Christmas at the Castle

by Melissa McClone

“You can’t have too many friends.” Kat stifled a yawn. Keeping her eyelids open was getting harder to do.

  The dog waved his paw again.

  “You’ve mastered that trick.” She rested on her elbow. “I’ll be your pillow, but I’m getting too tired to rub you.”

  “I’ll take over.” Gill sat on the bed and rubbed the dog’s stomach.

  She couldn’t remember the last time a man had been on the same bed with her. Inches separated them. The temperature in the room rose. An unwelcome awareness of him buzzed through her.

  Tiredness would explain what she was feeling.

  All she wanted to do was sleep, but now she had both a dog and a prince in her bed on her first night at the castle. And not any man. The last one Kat wanted near her.

  She yawned again.

  His gaze lingered on her. “You need sleep.”

  “I don’t think Maximillian is ready to go.”

  “He isn’t.” Gill kept staring at her, but she was too tired to feel self-conscious. “I appreciate your honesty about my sister. In return, I’ll give you a word of advice about my mother.”

  Kat wasn’t used to seeing this side of Gill. She liked it. “Please. I’ve never met a queen before.”

  “Pick your battles with her carefully. Trust me, there will be some. That’s her nature. She isn’t one who loses often, and when she does…there’s fallout, so plan accordingly.”

  “I appreciate the warning.”

  Kat would be better prepared when she met Queen Louise. The woman sounded…interesting. If not intimidating.

  “What about my battles with you?” Kat asked, half-joking. “Should I pick and choose those, too?”

  “No need with me. I enjoy our…skirmishes.”

  He would. A part of her did, too.

  Curiosity got the better of her. She had to ask. “Why is that?”

  “I appreciate how much you seem to care about my sister.”

  “She’s one of my closest friends.”

  “Perhaps, but no one is as kind and selfless as you appear to be. Animal lover or not.” His tone was even, and his voice remained steady. “One of these days, I’ll find that chink in your armor and expose the real you underneath.”

  Kat nearly laughed. He was as far off as a lost penguin ending up at the North Pole. What-you-see-is-what-you-get summed her up. But then again, Gill had never viewed her as anything other than his sister’s annoying, opinionated American friend.

  Still, his belief that Kat had ulterior motives offended her. She’d done nothing to make him think that way other than be Sophie’s scapegoat. Kat had never hurt his sister. She wouldn’t do that. Ever.

  Nor would she back down from a challenge.

  She would prove him wrong. Not because she wanted an apology. This was for Sophie.

  Kat stared down her nose like the prince had done with her. “What if you don’t find a chink?”

  “I will. Like my mother, I always win.”

  He was so full of himself. But that made him Gill. In a strange way, his confidence appealed to her even though he considered her the enemy.

  “Give it your best shot, Your Serene Highness.” She used Sophie’s name for him. “The game is on.”

  Gill’s rich laughter collided into her like a stolen kiss, unexpected and unwelcome, but not unattractive.

  “Shakespeare must be rolling in his grave. The game is not on.” Gill stood, and the bed suddenly felt huge and cold. He towered over her. “The game is afoot.”

  So what if the man was good looking with a heart-melting laugh?

  He wasn’t nice.

  “No matter which phrase you use, you’re going to find out just how wrong you are about me.” She didn’t appreciate his accusation. Nor would she surrender without a fight. “But you might learn something about your sister, and that will make this mêlée totally worthwhile.”

  He stepped away from the bed. “Come, Maximillian.”

  Max snuggled against her.

  She gave him a kiss.

  Kat didn’t have to look at Gill to know he was frustrated. She could hear his nostrils flare. Okay, not really, but the thought made her tired lips want to smile.

  “Go with the prince,” Kat whispered in Max’s ear. “Tomorrow, we’ll play and I’ll give you more rubs.”

  Max gave her another lick before jumping off the bed.

  “What did you say to Maximillian?” Gill asked.

  “Ask him,” she said and then smiled.

