Page 36 of Falling for the Queen Mother

This time, he had a beautiful woman lying next to him and he was starting to think being married to Alaina might not be a bad idea after all.

When Alaina woke back up, she realized almost immediately she was alone.

In the middle of the night, she'd realized that Nathaniel had rolled over and wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her to his chest.

It had been... nice.

Very nice.

Much nicer than she would have expected. She'd enjoyed it when she'd been married, and missed it after she'd been widowed, but it surprised her how she had kept her eyes closed and relaxed back into Nathaniel.

She hadn't been surprised that he'd been quiet as he moved away, but it did surprise her when she found herself wishing he'd stayed.

It had taken her a while to fall back to sleep and suspected it had been the same for Nathaniel, though he'd laid almost perfectly still until she dozed back off.

Moving into a seated position, Alaina looked around the cabin. She'd thought the darkness meant it was still nighttime, but a closer look showed her that the window coverings had been closed so that very little light entered through the cracks around them.

Someone had been quite thoughtful. Was it Nathaniel who had asked about doing so or figured it out himself? Or had a staff member taken care of it?

Could they be set on a timer? Alaina seemed to remember something about that, but it had been quite some time since she'd sailed.

Regardless, a glance at the clock told her it was time for her to get up and ready for the day, whatever it might hold.

First would be breakfast, followed by the meeting with Frederick and his team, then a big day of relaxation. It had been a long time since she'd had a full day to relax.

This wouldn't be exactly that, but close enough. Before she could actually get out of bed and dressed, light from the door opening behind the headboard told her someone was entering, though everything was quiet enough she wouldn't have known otherwise.

"Good morning?" She said something before the other person made it any further.

"You're awake!" Nathaniel's voice preceded him coming into view by just a couple of seconds. "How did you sleep?"

"Well, thank you." She tried to assimilate what he was carrying. "Is that breakfast?"

He set the tray on the table next to the curtained window. "It is. One of the crew members was going to bring it up, but since I was coming in here anyway, I did."

With a yawn, Alaina stood. "It smells delicious. I'll be right back." She went to the attached restroom to do what she needed to do first thing in the morning and returned to the bedroom. "How long have you been awake?"

"An hour or so. Not that long." He pointed to the covered windows. "This is nice to keep the light out when you don't want to wake up early."

Alaina pressed a button on the wall and the curtains on the opposite side opened a little bit. "Don't want to blind us. We can open all of them over a few minutes and then be able to eat with the view fully visible."

"Good plan."

They talked about a little bit of nothing as she slowly opened the curtains on the various windows until they were completely open. Once seated, they ate their meals in relative silence, staring out at the vast ocean beyond the windows. About the time she finished, her phone buzzed with a notification from Frederick that their meeting would be pushed back an hour.

"What do you want to do with our unexpected free time?" Nathaniel wiped his mouth with his napkin and set it on the plate. "Go up to the deck and enjoy the sun?"

Alaina stood. "We don't need to go to the top deck."

She led the way toward the other end of the suite and opened a side door that led to a small outdoor deck. "Each of the main suites has their own," she explained. "I think this one is actually the smallest of them. I'm not sure, though."

"This looks perfect." Nathaniel found a lounge chair and stretched out. "I could get used to this kind of thing." He closed his eyes and sighed. "I never imagined I'd be on a boat like this at all, much less essentially live on it for a few days."

"I felt the same way," Alaina admitted. "I tend to take it for granted now. I know I shouldn't but I do. I live an incredibly privileged life and I know that. I try to remember what it was like growing up. We were definitely better off than many people, but nothing like the wealth that comes with being part of the royal family."

"I would imagine very few people know the kind of wealth that comes with that kind of family. There are a few of course, but not many."

Alaina decided to take a seat on the outdoor sofa, stretching her own legs in front of her as the sun warmed her skin. "It's a tradeoff. Yes, we have access to many things that others don't, but you also have very little privacy. I remember hearing someone talk about it once. People with money and who aren't public figures in any way are considered... best or happiest when compared with those who are well known with or without money. The least happy are those who are well known but who don't have any money to offset security needs and things like that."