I edged the podium a bit further away from the wall and hopped around it, making sure it stood precisely at just the right angle in just the right corner. The room was massive. It was the biggest in the palace, usually reserved for state banquets. A small army of footmen flitted like bees around the tables, making sure the china and the silver were set just so.

It was important that everything be perfect for the fundraiser tonight. If we did as well as I hoped we might, then the School for the Arts project would be fully funded. We could begin construction as early as this summer, and begin on Emily’s plans for the interiors not long after.

My heart burst when I imagined Emily at the podium, smiling as she slayed every donor with her speech. She’d let me read a draft of it yesterday. She’d written it all on her own, without the help of the professional speechwriters I’d offered her. It was funny, brilliant, touching. People were going to love it.

I hadn’t told Emily about my meeting with the Queen. I was still convinced Emily and I could be together in the long run without her giving up EP Designs. More than that, I was convinced we could win the Queen over. I wanted the two of them to meet. One hour with Emily and I knew my grandmother would fall in love with her, just like the rest of the family did. I just had to figure out how to make that meeting happen. I’d broached the subject with her secretaries, and they’d flatly refused. Which meant I had to do everything I could on my own to prove to the Queen that not only was this relationship real, but that it really worked, too.

Emily killing it at this fundraiser tonight would certainly help. I checked my watch. Five hours until our guests arrived. Emily was on a site visit at Lord Pearce’s castle today. We’d texted a few minutes ago, and she’d said she’d be hitting the road back to London in half an hour, giving her plenty of time to get ready and practice her speech.

Maybe we’d have time for a less wholesome activity or two as well. My cock throbbed at the idea of taking Emily against the wall in the shower. It had been a few hours since we’d done it last.

I smiled. This girl was making an animal out of me.

I had no regrets.

* * *

Aly held the tape measure while I pulled the tape across the paneled room. I had big plans to turn this smallish space into a slick study for Lord Pearce. I was thinking dark blue lacquered walls, lots of texture in the fabrics, and furniture with clean, masculine lines. It was going to be magazine worthy for sure.

Fingers crossed the renovation went smoothly. Our reputation here in the UK depended on it. Stallings Castle was the first project we’d nabbed on our own since bringing EP Designs back from the brink. If all went well, hopefully we’d land other projects like it. As big as this project was, it wasn’t enough to sustain us on its own.

“I think the Jules sofa is going to work.” I double-checked the measurement before I let the tape snap back into Aly’s hand. “I was worried it would be too big, but it’ll be just right.”

Aly jotted down the note in her purple Moleskine. “Perfect. In the leather?”

“Yes. Let’s ask if they can do it with a brass nailhead, too.”

“Very sexy,” Aly said, nodding her approval. She looked at the room, chewing thoughtfully on her pen. Above us, the plumbers were banging on something in their quest to build a new master bathroom. It sounded like some serious work was going on. “Since we’re doing the sofa in leather, why not reupholster some antique wingbacks in a silk velvet and put them there?” She pointed to the fireplace. “Maybe in a blue that plays nicely off the walls. It’ll be a sexy contrast between the roughed up leather and the velvet.”

I pursed my lips, picturing the scheme in my head as I tried to block out the banging. Holy hell, it would be delicious. I shivered; I still couldn’t get over the fact that I’d managed to save EP Designs. Less than two months ago, working on places like Stallings Castle was a pipe dream.

And now that dream was coming true again. Every dream I’d had—the ones I talked about and the ones I didn’t, the ones I lifted up and the ones I’d buried, too scared to give them a name—was coming true.

My eyes prickled. It was all so wonderful it was making me weepy.

“You’re going to cry again? Aw, muffin, come here.” Aly slipped an arm around my shoulders, glancing up at a loud groan that moved through the ceiling. “You’re that excited for the velvet, huh?”

I laughed, wiping at my eyes with the pads of my fingers. “Sorry. I’m just a little…overwhelmed, I guess. Good overwhelmed. But still overwhelmed.”

“That’s fair.” Aly grinned. “I mean, you’re only banging a prince and taking your business to the next level all at once. No big deal.”

“Thank God I have you with me,” I said, leaning my head on her shoulder. “I really appreciate you being here, Aly. I couldn’t do this without you.”

She looked me in the eye. “Em, we’re designing castles again. I wouldn’t miss this for the world. I mean, of course I’m excited about you opening up to the guy of your dreams and finding genuine happiness and orgasms with him. But really, I’m here for the castles.”

I checked my watch. “I should get going. Traffic shouldn’t be too bad, but I want to give myself plenty of time to get back, just in case.”

