Art
What time would you like to go out?
Alice
Is thirty minutes enough time for you?
Art
I’m ready anytime you’d like.
Alice
In that case, how about now?
Art
I’ll meet you out front.
Art’s eyes light up as he greets me a few minutes later. He’s in a black suit, crisp white dress shirt, and burgundy tie today. “Good morning, ma’am.”
“Good morning, Art,” I mumble.
I get in the car and secure my seat belt just as he settles himself into the driver’s seat. “Off to Queen’s Park?”
“That’s our eventual destination, but I doubt much will havechanged from the last progress report I read. The workers are continuing to find more problems, like a foundation issue. Which is why there were so many cracks between the floors. The latest move-in date was mid-to-late January.” I rub the back of my neck. “What I was really hoping for was a private place we could talk first.”
He nods in understanding and glances back at me through the rearview mirror. “I can take the scenic route to the flat, or perhaps we could stop by the palace stables and go for a ride? I’m sure Sefton and Athena would be thrilled to see you.”
“You always come up with the best ideas.” Nothing sounds more perfect than seeing my horses and having a riding date with Art. Yes, I’m counting this as a date.
The clip-clopsof Sefton’s and Athena’s hooves fill the air as Art and I take a slow ride in silence in an area of the Buckingham Palace gardens that’s closed to the public. At Papa’s request, it’s also an area that’s left to grow out like a meadow one might find in the country.
The top of the yellowing grass on either side of the pathway is long and comes up to the horses’ knees. In spring, the flowers are out in full bloom, but since we’re into the heart of summer, they’ve reached their peak, and the plants are beginning to die back.
I can still make out traces of pink knapweed, white honeysuckle, purple foxglove, thrift, and the white-flowered grass of Parnassus. I hear the buzzing of honeybees and spot a few butterflies fluttering just above the grass.
Art breaks the silence first. “Alice, are you cross with me?” he murmurs.
“No.” I frown. “Whatever gave you that impression?”
“You’ve been avoiding me. I haven’t heard from you for three days. I thought I’d done something to upset you.”
“It isn’t you, Art, it’s me.” I let out a frustrated breath. “I’ve been too scared to talk to you.”
“If you’ve changed your mind about me, I understand.” His tone isflat. “We can go back to just being friends and working together in a professional capacity.”
“No. That’s the last thing I want.” I lean my head back and stare at the sky. I’m mucking this up big time. All the words that have come out of my mouth sound as if I’m about to break up with him. No wonder he’s glum. “I like you and I want to see where our relationship goes; it’s just that everything around us is about to change, and I’m scared of the unknown.”
“Change is always scary,” he says. “But I don’t think it’ll alter things between us all that much. At least not right away.”
“What about the number-one rule? Bodyguards aren’t supposed to be romantically involved with anyone they’re protecting.” I slow Athena so we’re in step with Sefton and Art.
“Okay, you have me there.” He takes a moment before he responds. “Hypothetically speaking, as long as you don’t mind my being on the clock and the limited locations we can go to when we have our dates, I don’t see it as being a conflict of interest until we’re officially boyfriend and girlfriend. We just need to be discreet.”
“But what about after that? We need a long-term plan.” I’ve created a monster. The stakes are astronomically high. He’s all in, risking his career and his future with the protection division. If that’s not commitment, I don’t know what is. I need to be just as sure about this as he is. I don’t care about what happens to me. I’m willing to do whatever it takes for a shot with him.
If I look back, I developed a crush for him early on. He’s been on my mind and in all my dreams. I’ve tried to get him out of my head, but that was a colossal failure. It only served to have me compare the other men I was dating to him. Then there was the kiss in the car. My heart told me to act on my feelings. And I did. It’s been leading me to him all along. There’s my answer. I’m choosing to listen to it.
