She smiled. The castle.
She hugged her knees to her chest, hoping she hadn't just dreamed what happened earlier. But the way that warm feeling in her chest glowed when she remembered was proof enough.
Reaves had told her that he loved her.
She hugged her knees tighter. She loved him right back. She'd known that for a while now, but she hadn't thought she'd admit it to herself, let alone to him. She didn't know what it could mean. No matter what he'd said to Zia, she knew damn well that life was no fairy tale.
Although…
She made herself a promise there and then. If her life wanted to try to turn into a fairy tale at this point, she wasn't going to fight it. She'd always thought of herself as an optimist. It was just that life had spent a long time arguing with her.
She moved to the edge of the bed. She should get up. Move. Make herself look presentable.
Reaves had suggested this morning that she should just accept she was going to be resting today—put her pajamas back on and make the most of it. He'd been right, of course, and she was glad she'd done as he suggested. But now she wanted to get dressed. She ran her hand through her hair. Her curls were like Zia's, unruly at the best of times. She should see what she could do with it. And probably put some makeup on. That thought made her smile. Reaves had told her that he loved her when she looked her absolute worst. She shook her head. He must really mean it.
In the bathroom she had to sit on the edge of the tub again—but not before she'd seen her reflection in the mirror. She looked terrible.
"Knock knock." She could hear Reaves calling from the bedroom door.
"Come in. I'm in the bathroom."
"Are you okay in there?" His voice was louder now. Closer.
"I am. I wanted to freshen up. I'll be out in a minute."
She got to her feet and stared at the mirror again, faced with the choice of trying to make herself look presentable, or going out there and just being who she was. She chose the latter. And almost second-guessed that decision when she opened the bathroom door and saw the look on his face.
"Hey. Are you okay? Sorry I left you. You were sleeping so soundly." He wrapped one arm around her, hooked the other behind her legs, and picked her up.
She let out a surprised little laugh. "Do you think you're taking this prince business a little too seriously now?"
He chuckled and backed up to the bed, sitting down on it without letting go of her. "There's no such thing as too seriously. I'm taking it very seriously indeed." He shifted her so he could see her face. "Engineering our happily ever after is my most important mission in life now."
She didn't know what to do with that, so she slapped his arm and said something she knew was true. "Your most important mission at the moment is figuring out how to get House of St. James back on track."
His expression sobered a little. "Granted, that's important too. But they kind of go together, if you think about it."
"They do?"
"Yeah. Helping Dad is something we're doing together. And the way I see it, working together—having a shared goal in life—will only bring us closer."
"Do you really think you're going to give up flying?" she asked.
"I'll never give it up completely. I want to get you and Zia up there, apart from anything else. But… who knows. Maybe things will go so well for House of St. James that we'll need a plane of our own."
She just stared at him. Part of her thought he was joking—another part wasn't so sure. Half his friends had their own planes.
He seemed to pick up on her hesitation. "Not that I'm saying we'd ever want one. But…" He shook his head. "Anyway. That's all stuff we can figure out as we go along. For now, I want to know how you're feeling. You look tired."
She made a face. "I have no right to be tired. I've done nothing all day. I spent half of it sleeping."
He tapped the end of her nose, as he sometimes did with Zia. It made her smile. She couldn't help it.
"That was your assignment for this weekend, remember? All you have to do is rest, sleep, eat well." He smiled. "And hang out with me when you can."
"You know how hard that is for me, Reaves." She stopped herself. "Well—not the hanging out with you part. I like that part."
"I do too."