  Chapter Four

  ‡

  Ask him. As if the dog could talk back.

  The woman was incorrigible. Nothing but trouble.

  And what twenty-eight-year old wore purple polka-dotted flannel pajamas?

  Gill walked to the door with Maximillian at his side.

  The dog glanced back.

  He understood why Maximillian wanted to stay with Kat. Gill had enjoyed the feeling of companionship himself. He missed having someone special in his life—someone who wasn’t covered in dog hair—but Kat wasn’t the woman he should be spending time with.

  He urged the dog forward.

  This would be Gill’s first and last visit to the blue room while Kat was here. He didn’t trust her and had said as much to her face, but their discussion hadn’t gone as he’d expected.

  You’re going to find out how wrong you are about me. But you might learn something about Sophie and that will make this mêlée totally worthwhile.

  He didn’t know whether to respect the way Kat had picked up the gauntlet he’d tossed or be annoyed that the pretty American might be a worthy opponent by using her quick intellect rather than her female charm with him.

  Was she trying to throw him off?

  He was a single royal. She might have him on her list. Unless her loyalty to Sophie prevented Kat from going that far.

  Gill glanced back at the bed.

  Kat lay strewn across the mattress. She’d lost her fight against jet lag.

  Would he be able to win his battle and expose the real her as easily?

  He hoped so.

  The room was heated, but he couldn’t leave her uncovered. Kat was a guest and deserved to be treated as such, no matter what he thought of her personally. A blanket would give her extra warmth.

  Holding onto Maximillian’s collar, Gill walked back toward the bed and grabbed a throw off the back of a chair.

  The dog pulled away.

  Gill tightened his grip on the collar. Using one hand, he covered Kat. He doubted she would move until morning given how tired she was.

  Maximillian whimpered.

  “Shhh.”

  A book about being a bridesmaid sat on the nightstand with a colorful bookmark sticking out. Maybe she was taking her role in the wedding party seriously.

  He stared at her.

  Sound asleep, Kat looked harmless. If only she were…

  The slight smile on her face made him wonder if she was dreaming. Was a man starring in her dreams? Or, if Sophie was correct about Kat, an animal?

  Maximillian had gotten a goodnight kiss.

  Not that Gill had wanted one, but a hug might have been nice.

  What was he thinking?

  Gill shook the thought from his head. He didn’t want anything from this woman. He turned off the lamp on the nightstand, walked back to the door, and flicked the light switch.

  Darkness flooded the room.

  He stepped into the hallway, closed the door behind him, and released the collar.

  Maximillian stared up at him.

  “Let’s go see Sophie.” Gill walked the short distance down the hall and knocked on her door.

  “Come in.”

  The dog ran to Sophie, who sat at a table with her laptop open and a stack of papers at the side. She hugged the dog, and then Maximillian sat at her feet.

  “Wedding planning?” Gill asked.

  “Work.” She closed her computer. “I’m trying to clear my desk over the next two weeks.”

  Before
her wedding day.

  Gill wanted to know more about the diet. “Does Mother want you to lose twenty pounds by your wedding?”

  “You’ve been talking to Kat.” His sister sounded more resigned than upset.

  “So it’s true.”

  “Yes, but I told her and the duchess no. That didn’t stop Mother from ordering the chef to prepare only low-carb dishes for me. Or had you not noticed my meals were different than everyone else’s?”

  “I’m sorry. All the wedding talk makes it easy to tune out things at dinner.” He sat in the chair across from his sister. “I haven’t noticed.”

  “You’ve been preoccupied, but I’m eating only a few meals here these days.”

  “You shouldn’t go hungry.”

  “I eat at work, and I’ve got the fine art of snacking on the sly figured out. This is what I was munching on in the stable earlier.” She reached below the tablecloth and pulled out a box of Pop-Tarts®. “Want one?”

  Sophie had been obsessed with those when she was younger thanks to a certain American friend. “Kat brought those for you.”

  Nodding, his sister opened a silver pouch.

