Ten hours. That’s how long it had been since she’d spoken to Alex.

Paisley pressed her fist against her mouth and stared at the black TV screen. Next to her on the couch, Lauren clicked on her laptop.

“You can turn that on, if you want,” Lauren said.

“Huh?” Paisley dropped her hand into her lap.

“The TV. You’ve been staring at it for a while now. It does turn on.”

Paisley shook her head and looked around Lauren’s Manhattan living room. She’d come over because being at home made her feel like she was going crazy, but it turned out a changed setting didn’t help any. The problem was all inside Paisley.

“I think this is it,” she said. “I think Alex hasn’t called because he knows he has to take the throne.”

Lauren frowned. “He’s visiting his dad, who just had a stroke.”

“Which is why he’s probably going to have to take the crown.”

“And so, what? He’ll break up with you? This guy is crazy about you, Paisley. I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”

Instead of assuring her, the statement only made Paisley feel worse. It reminded her of what she had to lose.

“I think so too,” she whispered. “But that doesn’t mean anything in the face of… you know. Tradition. Royal obligation, or whatever.” Paisley looked down at her lap. She wanted Lauren to argue back, but her friend was quiet for what felt like a really long time.

“You agree with me?” Paisley peered at her.

Lauren twisted her lips. “What you’re saying makes sense, but I don’t—”

Paisley blinked back tears. “Yep. What was I thinking, Lauren? I knew things would never work out between us.”

“Stop. Don’t talk like that.” Lauren put her computer on the coffee table and scooted closer to Paisley. “You fell for a guy who’s smart, handsome, and kind. How could you not?”

“I could have stayed away. Correction. I tried to stay away.” Paisley rubbed her eyes. “I just didn’t do a very good job of it.”

“You’re not superhuman, Pais.”

“I know. I try, though.” Paisley tried to smile, but her facial muscles weren’t working right.

“Hey, I don’t know if this will cheer you up or not, but Flynn asked Noah about you yesterday. He said he sent you tickets to his play’s opening.”

“Yeah. I told him I can’t make it.”

“I don’t think he’s used to rejection,” Lauren said.

That made Paisley laugh. “Probably not. He’s a good guy, though. He just wasn’t the one for me.” Pain hit her like a bolt of lightning, and she looked down. Her next words were whispered. “How can it be that the right guy for me is the one that I can’t have? Can the world really be that cruel?”

“You’re getting ahead of yourself again,” Lauren said.

“Am I? Or am I being realistic?”

Lauren sighed and tugged absentmindedly on the end of her braid. “I see what you’re doing. You’re jumping to conclusions in order to protect yourself. I do the same thing. This way, you can go ahead and get yourself disappointed so that it doesn’t hurt so bad when the axe comes down.”

“So, you think the axe is coming down?”

Lauren nudged Paisley’s leg with her foot. “That’s not what I said.”

Paisley smiled. “Thank you for having me over.”

“You’re welcome. Does being here help any?”

“Not really.” Paisley cringed.

“That’s only because we haven’t had ice cream yet.”

Paisley chuckled slightly. No matter how bad things got, she could always count on Lauren to get at least a smile out of her. “When you’re right, you’re right.”

“As I often am.” Lauren stuck her tongue out and stood. “We have cookie dough and mint chocolate chip. Unless Noah ate all the mint chocolate chip.” She walked into the kitchen as she talked, her voice rising. “He acts like he’s on this super-clean diet, and then he breaks and goes crazy at night and eats, like, every carb and bit of sugar he can find.”

“Sounds like the typical diet to me.” Paisley leaned back into the cushions and, with surprise, realized she did feel better.

Alex would do what he needed to, and she trusted his judgment. If it did turn out he was inheriting the crown, and he did one day ask her to marry him…

Her heart leapt into her throat. She would say yes.

It didn't matter that he was from a world she didn't understand, or that she hated being in the spotlight. Alex despised attention just as much.

But ruling a country and living under constant scrutiny would be something they could figure out. The bright side was that they would have more opportunities to make a difference in the world.

And they would be together. Paisley wanted that more than anything else.

Drawing her legs against her chest, she set her chin on her knees. She couldn't hold her breath. Even if Alex loved her, that didn't mean he could marry her. For all she knew, there could be some law in Belmonte against that. Or it could be Alex didn't think Paisley would be right for his country.

