Ella dragged herself out of the limo with as much grace as she could muster, which wasn’t much. A week of carefully scheduled and documented public outings would do that to a girl. All she wanted was some free time. A break. A bit of privacy—preferably with the sexy man at her side, whom she hadn’t seen in a non-public way for far too long.

As Phillip stepped out of the limo behind her, she spotted the garage full of motorcycles. Oh, yes. That would do nicely.

She shot Phillip a suggestive look, nodding at the building. “Want to blow this popsicle stand, finally take that sunset ride?”

He hesitated.

“Come on,” she urged. “We’ve been to interviews and Parliament sessions and formal dinners with more forks than any girl should have to count. One ride alone with you is all I’m asking.”

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I’m sorry. We have dinner with a diplomat scheduled this evening and we can’t miss it. Unfortunately his translator is sick and the diplomat himself doesn’t speak the language, but if he won’t cancel, neither can we.”

She balked. “We’re going to have dinner with a man we can’t even talk to?”

He sighed and rubbed his forehead, a rare sign of tiredness from the inexhaustibly dutiful King of Danovar. “Is it too much to ask to simply enjoy a beautiful dinner while we fulfill our obligations?”

He didn’t say it unkindly, but inside Ella, something curled up tight. This was what she’d been afraid of; that they’d get so overloaded with duties they would have no time for each other. And they weren’t even married yet.

“Have you thought about what kind of dress you’d like to wear for the big day yet?” Phillip asked as they walked into the Summer House, trying to cheer her up. He’d already told her that they would spare no expense, that the tailors could custom-make her anything she wanted.

“Not yet,” she said, reluctantly allowing him to change the subject. “Though my stepmother has really gotten into the wedding spirit. She’s got her whole room plastered with dress pictures she wants me to look at. But I do have an idea for the shoes—I want to wear those glittery silver heels, the ones that were the reason we first met. I wore them the first time I danced with you and… the first time I did other things with you.” She glanced up, hoping he would show some interest. Maybe she could still talk him into that sunset ride after all.

But he was frowning. “All Danovian queens have gotten married in traditional leather clogs,” he said.

She gritted her teeth. Tradition, rules, duties—she’d just about had enough of them to last a lifetime already, and now they were taking this from her too? “Do we have to follow tradition for everything? Can’t we have our own thing, even just a little?”

“Tradition gives our people stability. But perhaps the clogs could be made over in a way you like?”

And that was it: the final straw. She’d been treated as second-best by her stepfamily her whole life and she was tired of coming in second place with Phillip now, too. He was always so focused on what his people needed that he couldn’t even see how much she was struggling with the transition from secret lover to public queen. “Maybe,” she said vaguely, but inside she was making plans to get out of there as soon as possible.

She wanted her old Phillip back. And she knew exactly where to find him.

The next morning, Phillip read his newspapers alone.

He glanced down at the empty seat next to him and frowned. Ella had been joining him for his mornings up here on the balcony while they drank their coffee and caught up with the news, and even though he’d always liked to be alone during this daily ritual before, now he missed her. God knew she deserved to sleep in after the grueling week they’d had, though.

But ten minutes later he’d finished his coffee and she still hadn’t shown. They had brunch scheduled with his mother to go over Parliament business soon, and it would be beyond rude to keep her waiting.

“Drake!” he called, and the ever-present head of security stepped into view with his usual slightly dour, slightly amused expression.

“Yes, sire?”

“Have you seen Ella?”

“She said to tell you she’s on a ride in the forest, and she absolutely will not come back until you go and find her. Emphasis hers, not mine.” He straightened his suit jacket.

Phillip dropped the paper he’d been holding, staring at the man. “You’ve been standing behind that curtain for twenty minutes and waited until just now to tell me this?”

“She gave very strict instructions.”

He gaped at Drake. “She’s the future queen! And you let her wander into an unsecured forest without me or a security detail?”

Drake held up a hand to calm him. “We made her keep a panic button on her and we have two men following at a distance until you arrive.”

Annoyed but intrigued despite himself, Phillip stood. She wanted a chase, did she? It sounded like fun, but it would mean missing out on several meetings. He hoped she didn’t plan to do this after she was crowned. It made both of them look terribly irresponsible.

