Page 13 of Heavy Crown

He lifts the covered plates again. “Found it,” he says. Then he takes a little folded table from under the cart and attempts to set it up, but it keeps collapsing.

“Do you need some help?” If he tries to set a plate on that before it’s locked in place, we’ll have food everywhere. “There are probably metal or wooden fasteners underneath that slide in place to keep the table upright.”

He ignores me for another moment and then calls, “Stella!”

A tiny woman with graying hair appears at the doorway almost instantly. It makes me realize we’re never truly alone together. What must it be like to always have someone lurking in the wings?

“Your Highness?”

“Set this up, please.” He backs away from the table and the various platters of food. “This one.” He taps the stainless-steel lid of the one that must hold my preferred breakfast.

Stella sets the table across my lap and pushes the metal fasteners up to secure the legs. She places the covered food on the top and arranges a napkin and silverware for me.

“Anything else, Your Highness?”

“That’s all for now.” Prince Alexander nods his head toward the door. “Thank you.”

“You’ve never set up a tray before?” I ask with a barely concealed smile.

“When would I ever need to do that?” Prince Alexander plucks the lids off the other silver dishes until he finds one he likes.

“You’ve never looked after someone else before? Never looked after yourself?”

Prince Alexander glances over at me, and his expression is hard to read. “I repeat—when would I ever need to do that?”

“You’re doing it now, for some reason.”

Prince Alexander takes his dish from the cart, but he doesn’t bother opening a tray for himself. Instead, he grabs silverware and a napkin and sits down in the armchair to eat from his lap. “It’s good to acquire new skills, Aurora,” he says.

“It’s Rory. You can just call me Rory.”

He searches my face while he chews. There’s another beat after he swallows before he says anything. “You can call me Alex. At least around here. My parents call me Alexander.”

“What do your brothers call you?” I pile a piece of egg onto my toast and take a bite. The drugs Alex gave me have taken hold, and the pounding in my head is receding.

“Alex or Asshole—depends on which brother you’re talking about.”

I sputter around my piece of toast and stifle a laugh. “Asshole?”

He shakes his head and takes another bite of food. “I probably shouldn’t be telling you these things. I hardly know you.”

“You saved me from dropping off a cliff last night, so you’ve definitely earned my secrets even if I don’t get yours.” I search my tray for a drink and then stare longingly at the coffee and tea still on the cart.

Alex chuckles. “Need a drink?”

“I would kill for a coffee.” My gaze darts toward the door. “But not actually kill.” I raise my voice. “I wouldn’t kill anyone.”

He sets his plate on the nightstand and goes to the cart. “How do you take it?”

“You’re not going to call Stella?”

He shoots me a withering glare. “I’m capable of mixing and stirring.”

“Skills you’ve already acquired,” I tease.

“Indeed. If you’d like to see them in action, you need to tell me what you want.”

Desire swirls in my belly at the pitch of his voice. Is it weird for me to find an attractive prince attractive? No. But I recognize my attraction to him is fueled, at least in part, by the hint of annoyance in his voice. I like getting a reaction from him, and the last relationship I had where I enjoyed getting a rise out of my boyfriend led to a lot of great sex and almost no effective communication. For me, Prince Alexander would be a great lay but a terrible boyfriend.