She marched through the castle with brisk efficiency, guiding me through hallways I definitely wouldn’t have found on my own. Up one staircase and down another corridor. We walked past yet another sitting room filled with sunlight and furniture so antique, it probably required its own insurance policy.
Finally, she stopped outside a large set of double doors and waved at them. “Lady Elizabeth’s rooms.”
Rooms. Plural.
She pushed one door open and stepped aside, motioning for me to follow. I walked into what turned out to be a library that was all Eliza’s. There were books everywhere, on the shelveslining the walls and stacks sitting on side tables, a few towers of paperbacks even leaning precariously near a window seat.
As I walked farther in, I scanned some of the titles. Romance. More romance. Fantasy romance. Romance with vampires and, for reasons I absolutely did not understand, romance withwerewolves. There were a lot of werewolves.
It was only when I rounded a tall bookshelf that I finally spotted her, curled up on a couch beneath a tall window with an ice pack resting over her eyes and a blanket thrown loosely over her legs. She groaned when she heard my footsteps.
“I’m really fine, Miriam,” she said grumpily from under the ice pack. “I swear. If the production team is moaning about my absence, tell them I’ll be down shortly.”
I walked over and gently lifted the ice pack off her face. She squeaked, her eyes flying open and her cheeks turning bright red the second she realized it was me.
“Jesse.”
“Good morning,” I said quietly. “What’s going on?”
She stared at me like I’d materialized out of thin air, almost immediately trying to sit up, but it only lasted about half a second before she winced, turned slightly green, and sank back into the couch.
“Yeah,” I said. “Let’s not do that.”
She pressed the heel of her hand against her forehead and screwed her eyes shut. “Ow.”
Relief nearly cut me down at the knees when I realized what was ailing her. “Ah. I should’ve known your lightweight, sugary drink tendencies would come to this.”
Although Iagainshouldn’t have been paying such close attention, I’d noticed she’d had three glasses of champagne last night. Evidently, that had been more than enough.
“I am not…” she began weakly but trailed off when I just arched an eyebrow at her. “I have things to do.”
“I’m sure you do, but you should stay here. Just lie down and have a nap,” I said. “What things?”
She sighed. “A walkthrough with the production team. Accounts for the west farm. Scheduling the grounds crew and reviewing next week’s tour bookings. That’s all I can remember right now.”
I nodded along like I was taking mental notes, but her eyes had drifted shut and her voice was sort of in and out. Eventually, she stopped talking entirely and I smiled when I realized she’d already fallen asleep.
Out like a light.
I stood there for another moment, just watching her breathe like some kind of creep, but then I finally managed to wrench my gaze away from my Sleeping Beauty and moved quietly around the room. The curtains came first. I pulled them closed until the morning light dimmed enough to be manageable. Then I adjusted the blanket, tucking it around her shoulders.
The ice pack was trickier. It refused to stay balanced on her forehead, sliding sideways every time I tried. Since I was at risk of waking her if I kept trying, I gave up and left it resting near her temple.
She didn’t stir once. Not even a little.
When I finally left the room, Miriam was standing at the door on the other side like a guard dog, her eyes flicking past me. “Is she?—”
“Sleeping,” I said.
She nodded, looking back at me expectantly, but I rolled my eyes and shrugged out of my jacket, draping it over the nearest chair. Miriam frowned. “What are you doing?”
I rolled up my sleeves, smirking slightly. “I’m giving my bride a fucking break for once in her life.”
She studied me for another long moment before the corners of her mouth twitched just a bit. Then, to my complete and total surprise, she nodded. “Very well. I’d better get back to work.”
Leaving me where I was, she turned and left the suite, shutting the main door quietly behind herself. I settled in to take over guard dog duties, absolutely determined to let Eliza sleep. I didn’t know who was in charge around here with her dad gone and her asleep, but in the absence of any obvious choices, I was appointing myself.
At least insofar as it came to her.
