For a moment we just stood there, grinning at each other like idiots in the middle of a marble corridor.
"Hi," I said.
"Hi."
"Fancy meeting you here."
"I was just..."He gestured vaguely."Walking."
"Walking.Right.Important royal duty, walking."
"Essential to the functioning of the monarchy."
A footman passed us, his gaze fixed determinedly forward with the kind of studied obliviousness that took years of training to perfect.I realized we were standing close enough that anyone could see this wasn't a casual encounter.The air between us practically hummed.
"I should get to my fitting," I said, not moving.
"And I should get to my...meeting."
"What meeting?"
"I don't actually remember."A hint of color crept up his neck."There might not be a meeting.I might have just been walking past your wing of the palace for no particular reason."
"That's a lot of walking for no reason."
"I'm a very active person."
He'd come looking for me.Crown Prince Archibald, with a schedule packed full of Important Royal Duties, had manufactured an excuse to walk past my rooms on the off chance he might run into me.The knowledge settled into me, warm and unexpected.
"About last night," he said, stepping closer.Close enough that I could smell his cologne, could see the pulse jumping in his throat.
"What about it?"
"I wanted to make sure you didn't regret anything."
"Do I look like I regret anything?"
He studied my face, his gaze traveling over my features with an intensity that made my skin prickle.Then he reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, his fingers brushing the sensitive skin there, the same gesture from last night, and my breath caught at the memory it triggered.
"You look like you slept well," he said.
"I did.Eventually."
"Eventually?"
"I may have spent some time...thinking."
"About anything in particular?"
His voice had dropped lower, intimate, and I was acutely aware that we were standing in a public corridor where anyone could see us.Where anyone could notice the way we were leaning toward each other, the shrinking distance between us.
"Nothing specific," I managed."Just general thoughts.Random mental activity."
"I also had some random mental activity.Quite a lot of it, actually."
"Did you?"
"Very distracting."
