Page 72 of His Royal Request

Sure, he could act calm and collected. He wasn’t the one about to address the world and make a public proclamation about his love life.

I’d worked tirelessly to avoided this situation. I kept my private life completely out of the public. I also didn’t date much, so it was easy. Now, I had so much at stake. If this scared Charlie away, I’d never be able to let it go.

It would be my fault. My family’s fault. My title’s fault that I lost the only woman I’d ever had feelings for.

Finally, Isla rounded the corner and descended the stairs. My eyes swept the space behind her, confused. “Where is she?”

Isla ignored me until she reached the final step. “She’s making a grand entrance.”

She brushed past me and looped her arm around Michael’s. “Since those two are going to steal the show, mind being my plus one? No one will notice.”

He nodded, looking surprised. “Of course.”

Isla beamed. “Here she is.”

Charlie stood at the top of the staircase looking absolutely beautiful. The blue gown she wore hugged her figure and I couldn’t stop staring. Her long hair was pulled back, accentuating the lace bodice. She looked like a goddess. And she was mine.

She smiled shyly as she took careful steps until she had descended the steps in front of me.

“You’re breathtaking.”

She lowered her eyes demurely. “Isla put in a lot of hard work.”

I tipped her chin up so her eyes met mine. “You could be wearing a sack with no makeup and I would say the same thing.”

She started to turn. “In that case…”

I laughed and pulled her closer to me. “Not a chance. I want the world to see how beautiful you are.”

“Let’s get going,” Ronan called out as he joined us. He paused when he saw Charlie and grinned. “Well, look at you. You clean up nice.”

She blushed and I shoved him out of our way. Ronan, Michael, and Isla got in one of the limos waiting for us, and I led Charlie to the one in front.

Once we were settled, I squeezed her hand and smiled. “Are you ready for this?”

She looked at me with worried eyes and nodded. “I think so.”

“You don’t have to hold this press conference. You can change your mind.”

“No. I want to do this. I want…” She looked down at her lap where our intertwined hands rested. “I want us.”

I sucked in a breath and leaned over to kiss her cheek. “Okay. We’ll do this together. Just remember what Mr. Anderson said.”

Our PR manager had met with us to cover talking points and how to control the conversation without letting the paparazzi and newsagents take over.

“Yeah, we met while traveling.” She recited the facts we were to focus on. ”You helped me when I was lost and we decided to get to know one another. I didn’t recognize you, and after spending time together you invited me back here.”

I nodded. It was mostly the truth. Specific enough to satisfy their curiosity but broad enough that people couldn’t poke holes in the facts.

Soon we arrived at the Balivaughn Manor. It was an old estate that the family had bought about a century ago and maintained to act as a second home or overflow for guests. Douglas, Evelyn, and Nicole lived here when we were children, though they’ve moved to a manor closer to the capital since. Nicole’s always said her favorite memories took place here. I was happy it was somewhere meaningful to her.

The lawn swarmed with press and cameras. Charlie tensed when it came into view.

“It’s going to be fine,” I said. “Just a couple of crazy minutes then we can go inside and enjoy ourselves.”

My words seemed to relax her.

“Ready?” I squeezed her hand.