“Go—I’ve got everything handled here,” Aly replied.

I was stuffing my notebooks into my bag when I heard a voice echo in the front hallway.

“Hulloooo?” a man called in the most British way possible.

Lord Pearce appeared in the doorway. He was dressed in what appeared to be very posh hunting gear. He held an enormous shotgun in one arm. The barrel was bent open over the crook of his elbow.

I stepped forward and offered him my hand. “Lord Pearce, it’s so great to see you.”

“I hope you don’t mind me popping in,” he said. “I was on the estate doing a bit of hunting, yes, I’m sure you heard the dogs.”

Aly looked at Lord Pearce in confusion. “You have more than one dog?”

“Oh, yes, dear, I’ve got loads of them. Enough to employ two kennel keepers. Might hire a third come spring.” He looked up at the banging upstairs. “And how are the renovations progressing?”

I grinned, my chest bursting with pride. “So far, so good. It’s truly going to be unbeliev—”

A loud shudder moved through the house, making the floor vibrate underneath our feet. My eyes flicked to the ceiling; my stomach clenched.

That couldn’t be good.

I turned to look at Aly at the same moment a large crack opened in the ceiling.

“Oh my God,” I breathed.

It all happened in slow motion. There was a moment of breathless silence. Then the crack widened, chunks of plaster raining down onto the floor.

A heartbeat later, the entire ceiling caved in. The sound was enormous, so loud it made my ears ring with pain.

I covered my head with my arms and closed my eyes. I fell into a crouch. Beside me Aly yelped. Lord Pearce shouted something about Jesus Bloody Christ and all the bloody angels, too.

An edge of plaster caught on my bicep. I felt a stinging tear. Dust, putrid and medieval smelling, burned in my nostrils as it filled my lungs. Close by on the floor, a man—one of the plumbers, if I had to guess—was groaning. Glass shattered. The odor of sewage filled the air.

When it seemed like the collapse was over, I blinked the dust from my eyes and shook it out of my hair.

“Is everyone okay?” I called.

Aly waved to me from a corner. “I think I’m all right.” Lord Pearce and the poor plumber answered much the same, thank God.

I stood and surveyed the damage. There was a gaping hole where the ceiling had been ten seconds ago. Dirty water coursed from broken pipes above us onto the seventeenth-century wood floor. A beam had crashed through the priceless bay window on the far wall.

Panic gripped me by the throat. I’d done enough renovations to know this wasn’t just bad.

This was catastrophic. Like, end-my-design-dreams-before-they-even-started catastrophic.

I caught Lord Pearce’s eye from across the room. He was wiping the dust from his pants while staring me down. His face was bright red.

“Fix this,” he spat. “I want to see you bloody fix this now, Emily, or you’ll be replaced directly!”

My eyes stung. I couldn’t tell if it was the dust or if it was tears. Probably both. Lord Pearce had already expressed some reservations about me being too busy with royal duties to complete his project on time. I’d confidently assured him that we’d make it happen. But now…

Well. Now I wasn’t so confident.

“Of course,” I managed to say. “We’ll, um, get this cleaned up in no time.”

I looked at Aly. She was crying.

“Em,” she said, her voice low. “Please don’t leave. I can’t do this on my own.”

I glanced wildly at the disaster that surrounded me. I needed to go now if I wanted to make it back in time for the gala; London was an hour’s drive from the castle. But I couldn’t leave. This was a crisis, no two ways about it. Aly most definitely could not do this on her own. No one could. There was raw sewage literally gushing from the ceiling. And if Lord Pearce saw me leave—even on behalf of Prince Christopher—he’d fire me on the spot. I wouldn’t blame him if he did.

I could not get fired. We could not lose this project. I’d worked too hard to get EP Designs back on its feet only to walk away now.

The thought of being late to Kit’s gala, or missing it altogether, killed me. He was relying on me to make this speech. He had a lot riding on the gala going well.

But I had a lot riding on this project, too. What the fuck was I supposed to do?

Panic erupted inside my chest. The muscles in my neck and shoulders pinched. I felt like I was going to be sick. This was bad.

Really, really bad.

I took a deep breath, coughing as the dust hit my lungs.

Maybe I could get the clean up here started. Maybe, if we got the water turned off and the flooding under control, I could still make it back to London in time. It would be tight, but I had to try.

Digging through the debris, I found my bag and pulled out my phone. I shot Kit a text. Incident here at Stallings Castle. Everyone is ok. But I am going to be later than I thought. Will be back for gala, I promise.

Then I threw the phone back into my bag and got to work.