“There’s mint chocolate chip,” Lauren called from the kitchen. “Looks like I won't need to kill my husband tonight.”

“Lucky him,” Paisley called back. “He gets to see another day.”

On the cushion next to her, Paisley’s phone buzzed. She looked to see Alex’s name on the screen.

Her vision blurred, and her heart pounded. This was it. She knew it. He was calling from Belmonte to tell her everything had changed. He was inheriting the crown and breaking up with her.

Swallowing hard, she picked the phone up. “Hello?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Paisley saw Lauren freeze in the doorway, two bowls in her hands.

“Paisley.” The warm tones in Alex’s voice washed over her, and she closed her eyes. Could she really be expected to go the rest of her life without hearing that voice every day?

“Hi,” she said, afraid her voice shook already.

“How are you?”

“I’m fine.” She opened her eyes and stared at the floor. “How is your dad?”

It had been almost five days since he’d left for Belmonte, and the most Paisley had gotten was basic text updates.

“He is doing well. There are some troubles with moving, and he will need rehabilitation, but the doctors are still optimistic.”

“That’s good.” She bit her bottom lip. “And how are you?”

“Well.” He paused. “Where are you? Are you not home?”

“Um, no.” She looked over at Lauren, whose eyes were wide. “What made you guess that?”

“I am in front of your building, and I just rang, but there was no answer.”

Paisley felt her eyebrows fly up. “You’re back? You didn’t tell me you were coming back.”

“Yes, and I apologize. The last few days have been… rather busy. There were some matters to take care of in Belmonte regarding a bill.”

“Oh. So, you’re doing political stuff now?”

“Not exactly. This was a one-time thing. Paisley—” Alex’s voice dropped. “May I see you now?”

Paisley’s breath hitched in her throat, and she suddenly felt nervous. “Y—yeah. I’m at Lauren’s, but I can meet you somewhere.”

“He can come here,” Lauren hissed.

“What was that?” Alex asked.

Paisley turned away from Lauren. “She said you can come here, but no. I’ll meet you somewhere.”

“Give me the address, and I will pick you up.”

Paisley did, and ten seconds later she put the phone in her purse, feeling dazed.

“You don’t look happy,” Lauren said.

“I feel like I shouldn’t be.” Paisley stood, her stomach twisting.

“He’s coming to pick you up. Smile.”

Paisley pressed her hand against her queasy stomach. “Ugh.”

“Ice cream?” Lauren offered a bowl.

“Double ugh. I’m going to wait downstairs for him.”

Lauren followed Paisley to the door. “Okay. Let me know what happens.”

The sun had set since she’d arrived at Lauren’s building, and Paisley stepped onto the sidewalk as a breeze drifted down the street. It was Saturday night, and one look could tell you that.

Settling onto the building’s front stoop, Paisley watched a group of giggling young women in heels and party dresses walk by. Across the street, a few guys jumped out of a cab and a middle-aged couple claimed its vacant seats almost immediately.

Paisley looked down at her hands. It was weird that she felt so sick to her stomach. This was Alex she waited for. The person, other than her two best friends, that she felt most comfortable with.

Deep breath in. Long breath out. Whatever update Alex brought, it would be fine. Despite her own personal feelings over everything, Paisley still believed there was a higher plan for everyone, and there was no use fighting something like that.

Still. Tell that to her bouncing knee.

“Paisley.”

Her head jerked up, and she saw Alex getting out of a car, which took off into the night. He paused at the curb, the streetlight illuminating a face full of… what? Uncertainty?

“Hi.” She stood, and he walked slowly for her.

Normally, she would have gone right into his arms, kissed him and suggested a movie for the night. But something was different, and they both felt it. The cautiousness that they’d parted with had grown.

“How long have you been back for?” Paisley asked.

“I only just arrived. I did not even go home.”

“Where’s your bag?” she asked.

“My—” Alex looked in the direction the car had gone off in. “My bag,” he said pathetically. “I left it in the car.”

“Oh, no.”

“It’s fine. There was nothing important in there.” He patted his pants pocket. “I have my wallet.” He patted the pocket on the other side as well, his palm lingering this time.

“That’s good.” Paisley pressed her fingers to her lips and giggled.

Alex grinned. “Yes. It certainly is. I was so excited to see you that I forgot about everything else.”

Paisley’s heart did a little dance. “Really?”

Alex tilted his head. “Certainly. You sound surprised.”

