikely he'd be able to hear that she said anything much less understand the words.
The other side of the mattress dipped and the bedding shifted as Frederick found a comfortable spot of his own.
Purposely, she rolled facing away from him and pulled the perfectly weighted covers up to her chin and let sleep overtake her.
When her eyes next fluttered open, Elise found herself facing the other way with the peaceful countenance of a king at rest just inches away.
Biting her bottom lip, she reached out and cupped a hand against his face, feeling the rough stubble as she ran her thumb along his cheek.
Seeing him like this made her realize how tense he must be most of the time. Running a country, with all of the problems that surely entailed, had to be a huge responsibility.
Almost of its own volition, her thumb made a longer trip on it's next swipe down his face, coming to stop at the corner of his lips.
His incredibly kissable lips.
What had brought that thought on?
