“What’s wrong?” Addy asked.
“The media is here. I think Charlotte called them.”
“Oh, bollocks. It’s funny how they never show up if she isn’t at an event, but every time she is…” She sighed. “Give me a second.”
She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.
“Are you all right?”
“If I get photographed while drunk and hanging off you like a two-bit Instagram influencer with fake boobs, my mother will have my guts for garters.” She opened her eyes. “Let’s go. I’m sure we both know the drill. Head down, don’t look at the camera, walk like you don’t know they’re there.”
I offered her my arm again and somehow, she was able to walk in a perfectly straight line alongside me with her hand only just hooked through the crook of my elbow. We made it to the door through the flashes, and George quickly ushered us inside.
“Are you all right?” he asked us when we were out of shot of the cameras.
I nodded. “Yes, thank you. You don’t know how they knew this event was happening tonight, do you? As far as I was aware, it was quite private.”
“We do not, Lord Bentley. I believe security are trying to find out right now.”
“Thank you. I would appreciate a note if you do happen to find out.”
“Of course. If you’ll excuse me, I must get back to the door. If there’s anything you need, please let reception know.”
“We will, thank you.” I guided Addy towards the lift. “Not that we really need the confirmation.”
Addy scoffed. “I don’t know why you asked.”
“I thought I might be able to get it in writing and show Fred.”
“Oh, you snake.”
I laughed and took us both into the lift, pressing the button for our floor. “You can let go of me now, you know.”
“No, I think I’ll hold onto you as long as I’m in these shoes. That fresh air did not do me any favours.”
I glanced at her. “I’m still wondering why you’re with me and not Tim.”
“You are not going to let that go, are you?”
“Absolutely not. I’m terribly nosy.”
She rolled her eyes. The lift came to a jolting stop, and she had to grip the rail to ensure she didn’t fall over. “And that’s why I kept hold of you.”
“Fair point.” I led her out of the lift and down the hall to our room, where she plucked the room key from her clutch bag and tapped it against the brick above the handle. The little light turned green, and we both entered, with Addy stopping up short.
“That’s my suitcase.”
I smirked. “Yes. I had a porter bring it down as I’d assumed you’d forgotten.”
She peered up at me and let go of my arm, only just making it to the bed. “You pay far too much attention to the little things.”
“Perhaps. But in my opinion, it’s the little things that should be paid attention to.” I set our food down and undid the top button of my shirt. “Like how you say you aren’t as confident as Eva, but I’ve seen nothing but confidence, and how the number of sugars you have in your morning tea depends on how much sleep you had the night before.”
She paused midway through removing her shoe to look at me, tilting her head ever so slightly so that she was peering through her lashes.
“Or… how you’ve discreetly hidden bookmarks around the house so everyone will stop dog-earing the pages of books.”
Her lips twitched.
“How the first words to leave your mouth every morning are always, “Good morning! How did you sleep? Would you like some tea?” only for Boris to tell you he’s got it, prompting you to pour him a secret cup when you think nobody is watching you.”
“You… pay attention to that stuff?”
“Of course I do. If you want to get to know a person, pay attention to how they act when they think nobody is watching. That’s how you know who they really are.”
Adelaide’s tongue flicked out across her lips. “Very astute of you.”
“That’s how I know that you changed your kebab to a large one at the very last minute when you realised I didn’t order one for myself. And you put the garlic mayonnaise on the side, because you know I don’t like it.”
She dropped her head, but I could see the smile on her face. “Guilty.”
“There you are, then. Now might I suggest you take off that rather wonderful dress before you get all manner of grease and sauce on it?”
She got up, now barefoot, and unzipped her suitcase. She pulled out a set of pyjamas from it and stopped in front of me on the way to her bathroom. “Very saucy, Your Grace.”
“Go and get changed.” I laughed and carried the bag to the bed, where I made sure to fetch a blanket from the sofa to stretch out over it. These sheets were white, and it seemed like a terrible idea to eat greasy takeaway food on them.
Addy emerged from the bathroom after I’d opened all the food and laid it out, and her pyjamas were not quite as covering as I’d hoped they would be.
