I pressed my lips to his, the kiss tender. “There’s plenty of room on the palace grounds.”
“In that case, Crown Princess Charmina Devaoile, will you marry me?”
“I would be honored, Alan Smythson.”
We kissed, and I lost track of time. Minutes or hours later, Alan pulled back. “Damn it. I don’t have a betrothal gift for you.”
I laughed.
He scowled. “I mean it, Mina.”
I laughed harder. “Sam and Noel thought the golden slippers were a betrothal gift.”
“The slippers were an apology.”
“The golden girdle you mentioned, then?”
His eyes darkened, his thumbs caressing my waist as he pulled me closer. “That will be a private gift that only you and I will ever see. This needs to be something you can wear every day, so that no one will miss it.”
I held my hand up in front of his face. “Something like this ring, then?”
He pushed my hand down and glared. “The ring was an excuse to see you again. Your betrothal gift will be made for that purpose and that purpose only.”
“Then we’d better get your forge together quick.”
Thirty-Seven
Alan
???
“Why am Ihere again?” Jeff complained.
I kept my eyes on the bit of gold I was shaping. “Because Sam had to go back to Skorsa for a few days, and he was worried that you wouldn’t leave your uncle’s without someone dragging you out.”
Jeff already knew that. I hadn’t bothered with subtlety when I met him at the shop.
“But why here?”
“Because I need to finish this bracelet.”
It would take a bit before I had a forge of my own again, and I had returned to the smithy where I had made the golden slippers in the meantime. The Brightons were a friendly family, happy to give me space to work, even if they were a little overawed since discovering my relationship with Mina. It hadn’t been worth trying to find forge space closer to the palace, since I wanted to check in on Jeff, anyway.
He was doing considerably better. Sam—and Noel—had done wonders helping him get over his heartbreak. As far as I could tell, Jeff was even beginning to accept that it was for the best that Kayla had jilted him at the ball. But he hadn’t reached the point where he was thinking about the future again.
I picked up the next sheet of gold I had pounded out the day before and started on another rose. Sam had given me specific directions on how to coax Jeff into talking about his plans, but I wasn’t Sam. I figured trying to manage his twisty sort of conversation myself would only backfire. So, I spoke to Jeff the way I always had. “Are you moving back to Skorsa at the end of the month?”
His visit to his uncle’s had been meant as a trial period. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jeff frown. “I only came to impress Kayla.”
“Then you’ll move back to Skorsa?”
“I don’t know. I actually like Haiwella. Plus, you and Sam will be living here. And Uncle needs the help. Word got out that the prince and princess had visited the shop, and we’ve been much busier.”
I looked up from my work, but I couldn’t judge Jeff’s expression. “Then you’ll stay?”
“I’ll miss Cole if I stay in Haiwella. You know there is no chance we can convince him and Gemma to move into the city.”
“Maybe not, but we could probably convince him to take over Master Kiels’s trips to buy supplies for the general store. I’m sure Mina would love it if Gemma came, too.”