He gave orders for his horse to be saddled, and the job was done by the time he arrived at the stables. By then the annoyance had faded into anticipation, and he trotted out onto the trails thinking about all the things she might have planned for when he caught her. He chose to go east, toward the seashore and the spot where he’d proposed. She wasn’t at the overlook, but a saddle was.

He frowned down at it. Was this supposed to be a message of some kind? He followed the trail a little further and found a saddle blanket, and laughed out loud with realization. When he’d given her the riding boots last week, he’d told her he wanted to teach her to ride bareback but had never gotten the chance to actually do so. Now she was taking him up on his offer. He unsaddled his own horse and found her around the bend, having walked her mare to a quiet pond to drink.

She smiled up at him. “Hey.”

“Hey yourself, truant.”

“And here I always thought I was the good girl.”

He dismounted, strode toward her. “Oh, you’re always the good girl. Until you are delightfully, deliciously naughty.” He kissed her then, in a way they hadn’t kissed for far too long.

When they were done she sighed in satisfaction and smiled up at him. “Bareback lesson first, naughtiness later.”

He huffed. “You plan to keep me out here all day, don’t you, woman?”

“As much of it as possible.” She winked, then turned serious. “I know the duties of ruling are important to you. Serving Danovar is important to me too. But if we keep up this impossible pace, we’re going to burn ourselves out, and then what kind of rulers would we be in twenty years? How much good can a burned-out king do his country?”

He shifted, uncomfortable, and she nodded.

“One thing I learned from my family is that you’ve got to take care of yourself, too. It’s easy to lose yourself in the serving if you don’t, and then you’re no good to anyone, including the people you’re serving.”

“You make a good point,” he conceded.

“Of course I do. Now—bareback lesson.” She gave him a quick peck on the lips and then returned to her horse.

She kept him busy for a solid hour as he taught her how to cling to her mare with her thigh and calf muscles, how to keep her seat bareback while jumping over a log. By the time they finished they were both hot and sweaty, and when Ella proposed a dip in the ocean, he happily agreed.

They raced to the seashore, dirt clods and then sand flying beneath their horses’ hooves. They skidded to a stop and the well-trained animals waited patiently while the lovers stripped and hurried into the cool ocean, giggling like teenagers, “accidentally” brushing against each other as they waded further. By the time they got waist-deep, Phillip was already hard and longing for Ella.

He shot a look at her. “Have you kept me busy for long enough yet?”

She licked her lips. “I think I’m ready for a new kind of busy now,” she said huskily, eyeing his bare chest. He hadn’t realized how much he missed her looking at him like that.

“Come here,” he said, determined to make her look that way for as long as she’d have him. He lifted her up and she slid herself down, locking her ankles behind his back. When he pushed into her she dropped her head to his shoulder with a sigh.

“Mmm, I’ve missed this,” she murmured, biting him lightly.

“You feel so good,” he whispered, holding her hips, driving deeper. He’d missed this too. He hadn’t realized how much he needed it, needed her. She added so much color and vibrancy to his life.

They made love in the sea, and when they were both spent they climbed back onto the seashore and draped themselves over the rocks to dry. Phillip rolled over after a while and checked the angle of the sun, then jolted upright. Damn, it was past noon already. He’d been lazing around on the beach while his morning obligations passed him by. He dressed quickly, cursing at the sand that lingered in his clothing, and Ella followed suit.

“Today was amazing,” he said as they hurried back to their horses. “And I do intend to take more breaks with you. But please understand, this kind of thing—an unscheduled day off, running away when we have things to see to—it can’t happen again, especially not after we’re married. My schedule of meetings has been lighter than usual because of my focus on the Summer House Party and our engagement, but it’s about to go into overdrive to make up for it.”

She pursed her lips. “Of course,” she said, but something in her tone sounded off.

He didn’t have time to explore her misgivings, though. They’d have barely enough time to get ready and grab lunch on the go before his speech to Parliament this afternoon. So all he said was, “I love you.”

She shot him a small, tight smile. “I love you too.”

It would have to be enough for now.