A strappy top and shorts.
I knew what happened to boobs when they slept in tops that were not full t-shirts.
For her part, she was completely unbothered by the fact she was wearing not a lot of pyjamas compared to usual—or a bra.
She climbed onto the bed next to me and stopped. “Wait. There’s only one bed.”
“Yes… I booked my room when I was coming alone,” I said slowly. “I tried to call yesterday to amend it, but they didn’t have any with two beds. I can sleep on the sofa, if you’d prefer.”
She looked over at the sofa. “No. It looks dreadful. It’s fine. Besides, it’s not like anything will happen, right?”
“Exactly. Now, while we eat, I want to know about Tim. Start talking.”
“Ugh. I can’t believe this. Okay. Fine. Is there a mini fridge? I’ll pay for the wine. I need another drink for this.”
We were going to have to agree to disagree here, but at least she was safe in the room.
She opened the mini fridge and grabbed a drink for both of us. She handed me the little bottle of whiskey and a glass, then poured her own wine into the world’s smallest wine glass before bringing it back to the bed and having a big drink.
Then, she took a bite of a slice of pizza and paused to eat it. “He’s perfectly nice. Very sweet. And a complete gentleman.”
I waited.
She took another bite of pizza.
“But?” I prompted.
“He’s just so bloody boring!”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
Now, boring was subjective. Some people found chess boring, for example, where I found it to be a fantastic sport and the peak of logic. Others found books and reading boring, where Adelaide clearly disagreed. We both enjoyed our royal history, and I knew many people who thought it a drag.
But for this?
Yes. I had to agree with her.
Timothy Hargreaves was most definitely boring.
“He’s not that bad, surely.”
“I see you smiling, Alexander.” She waved a chip at me, then grabbed a slice of kebab meat and shoved both in her mouth at the same time. “Don’t act like you aren’t loving this,” she said when she was done eating. “I know you are. I saw you glaring at him. I saw you staring at my arse.”
“In my defense, you have a fantastic arse. Especially in that dress.”
“Thank you. I agree.”
Our eyes met, and we both burst into laughter.
“This is so ridiculous,” Addy said, stifling her giggles with her hands. “Oh, my God. What is happening right now?”
“Two friends finding a middle ground?” I suggested.
“More like you deflecting from being a miserable git whenever his name was mentioned!” She threw a chip at me. “Why don’t you like him?”
“He broke my arm in a rugby game when I was fifteen,” I replied. “And I like to hold a grudge.”
She paused. “That’s a very fair grudge to hold, to be honest. I’d do it myself.”
“I also know him to be a complete womaniser, and I wasn’t happy he was dragging you into that.”
Yes—that was a little nugget I hadn’t shared with everyone earlier. Timothy Hargreaves had never really committed to anyone, as far as I knew—and that was fine. If that was how he wanted to live his life, then really, fine.
I just didn’t want him involving Adelaide in that.
Was that partly because I had my own confusing feelings for her?
I didn’t really want to address that right now.
“Oh, I know,” Addy said, quite flippantly. “He was looking at every single woman who walked past our table. I’m not an idiot.”
“I know you aren’t. I wasn’t trying to say that. I was just warning you before you went any further.”
“Mhmm.” She turned her attention to the kebab and grabbed a plastic fork to stab into the meat. “Did Charlotte manage to carry out her nefarious matchmaking plans with you?”
“She did not,” I replied. “Although I suspect the media might have something to do with the fact she was trying to. Gabi was anticipating it, so every time Charlotte spoke to me and introduced me to someone, she came and rescued me after a few minutes.”
She paused and looked at me. “Did she really think you’d leave with one of her cousins you’d just met?”
“I don’t know. Her cousins were all really nice people and quite pretty, and I felt bad for judging them just because they’re related to her, but she should have known better.”
She made another little grunting noise and grabbed a handful of chips. “Do you think you’ll ever get married?”
I stilled, staring at the kebab box between us.
“I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “That was wrong of me to ask. It’s none of my business.”
