“Please, stop,” Aldon said. “Let me clean up.”
“Oh, it’s no problem at all,” Piper said and continued clearing, but Aldon put a hand on her hand to stop her. At his touch, tingles ran over her body.
“Listen, Piper,” he began, his hand still over hers. “Breakfast was wonderful, but you’ve got a full-time job looking after the house, the grounds, and your daughter. It’s not your job to wait on me. The least I can do is clean up.”
Piper pressed her lips together and was silent for a moment. Part of her was giddy at the feel of his hand over hers. The other part wanted to challenge him, if just for the sport of it.
“You want to clean up?” she asked and fluttered her eyelashes with purposeful flirtation.
“Yes.” He began picking up plates and silverware from the table.
“Okay,” she said. “As long as you know where everything belongs.”
Aldon was silent then. He glanced around the kitchen then shrugged.
“I don’t know where anything belongs,” he admitted, looking defeated.
Piper laughed. “I’ll show you,” she said, and the two began working together, loading dishes into the dishwasher and wiping off the counters.
“It’s probably good for me to learn how to do things for myself,” Aldon said as he handed her the butter and juice to put into the fridge.
“Oh, yeah?” she asked. “Why’s that? Are you considering leaving your royal status in the dust to become a commoner?”
Aldon snickered. “No, but I am going to be out here in the country for longer than I planned, sans staff.” For a moment, he considered whether he wanted to hire in some locals to see to things—but he quickly decided against it. It seemed like too much fuss and bother for just a few weeks. And it might be uncomfortable for Piper, since she was used to having the servants’ quarters to herself.
His words stopped Piper in her tracks. She tried to wipe the shock off of her face before looking at him. “How long is longer than you planned?”
He sighed and explained to her that his ex-fiancée had taken over his condo back home and that he’d be staying here for three weeks.
Three weeks?
She’d have to play nice for three more weeks?
“I might as well help out while I’m here,” he said.
Well, that was certainly thoughtful of him.
Piper’s heart bounced around like a ping-pong in her chest. Once again, she was torn between a pull of attraction toward Aldon and the discomfort of having someone else sharing the space she and Willa usually occupied alone.
“Well, Willa and I are happy to have your company as long as you’ll be staying,” she said and smiled sweetly at him.
She couldn’t lie to herself.
The thought of having a gorgeous prince hanging around for a couple of weeks was pretty exciting. It had been a long time since any man had made her heart pound the way he did.
Maybe, if she was really lucky, she’d even get another look at him with his shirt undone.
“Thanks again for breakfast,” Aldon said as he dried his hands with a tea towel at the kitchen sink. “I’m going to head up to my room for a bit, but I’d love a tour of the grounds later if you’d oblige me.”
“Of course!” Piper said cheerfully, taking in his chiseled face and perfect jawline. God, he was a candy for the eyes. She had work to do, but it could wait.
“I’ll fetch you in an hour or so?”
“Sure thing,” Aldon said and patted his middle. “Full belly. I might take a nap.”
A shirtless nap, perhaps?
A girl could dream.
Piper watched him walk out of the kitchen, noticing that his backside was eye candy too.
She hoped she could control her sweet tooth for the next few weeks.
4
“The work you’ve done in the garden is amazing, Piper,” Aldon said. Before their stroll around the grounds of the castle, he’d never realized so many different varieties of flowers could grow in this climate. “It’s easy to see you’re passionate about nature.” And skilled too.
Piper blushed. “Well, thank you,” she said. “It’s a great pleasure to care for the gardens here.”
The summer sun glinted against Piper’s red hair, giving it the appearance of flames. As he took in the sight of her against the backdrop of the day, he couldn’t deny she ignited something in him too. He looked away, trying to gather himself.
“Momma.” Willa tugged on Piper’s hand. “Can I pull the weeds?”
“Sure,” Piper said and pointed her daughter toward an impressive copse of rosebushes.
“She’s a big help to you,” Aldon said as he watched Willa tugging weed after weed out of the ground.
Piper beamed. “She is. I’m teaching her everything I know, and I’m grateful that she enjoys it as much as I do.”
Something about the simplicity of Piper’s lifestyle, the joy with which she approached the mundane, was so attractive to Aldon. He found himself moving closer to her, almost close enough for their hands to brush. The air was heavy, laced with a sensual current that flowed between them. He wondered if she felt it too.
“Thank you for sharing all of this with me,” he said. “It’s so peaceful out here. Easy for a man to forget his troubles in this environment.”
“I’m glad to help,” she said and nodded.
A stray crimson tendril fell over Piper’s cheek, and Aldon had to fight the urge to reach out and move it.
Suddenly, his phone rang, jolting him from the electric moment.
“Excuse me,” he said to Piper and glanced at his phone. “It’s my father.”
“Hello.” He walked a few feet away from Piper to continue the call.
“Aldon.” His father’s voice boomed into the phone. “I’m told Carrie is staying in the apartment for a few more weeks. Glad to hear you two are trying to work things out then. Much better for the family’s reputation to have a reunion on the table.”
Oh, hi, Dad. Sure, I’m fine. How are you? Glad to hear it.
No time for niceties or normal conversation when it came to the King of Sovalon. As always, business first.
“Carrie and I are not working things out, Father.” Aldon gave the king a brief rundown of his conversation with his ex that morning. “She’s moving out and moving on. And besides, she cheated, remember? Even if she wanted to reconcile, I wouldn’t take her back.”
“Son,” his father began, “don’t make up your mind so swiftly. The last thing the royal family needs is another scandal right now.”
“Father—” Aldon said, but his father interrupted.
“Your mother and I are still reeling from your brothers’ choices of partners,” he said, but Aldon knew it was his father, not his mother who believed that Clementine and Kyra, his brothers’ wives, were ‘below their standing.’ “Now we have to deal with your relationship shake up.”
“It’s not a shake up, Father,” Aldon said, seething. “It’s a break up.”
“Listen, son,” he said. “I’m going to make myself clear.”