38. 38

38

Kalle

I 've always liked Bob England. But having him standing there after I laid one on his daughter turns me into that twelve-year-old kid who rode his bike across a wet lawn, making skids and ruts in the grass that took the rest of the spring to fix.

"Sorry about that," I stammer after I pull back from Edie. It's only the second time I've kissed her—I consider the other night one big kiss—and I end the impromptu make-out session by giving myself a thorough kick for not getting to it sooner.

"For kissing my girl?" Bob asks. "It's not something I usually enjoy seeing, but if you explain this new development for me, I might make an exception."

I realize I'm holding Edie's hand when she gives it a squeeze. Her brown eyes are shiny, like stirring butter into melted milk chocolate.

"I'm trying to make her see that I'm a good man," I manage.

"Didn't think you need to use your tongue for that," Bob mutters and my face flames red.

Edie laughs. She gives a big belly laugh and drops my hand to give her father a hug. "We're going to try, Dad. See if we can be more than friends. "

"Well, it's about time," Bob says. "Now, do me a solid and run over there and get my basket and clean up those weeds for me, would you?"

It takes a moment for me to realize he's speaking to me. But when I do, the future king of Laandia picks up the discarded weeds in the garden without a word of complaint.

I skipped out of an afternoon meeting to come here because I needed to see her. Two days was two days too long—it's like I'm an addict and I need a fix. My Edie fix.

I had no idea that I was already addicted.

Duncan said he'd take the meeting for me—something about the Sea Queen pageant at Christmas, which I thought could wait, but Duncan assured me the town takes such things very seriously. And some of the pressure was off me because Dad came home this morning.

We had thought he'd be home tomorrow, but Etienne led a security team that involved paramedics and Battle Harbour's finest back to the castle after breakfast. It was so good to see Dad up and about, even though Mrs. Theissen insisted on him retiring to his bedroom for a nap.

But he was up when I left and told me to bring Edie for dinner tonight.

So that's why I'm here—to invite my girl to family dinner at the castle.

It's been a while since I referred to a woman as my girlfriend. As a rule, I don't like the term because I always thought it gave the women I dated more of a sense of control over me.

That was before Edie .

Now I kiss my girlfriend in front of her father and help him in the garden before he leads us to the house to get a bite to eat.

Mrs. England plays it cool, but Edie points out in a whisper how her hands are shaking as she makes us grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.

I take my sandwich with a glass of milk.

I know my family is privileged and influential. If Lyra wants something, she goes and gets it. I bought a bar without thinking twice about the price. Gunnar sponsored his own race car once to be able to get into a race. We are well-off, and that's not even considering the family jewels.

I've grown up knowing this, but I've always felt like we are a family. I know royals with dysfunctional relationships that would rival the ones on Shameless. But sitting with Edie at the kitchen table while her mother chats with us as she makes us lunch, I think we might have missed a bit of the family-ing of being a family.

I've known Edie's parents most of my life, but I've never sat down and had a conversation with them as a man who is dating their daughter, rather than a prince of Laandia.

It's nice.

After we eat, Bob shows me his gardens, pointing out each rose. And when we get to the striking yellow rose with the red edges, he tells me it's called Double Happiness and it was my mother's favourite.

He clips a flower, the bloom tucked in like a shy kid meeting someone new, and hands it to me.

There's still a lump in my throat when we drive away.

"Where are we going?" Edie wants to know. She's holding the rose for me, lightly brushing a finger over the soft petals .

"I wanted this to be our date day, but there's not enough time to do everything I planned," I tell her. I made Chase and Dillon drive Edie's car back into town so she could ride with me.

"What did you have planned?" She has a bemused smile on her face, just another smile that makes me want to kiss her.

"I wanted to spend some time with your parents, and we got to do that," I say, tapping my fingers along with the music Edie selected from her phone. I may not always appreciate her choices, but I've always let her play deejay and I'm not about to stop now. "I thought I'd take you to the curling club and see about renting some ice time, but the storm knocked down a tree and it went through one of the windows, so they're not letting anyone in there until it's fixed."

"You've been planning this for a while?"

"I had a meeting with the deputy mayor yesterday. It was pretty boring."

She laughs. "You planned a date while you were meeting with the mayor?"

"Deputy," I correct. "And why not? Dad says he tunes out a lot. His assistant is pretty amazing, and Duncan was there too. I doubt I would be able to do much without having a babysitter."

"Dunc's a pretty cool babysitter."

"That he is."

Edie turns to look out the window, her hand still resting on mine. "So you wanted to take me curling?"

The way she asks makes me reconsider. "I thought it would be fun."

"Maybe for you," she mutters under her breath.

"I heard that. No curling then. "

"I don't need a big deal made over me," Edie protests.

I pick up her hand and press my lips to her knuckles. "Maybe I want to."

She lets out a soft sigh and I kiss her fingers again. "Is it supposed to be like this?"

"Like what?" Reluctantly, I let go of her hand and grip the steering wheel because there is a tree brought down by the storm and the branches lie on the road.

I'm not sure if I'm supposed to do something about that.

I've always had a sense of responsibility for the citizens of Laandia, but it's ramped up since Dad was in the hospital. Now, it's all I can think about—them and Edie.

I want to make things better for them. I want to make sure they're happy and content in my country.

My country.

My girl.

My girl, who is currently talking, so I need to pay attention. No tuning out with her, except if it's during one of those reality shows she watches.

"It's so easy," Edie says. "This feels like we've been together forever."

"We've been friends for a long time," I point out. "It's not much different. Only I get to kiss you whenever I want now."

"Technically, you could have been kissing me for a long time."

" You could have been kissing me ."

But Edie shakes her head. "I'm not sure if I would have been brave enough to say anything. And even if I did, I honestly don't know if we'd still be together."

"Why? "

"Because you're in a very different headspace now."

She's right, but then again, she usually is. I can feel the change in me—my well of anger seems to have slipped away.

It feels good.

"You think you know me so well," I scoff.

"I think we established that I do know you very well." She smiles at me, eyes shining. "But I have to admit, I didn't see this coming. You got me there."

"Surprises are a good thing."

"Most of the time."

"All of the time with me." And then I take her hand again and hold tight.

This all feels good.