“I’ve never given it much thought.” I leaned back against the headboard and looked at her. “I’ve certainly never woken up and decided I want to pursue a relationship. I suppose I always assumed it would happen when the time is right.”
Adelaide nodded slowly. “I know it’s hard. I really shouldn’t have asked. Sorry.”
“It’s fine, honestly. It’s a valid question, especially since you live in my house right now.” My lips tugged into a smile. “It’ll happen when it happens. I have time, and right now, Olympia and the estate are my priority.”
“That makes sense. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
“Stop apologising.”
“Never. I’m British. It’s what we do. You should know that.” She closed the box that had the kebab in. “Are you done?”
I nodded and helped her clean up the food. We boxed it all up and put it on the desk, then I removed the blanket while she went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. I tossed it on the sofa and knocked on the door.
“I need to brush mine. Mind if I come in?”
Addy opened the door with her toothbrush sticking out of her mouth and grinned a very foamy smile.
I shook my head and fought a smile as I grabbed my brush and added my toothpaste. We stood side-by-side in front of the sink, and something warm rushed through me when I glanced into the mirror.
Adelaide finished brushing her teeth and started wiping her face with make-up wipes. Our elbows bumped a few times as we both moved our arms to prepare for bed, and the longer we stood here, going about our respective routines, the more comfortable it felt.
And that feeling in itself was… discombobulating, to say the least.
I couldn’t remember the last time I felt so comfortable with somebody. Doing something as mundane as a night-time routine in a bathroom with her…
It was alarmingly intimate.
I supposed the mundane things like that always were. They were the things that happened more than six months into a relationship, if not longer, and they were the signs that you were close enough to do that kind of stuff.
Pass toilet paper hand-to-hand instead of throwing it through the door.
Buy feminine hygiene products for your partner.
Wash the clothes left at your house.
Brush your teeth side-by-side…
I shook off those feelings as I finished brushing my teeth and rinsed the toothbrush off. Adelaide was done brushing out her hair right when I was, and she tied it up into a loose knot on top of her head.
“Does the TV work in here?” she asked, walking back into the bedroom.
I shut off the light. “It should do. If not, I want to know why.”
She laughed and turned it on using the remote as she climbed under the covers.
I did not want to share that bed with her.
Not because it was horrible to me—but because I was still wrangling with the intimate feelings I’d just had in the bathroom.
There was a sentence I never thought would pass through my brain.
She looked over at me. “I promise I won’t bite if you get into this bed.”
I shook my head and shut off the light, then used the illumination from the TV to get into the bed next to her.
It was terribly awkward.
We were both as close to the edges of the mattress as we could be, and there was a giant gaping space in the bed between us.
I looked over at it, and so did she.
Addy pressed her hand to her mouth, and her entire body shook with what I was pretty sure was silent laughter. “This is daft.”
“Well… yes.” I shuffled over to the middle of my side, and she did the same, meaning we were lying in the double bed as was intended. “What do you want to watch?”
“Hmm. I don’t know. I’ve been eyeing up The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix. Have you watched it?”
“I have not. I don’t watch much TV.”
She navigated to the Netflix app on the television and logged in using our room information, then typed the show’s name into the search bar.
“Oh, it’s about chess.” I propped myself up on my elbow. “Is it good?”
“Gabi said so, and my mum loves it. A lot of the hotel guests raved about it when it first came out, too, but I didn’t have a chance to watch it.” She looked over at me. “Want to watch it?”
“Yes. I love chess.”
She raised her eyebrows. “You do? I didn’t know that. Do you play?”
I hesitated. Was she a potential chess opponent? I was banned from the local tournaments because I kept kicking everyone’s arse, and the only people left who would play me were Boris and Gabi. Gabi only did it because she was so bad that she didn’t care if she lost or not.
“Do you play?” I shot back at her.
“I do. I don’t know if I’m any good, but I play.”
“I play, too. We should have a game or two when we get back.”
She smiled. “So can we watch this?”
“Yes, let’s.” I lay back down in the bed and fluffed up the pillows so I could watch, and Adelaide hit play. “What even happens in this show?”
She looked at me and rolled her eyes. “Just watch it, Alexander.”