She looked down and shrugged. “Well, yeah. I knew there was a possibility that things could be different when you got back.”

“Because of the throne?”

“Exactly.” She looked up. “But your dad is getting better. So he’ll be back to ruling and all that jazz soon, right?”

“No.”

Her heart, which only a moment before had been so happy, seized up. “What?”

“He will recover, yes, but he will not be returning to the throne. He is abdicating.”

“He is?” She swallowed. “Does that mean you—”

“No.” Alex stepped closer. “Bianca will be taking his place.”

Paisley felt her mouth drop. Alex’s news had brought on so many emotions. First disappointment at hearing King Angelo would abdicate, and then surprise at hearing Bianca would be inheriting the crown.

“I don’t understand,” she said. “I thought that the crown of Belmonte went to the first-born son.”

“That is the way it has always been, yes.” Alex took another step toward her. With her standing on the bottom step, they were just about at equal height. “While my father was in the hospital, I asked him to present a bill to parliament changing that law. The crown should go to the firstborn, regardless of gender.” He paused. “Or, in my opinion, whichever child is most suitable to rule. And that is not me.”

Paisley made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a gasp of surprise. “No, that’s not you.”

He grinned sheepishly.

“Only because you don’t want to be king,” Paisley hurried to explain. “Right?”

“Correct. I do not wish to be king.”

Paisley exhaled, tension dropping from her shoulders. “So, that’s it, then? It’s happening? Bianca will be queen?”

“The official vote has to happen on parliament’s floor, but it has already been discussed behind closed doors. They will go forth with it. Bianca will be queen.”

“I haven’t heard anything about this,” Paisley said. “I’ve been checking the news nonstop. You know, in case you… became king,” she finished in a whisper.

“It will be announced tomorrow,” Alex said.

They stood there looking at each other, the moment too big for Paisley to properly wrap her head around it. Alex wouldn’t be king. He’d stay in New York. Things would continue on as they had been.

“Right?” she asked.

“Right, what?”

Paisley shook her head, realizing she’d failed to voice the full thought. “You’re not moving… right? You’re staying here?”

Alex blinked fast. “Yes. I certainly am. Why would I not?”

“I don’t know,” Paisley mumbled. “Maybe I’m thinking this is all too good to be true. Bianca taking the throne. You coming back to New York.”

Alex took her hand, and warmth spread up Paisley’s arm. “This is where I am meant to be.”

“I know. Your work and everything is here.”

Alex’s gaze stayed on her. “You are here.”

Tears stung Paisley’s eyes. “Wow.”

“Paisley.” Alex looked down, his face folding in concentration. “This summer has been—” He looked up. “It is hard to put words to it.”

“It’s been the best one of my life,” she said.

His eyes lit up. “Yes. There. You simplified it.” He tilted his head, looking again like he was thinking hard. “I had planned what I would say to you, but now that I am here—”

“Alex.” She took a half step to him and placed her hands on his shoulders. “Say whatever you want to. It’s just me here.”

Alex cupped her face, and she saw a sheen to his eyes. Was he about to cry?

“I know many women would love to be a queen,” he said.

“Not me.”

Alex grinned. “Not you.”

She ran her fingers across his shirt’s collar. “I like things the way they are, Alex. You make me happy. I don’t want to rule a country. Although—”

Suddenly embarrassed, she dropped her eyes. “If you ever asked me to, I would. If that meant being with you. Because that… that’s more important to me than anything else.”

Paisley held her breath. She’d opened up her heart and given Alex a peek at all of its contents, and as a result she couldn’t have felt more exposed.

“Paisley.” Alex tilted her chin up gently, and their gazes met. “You could not have said that at a more perfect time.”

“Why is that?”

One hand still on her face, Alex reached into his pants’ pocket. “Because I have a ring here, and I want to ask you to marry me.”

“Wh—what?” Paisley stared, the street around her spinning. Was this really happening?

It had to be. Alex had a small jewelry box in his hand, and he was opening it, and there was a diamond ring there, and she was covering her mouth with her palm.

“Will you marry me?” Alex asked, getting down on one knee.

“Yes, Your Highness.” Paisley giggled.

Alex took the ring from the box and slipped it on her finger.

“That means you’ll marry me even though I’ll never be a king,” Alex teased.

“You’ll always be the king of my heart,” she whispered against his lips.