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“As I’m sure you can tell by this point, there’s a divide between the royals and the servants in the palace. It’s tradition, and something we’re all used to.”
“Still strange. Like, we’re supposed to pretend they’re not even there?”
“You sound like your mother. She felt the same way about this tradition and bucked it whatever chance she got.”
“Didn’t think it was possible to love her any more than I already do,” I said with a smile.
“Then you’ll appreciate this. Your mother loved to cook, as you know. And one of her favorite things to do was to make food for the staff. She loved surprising them with fresh bread or pastries or whatever else she made in the kitchen.”
“Really?”
“Really. And she didn’t stop there. She’d sneak off, taking one of the cars into the city and giving out treats to whatever children she spotted. It wasn’t long before she had a nickname—the Queen of Sweets.”
“That’s so awesome.”
“Your father, on the other hand, wasn’t exactly a fan of this behavior. He’s much more of a traditionalist, as you’ve seen.”
“Did he try to stop her?”
“In his own way. He made it clear that he didn’t care for the behavior. But even your father relented when he saw the effect your mother’s compassion had on the people of Edoria. He never gave her his explicit blessing, but he dropped the matter in time.”
I grinned, loving this story of how Mom did what she thought was right, damn the consequences.
Silence fell, and out of the corner of my eye I could see a strange expression on Luc’s face.
“So,” he said. “I’ve been spending the better part of the day telling you about myself, your father, your mother, and the kingdom.”
“You have. And I appreciate it.”
“Now, I have something that I want to know about you.”
“Is that right?”
“It is. Last night, you told me that you hadn’t slept with anyone because you were simply too busy.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, that’s what I said.”
“I’m not accusing you of lying, of course. But I have to wonder… is that the only reason?”
His question gave me pause. It was something I had to sit with for a second or two.
“It’s… mostly the case.”
“Mostly?”
“If youhave toknow, it is because I have been so busy but also because well, I just haven’t found anyone. I guess I haven’t met the right person.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized that they were wrong. “I mean, I don’t think there is arightperson, like a soul mate or anything like that. But I haven’t found anyone who’s made me want to be like that with them.”
“Other than me,” he said with a teasing smile.
“That was different, jerk,” I replied, matching his smile with one of my own. “That was about distraction, remember?”
“Oh, I remember.”
I laughed. “But seriously, whenever I’ve been with guys before and it seemed like things were moving in that direction, something would always happen. They’d make the wrong move or say the wrong thing or be too pushy. It never felt right.”
“That’s good you’re so in-tune with your feelings. No reason to do anything with anyone that you’re not comfortable with.”
“Thanks. But the rest of what I said was true. My life has been so crazy and chaotic that the last thing I wanted was to throw more insanity on top of it with romance. Before all this, I’d only just found some measure of stability after working my ass off for a long time. Men and a sex life and all that comes with it was just one too many things on my plate.”
