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His brow furrows. “You’re here because I’m here. Would you have rather gone to Saffron’s apartment with Isla?”
I have to smile. “That is sort of what a nanny does, Keir.”
“We both know you’re not a nanny.” The corners of his mouth twitch and I’m pretty proud of myself for almost pulling a grin out of him while he’s still in such a bad mood. That’s definitely a win, as far as I’m concerned. “Believe it or not, we’re going to do something you might actually enjoy today.”
“We are? I thought you said we were coming here because you have meetings and stuff.”
“I do have meetings. We’re meeting King Stellan and Queen Margot for lunch on the Seine.”
I wait a second, expecting him to laugh because he has to be joking, right? Right? But he isn’t laughing. Oh my God, he isn’t joking.
“K-King Stellan and Queen Margot? On the Seine?”
He nods. “It’s a river cruise. Margot insists it’s going to be fun.”
Margot.
QueenMargot.
My brain is still trying to make sense of all the words he’s just thrown at me. He talks about having lunch with royalty like it’s the most casual thing in the world. I couldn’t have been more shocked if he’d said we were going to have lunch with Lady Gaga on the moon.
Just as the shock starts to fade, panic takes its place. “What are we going to do? What am I going to wear? We have toeatin front ofroyalty?” I take a breath and swallow hard, then reach up to feel my forehead with the back of my hand. “Is it really warm in here all of a sudden?”
Keir laughs—the first laugh I’ve heard out of his mouth since before yesterday’s drama with James—and stands up, giving me a hand out of my seat and scooping me into his arms before I have a chance to say anything else.
“If you’re warm, we can go finish our coffee on the balcony.” He pauses, giving me a slow, deep kiss that soothes my nerves in a way that no words could have done. “Otherwise we can stay inside and relieve some of that stress in more creative ways.”
“I like that option,” I nod as his hands skim up under the nightshirt I’m wearing to caress my bare back. “But do we have time? We can’t keep the King and Queen waiting.”
“We’ll make time.”
Perfect.
I’ll stress about lunch later.
* * *
Stepping onto the boat is like stepping into a fairytale. The walls and ceiling of the dining area are all glass, giving unobstructed views of the river and the city beyond on both sides. It’s bright and airy and magical in the midday sun.
But I can hardly concentrate on the beautiful view because I’m seriously starstruck meeting the royal couple. They could be a wedding cake topper, him so dark and handsome, her the perfect bubbly blonde. She’s so pregnant that she’s about to pop and absolutely radiant.
At the moment, King Stellan and Keir are huddled at one end of the table talking business while Queen Margot is happily chatting my ear off like we’re long-lost friends.
It’s the most wonderfully surreal moment of my life, and I have to actually pinch my arm underneath the table to be sure it all isn’t some kind of bizarre, fantastic fever dream.
“Would you like more champagne, Ella?” The Queen motions to someone waiting nearby before I have a chance to answer. “If I can’t drink,” she pauses to cradle her very-pregnant belly, “then I insist all my friends drink as much as possible.”
All her friends? Did the Queen just refer to me as herfriend?
I giggle—giggle!—like a schoolgirl as I’m handed a new, full glass of champagne. “You’ll have to forgive me, Your Majesty—”
“Margot,” she interrupts with a regal gesture. “At least while it’s just the four of us in here. We need a break from all that stuffy formality every once in a while.” She tosses me a conspiratorial wink and nods in Keir’s direction. “You understand how it goes, I’m sure.”
I’m not exactly sure what she means, but I nod and smile and sip my champagne anyway because I’m certainly not going to question my new best friend, the Queen of freaking Denmark.
“So what were you saying?” She gives me a warm smile. “I should forgive you for what?”
“For being so tongue-tied,” I confess. “This is all so new to me. Keir and I—Lord Grayrose, I mean—travel a lot, but not… not anything like this.”
