Chapter 5

C HAPTER 5

My best friend is getting arrested in a foreign country and it's all my fault.

"I'm sorry, buddy. I still love you, and I won't ever forget you." I kiss Comet on the head, shoo him back toward the royals, and move without thinking.

"Sorry, excuse me, I have to find my friend. Excuse me, oops, sorry!" I take advantage of Canadian politeness to quickly elbow my way to the front of the crowd and approach the nearest security officer. "Excuse me! Please, I need to talk to you!" He doesn't indicate that he can hear me, but there's no way he doesn't, even with the jostling crowd and a steel barrier between us. "That's my friend you have over there, she's not dangerous."

He turns his head, and his eyes flash with recognition. He grabs the radio at his belt and pulls it up to his mouth.

"You know me!" I shout. I wedge my way forward so I can lean over the barrier and get a better look at his face. He's white, with dark brown hair peppered with gray and a face that appears in my nightmares. "You were there in Santorini. Theo"—his eyes flash again—" the King knows me. You know he does. Ask him. Tell him that you're holding my best friend hostage—"

"She's not a hostage," he says in a monotone voice. "And stop shouting or you'll join her."

"Let her go."

He turns away.

"Let me talk to the King," I plead. No response. Fumbling, I yank open the zipper on my backpack and pull out the one thing that might give me an ounce of leverage in this situation.

I shove the marriage certificate under his nose for two seconds before wrenching it back.

He tries to snatch it from me and fails. "What was that?"

"Let me talk to the King, and I'll show it to you."

"I'm not daft. There's no way it's real," he says tightly.

"You wanna bet?" My fingertips have gone numb with nerves, but I stand my ground. His jaw clenches as he deliberates, but after a moment he shifts the crowd-control barrier to allow me through. Whispers and titters move through the crowd, but mostly everyone is too busy craning their necks and pushing up on their toes to get a glimpse or a photo of the princess, who is now obscured by the film crews.

He leans in to speak quickly and quietly. "Follow the path south to the sunken garden. His Majesty and Major Winston will meet you there. Do not bring anyone with you."

"But Naomi—"

"He's coming!" an emotional voice carries through the crowd. Several girls burst into tears as the attention of the group shifts away from the princess toward an oak-lined path on the opposite side of the garden, and for the first time since we said goodbye, my eyes land on Theodore Geoffrey Edward George. The king of England. My maybe husband. The boy who broke my heart.

"—safe and looked after for ten minutes," the guard says.

"What did you say?" I pull my gaze from Theo.

"Your friend will be fine."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

His lips form a tight line. "What do you think we're going to do to her?"

I grit my teeth in frustration as my pulse pounds heavily. "Fine. I'll see you soon."

I slip away from the crowd and follow a sign down a path to the sunken garden, which is a cluster of low, rectangular fountains surrounded by shrubs. I lean over the edge of the water and stare at my wide-eyed reflection, wondering how the hell I ended up here. I search my pockets for a coin, hoping to wish my way out of this mess and spare Naomi from Canadian jail. Instead of money, I find a dog treat, a hair tie, and an empty gum wrapper. With a sigh, I reach my hand into the cold water and scrape a handful of coins off the bottom of the fountain.

"Whatever it takes," I mutter to myself.

"That's bad luck, you know."

My heart rate spikes at the British lilt, but when I turn around, it's just another guard. I'm startled by how handsome he is. This must be the one Naomi was talking about—Major Winston. "Where's Theo?"

"His Majesty will be here shortly. First, I need to confirm that you're not carrying any weapons, and then I need to see that certificate you're holding." He motions for me to hold my arms out so he can search me.

"That wasn't the deal!" I insist as he quickly pats me down.

"It's the only deal you're getting."

Despite how badly I've wanted to make the marriage certificate go away, handing it over is shockingly difficult, but I'm at the mercy of the guard. I relinquish my only bargaining chip with a huff. He silently pockets it before leaving me alone in the garden with a wet arm and a handful of bad luck.

I close my eyes and toss all the coins over my head. They land with an ominous splash.

"Blimey, Wheeler. You didn't have to resort to blackmail. If you wanted to see me so badly, you could have called."