  No wonder Kat seemed evasive in the stable. She was running interference while Sophie ate.

  His sister handed him a Pop-Tart® covered with pink frosting and red sprinkles.

  “Kat knows me so well.”

  “Better than those of us here?”

  Sophie ate instead of answering.

  She was avoiding his question. Fine, he would give her a pass and get back on the original subject. “You shouldn’t sneak around to eat.”

  “That’s what Kat said.”

  “She’s correct.”

  Sophie’s eyes widened. “You agree with something Kat said?”

  “Yes.”

  “I didn’t think the temperature was going to drop low enough for hell to freeze over, but wonders never cease.”

  He laughed. “I’ll talk to—”

  “Mother won’t listen to you. I tried, and the awful meals keep being served,” Sophie interrupted. “My losing weight is the one thing she and the duchess agree upon. It’s reaching the ridiculous level with the wedding only two weeks away.”

  “How?”

  “Mother has me using an app to log food, and then she checks my calorie intake each night. Of course, I’m only entering what the chef cooks for me. None of my outside food. I’m also faking my weigh-ins, so she can’t understand why I don’t look thinner.”

  He remembered what Kat had said about Sophie not being a child. He’d always been quick to help his sister out of any situation because he loved her, and he wanted to help her with this, but perhaps he should do something with her, not for her.

  “Tomorrow, do you want to speak with the chef together?” Gill asked. “He’s a reasonable man who adores you. He’ll find a way to appease our mother and make sure you don’t have to eat on the sly until your wedding day.”

  “Yes, please.” Sophie studied him. A smile spread across her face. “You’ve not only been talking to Kat, but you’re also listening to her.”

  “I listen to you. All you need to do is tell me what you want.”

  He took a bite of his Pop-Tart®—a guilty pleasure he’d looked forward to eating at camp. Not that he’d admitted it to his sister. Or Kat.

  “What I want…”

  A faraway look appeared in her eyes. Not the wistful one he was used to seeing. “What is it?”

  “This is going to sound ungrateful given how much I have, and when I know others would love to be in my place, but I just want to be…normal.”

  “You mean a commoner?”

  “I want to be like Kat.” Sophie sighed. “No title. No protocols. No pressure of living up to the expectations of both a family and a country.”

  Gill understood. He’d felt the same way, but he needed to choose his words carefully. Kat would know what to say. He pushed that thought from his mind.

  “Has Kat’s life been that perfect?” he asked finally.

  “No, not at all,” Sophie admitted. “Her life’s been a struggle.”

  That was news to him. “In what ways?”

  “She’s never had much money. She’s had to work for whatever she wanted, including going to college. Her parents dumped her at her grandparents’ house, so they could do research in Africa, and they both died there. Her grandparents loved her and were the most amazing people. They passed two weeks apart. My favorite times as a teenager, other than camp, were when I stayed at their wheat farm.”

  “You were a child.”

  “I was seventeen the last time I was there. Old enough to know what I was doing and feeling. We worked so hard in the fields during that harvest, and I’ve never been more exhausted, but it was so…satisfying.”

  “You never said anything.”

  “Yes, I did, but no one heard me. Not that anything could have been done.” Sophie leaned back in her chair. “When I wanted to mention it a few years later, Mother and Father were so torn apart after Jacques renounced his title, I couldn’t. Granted, he had the best reason ever. But I never wanted to put our parents through that kind of pain again, so I didn’t say anything more. And after Father died and Mother was so on edge all the time…”

  Sophie had always been so cheery, and nothing seemed to bother her. Their own personal sunbeam to light their lives. He hated learning she’d been hiding so much.

  But not from Kat. He was thankful his sister had a confidant, even if it was the American. Something, however, didn’t make sense.

  “If you’ve felt this way, why did you go on that reality TV show?”

  Sophie half-laughed. “So I could get away from all this.”

  “By marrying a prince?”