Theo strolls toward me, one side of his mouth hitched in a lazy grin that pierces me with its familiarity. I try to take in all of him at once, but don't know what to focus on. He's still distressingly hot, for one thing. His hair is dark, though it's a bit shorter and less floppy than it was before. His eyes are alarmingly blue, still full of mischief. And even with all of that, there's something different about him that I can't quite place.

I'm so thunderstruck by his appearance that I barely register what he said. When my brain catches up enough to process his words, I realize another thing about him that hasn't changed at all. His ego is still big enough to fill the miles between our countries.

I roll my eyes, hoping I haven't been gaping at him for too long. "Ego check, Your Highness. "

"On what grounds?"

"I'm only here because your bodyguards have my friend Naomi in custody. They need to let her go."

He suppresses a smile, clearly amused by this entire mess. "How'd she wind up in that predicament?"

General chaos, most likely. "She was causing a distraction. On my behalf." I cross my arms, annoyed that he doesn't look a fraction as flustered as I feel.

"Ahh." His eyes light up. "One of your classic plans?"

"No. I don't do that anymore."

"But you must have had a reason for being here today. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't even live in this country."

"Neither do you!"

He has the nerve to laugh. I glower at him, my frustration mounting. He's charming and carefree and gorgeous, with all the leverage in the world—and I'm in sweatpants and an old T-shirt, begging for a favor. I've never felt the gap in our respective statuses as much as I do now. "Let her go."

"Is that what you wished for?" He nods to the fountain.

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"I would." He takes a step closer. "Tell me why you're here."

I hold my ground. "I'm in Canada to rescue Comet."

The corners of his lips twitch. "Grand theft dog, Wheeler? Really?" I wonder if he's remembering the time that we dabbled in grand theft auto.

"Not theft. I can't steal what's already mine. I'm here to—"

"Rescue him. I heard you. Do you think he must have been miserable all this time, trapped in a palace with everything he could ever want at his beck and call?" His tone is balanced on a knife's edge, giving nothing away.

"That life is clearly suitable for some, but no, not for my dog."

He narrows his eyes for a moment, scrutinizing me in a way that makes me feel painfully transparent. He always had a way of doing that, and I hated it… right up until the moment I stopped feeling exposed and started feeling seen.

"Are you going to release Naomi or not?" I ask evenly.

"I already did, as soon as my guard told me what happened."

Oh. I soften at this revelation, unsure what to say and more than a little relieved that Naomi's life isn't about to be blown up—and that being king hasn't changed Theo completely. He takes another step toward me. Have his eyelashes always been this long?

Over his shoulder, I see Winston approaching. The marriage certificate is nowhere in sight. Theo must hear him too, because he lowers his voice and says, "We probably don't have much time. But it is really nice to see you, Wheeler." There he goes again, calling me "Wheeler." It sounds like Wheel-a. It's a far cry from when he used to call me "American girl."

"Can I please take Comet home with me?"

He grimaces and rubs the back of his neck with his hand. "Unfortunately, I can't agree to that."

"He's mine !"

"Your Majesty," the bodyguard interrupts. "It's time to go."

Theo looks at me, his expression filled with regret. "I am sorry, for what it's worth."

I wish I could tell if he's apologizing for Comet, or everything else. He turns to leave, and once again restless frustration burns inside me.

"So that's it?" I ask.

He freezes mid-step and turns, his face indecipherable. Once upon a time, I would have let him go, too scared to say how I really feel. If the world almost ending taught me anything, it's that I might not get another chance.

I lift my arms in an exaggerated shrug. "I came all this way for five minutes of banter and now you're leaving ?"

He glances over at his guard and then back at me, a sad smile on his face. "I thought you came all this way for Comet?"

He's calling my bluff, and I can't keep lying to myself.

I exhale, dropping my arms to my sides without taking my eyes off his. "Ninety percent for Comet."

His eyes blaze, and for a split second, he looks tortured. And then he moves.

He closes the distance between us in a flash and wraps me in a hug. I pull him tight against my body and bury my face into his neck, fighting the urge to cry. All the times I thought about seeing him again, I didn't dare to imagine it would feel like coming home.

Unfortunately, it doesn't last.