  “Luc was considered the black sheep of Alvernia’s royal family, and he was so far down the line of succession that he would never rule. Scandals plagued him, so no one expected much from him other than to mess up again. I thought if I married Luc, I wouldn’t have so much pressure bearing down on me.”

  Prince Luc’s reputation was common knowledge among the royalty in Europe. “I thought going on the show was an act of rebellion.”

  Sophie grinned. “Becoming a social worker was my rebellion, but that worked out better than I expected. I love what I do.”

  “And you love Bertrand.”

  “I owe Luc for that,” Sophie said.

  “He broke your heart.”

  “Yes, but he also opened my heart.”

  “I don’t understand. You cried for days. You were miserable. If Kat hadn’t—”

  “Not her fault.” Sophie rushed to her friend’s defense, as usual. “When I went on the show, I’d bought into the media’s portrayal of Luc as a hot prince who liked to party. But the real prince—the man behind the tabloid fodder—showed me I could be royal but also have that feeling of normalcy I craved. I was devastated when I was sent home, but being on the show helped me see the possibilities for my future. Kat was the one who encouraged me to attend Luc and Emily’s wedding, so I could move on, and that’s where I met Bertrand.”

  Of course Kat did.

  “Now I’ve figured out a way to have the kind of life I’ve dreamed about,” Sophie continued.

  Gill envied the contentment in Sophie’s voice. He longed to feel that way about his life. “With your job.”

  “And Bertrand.”

  Sophie seemed so grown up. Yes, she was an adult and had been for years, but she’d seemed younger with her sunshine-and-flowers attitude. No longer.

  “Bertrand knows how you feel?” Gill asked.

  “Yes, and he agrees. If not for our mothers, we wouldn’t be having such an extravagant Christmas wedding. But we shall do our duty. After that, we’ll ride off into the sunset and live as happily and normally as possible as the Lord and Lady of Darbyton.”

  “You’ll still be a princess of Alistonia and second in line for the throne.”

  “Shhh.” Amusement twinkled in Sophie’
s eyes. “This is my fantasy.”

  “It’s your life.”

  “And a very good one. I’m not blind to that.” She leaned toward him. “So why don’t you tell me what’s going on with your life? Particularly your love life.”

  That part was nonexistent, and he planned to keep it that way for now. “Nothing much to tell at the moment.”

  “Are you going to start dating again so you can change that?” She sounded hopeful.

  He didn’t want to disappoint her. “Let’s get through your wedding, then I can worry about my social life.”

  She made a face. “As soon as my wedding is over, Mother will be on you to marry. She wants to give you the throne as soon as you wed so she can retire and enjoy her horses.”

  He’d heard the mumblings and rumors about potential bride candidates. “No one is picking out my wife.”

  Even though his mother would have to approve her.

  Sophie straightened. “So you plan to marry?”

  “Someday.” A king needed an heir, but if Sophie and Bertrand had children… “Unless you’d rather rule instead.”

  Sophie held her hands up in front of her like a shield. “No, thank you. Just the thought makes me want to break out in hives.”

  Gill laughed. “Then give me another Pop-Tart®.”

  She did, but she also stuck out her tongue at him. “This could be considered extortion by the Council of Justice.”

  “Or the council could decide this is simply a sister sharing with a brother.”

  “They would. You always win. Like Mother.”

  He did. And he would with Kat.

  They both had Sophie’s best interest at heart, but that was the only thing they had in common.

  A win for Kat meant her finding a wealthy royal to pay off her debts and give her a title. A win for him meant she returned to America alone with no romantic attachment left behind here.

  Gill took a bite. He couldn’t wait to see her lose.

  *

  Kat woke to the scent of bacon and pancakes. She opened her eyes to sunlight and the elegant furniture of the “Blue Room.” Her bridesmaid book lay on the nightstand next to a glass of water.

  Not a dream.

  For a moment, she’d wondered.

  The throw from the reading chair covered her.

  Strange. Kat didn’t remember bringing the blanket to the bed. She was also on top of the covers not underneath them. The last thing she remembered from last night was…