As predicted, it was a busy day and I felt like I had been running from the moment I got out of bed. I spent the day in Alyssa’s office, well not actually in the office, but outside the office working at the desk that had previously been Alex’s and was now supposed to be Meredith’s. Due to the influx of guests, Meredith had been pulled back into the Royal Guard and Alex had defected to Freddie’s camp, although we all loved the two of them together, they made such a cute couple, so we weren't too upset that she was now working in his office instead of the Queen’s. Well, apart from the fact that it left the Queen without a Personal Assistant at the busiest time in her life.

As well as helping out with the shortfall, I was also in constant email communication with Dom as we worked on our own tasks. Far from feeling overwhelmed, the increase in busyness energised me. I thrived on all this activity and it helped to distract me from my father’s presence, not to mention Pierre’s.

What it couldn't distract me from was Dom. With each little ding on my computer to announce a new email, a little thrill went through me. We hadn't seen each other yet today and probably wouldn't until tonight, but I looked forward to those annoying dings because it meant contact with him.

I also loved the new way he spoke to me in those emails.

Up until today, any email interactions, any interactions at all, in fact, had always been terse and sharp. But today there was a softness about them, not that he was sending me love notes or mushy endearments, they were just… friendlier. Which in turn made my replies friendlier. Instead of dreading an email from him, as I had in the past, I now looked forward to them.

The door from the hall opened and Will stuck his head in.

“Hey Priscilla,” he said coming fully into the room, “Is she in with anyone?”

I shook my head. “She’s alone at the moment,” I replied with a smile. I really liked Will and he was good for Alyssa. I couldn't wait for them to get married.

“What’s her afternoon look like?”

I checked the calendar, noting the appointments she had scheduled. “It’s busy.”

“Anything that can't be pushed back?”

I scanned the names and shook my head. “How long do you need?”

He grinned, “Just a couple of hours. I want to take her to lunch.”

“Do you want me to make a reservation and organise a car?”

He shook his head. “Nah, we're going to stay on the grounds. I have Chef putting together a picnic basket.”

“As long as you have her back by three, at the latest, you're all good.”

“Excellent.”

He strode passed my desk and opened Alyssa’s office door without bothering to knock, closing it behind him.

I set about rescheduling her calendar, smiling to myself. Will really was good for her. Her stress levels were rising with each day and she really needed to take a break. A picnic with her fiancé was exactly what she needed.

It also gave me an idea.

I picked up the phone and dialled down to the kitchen putting in my request. By the time Alyssa and Will came out of the office, Alyssa smiling like a loon, her eyes filled with adoration for the man who had swept her off her feet, I was ready to go too. I locked my computer and grabbed my phone before leaving the office and locking the door behind me.

I took the elevator down to the lower levels and greeted the service staff as I walked toward the kitchen to pick up my bounty. I snagged a bottle of wine as well and two glasses and then took my laden trolley and whisked myself back up to the office levels.

The trolley rattled as I pushed it through the halls, the wine glasses clicking together with the plates and bowls of food. It all smelled delicious and my stomach growled in anticipation.

I didn't bother knocking on the door when I arrived, pushing it open and pushing the trolley through the anteroom until I reached the next door. I listened for a moment to make sure he was alone before opening the door.

“Lunch is served,” I said with a grin as I entered the office.

Dom looked up in surprise. I watched as he took in the overflowing trolley and then me and a slow smile spread across his face, his eyes lighting up and my body tingling with his response.

“What’s all this?” he asked, coming around the desk to help me position the trolley near his couches. He pecked me on the cheek, hello, and I couldn't help the blush that stained my cheeks.

“Will gave me the idea,” I said, lifting the lids on the various different foods that Chef had prepared for us. “He whisked Alyssa away on a surprise picnic and I figured that you probably wouldn't take time to eat unless someone brought you food.”

He reached out and touched her arm, rubbing from her shoulder to elbow gently.

“Thank you,” he said, his voice soft, “I didn't even know it was lunch time, so I probably would have forgotten to eat.”

I smiled and blushed again. This man. What was he doing to me? I hadn't blushed this much since my ill-advised crush on Pierre.

“Come, sit,” he said, loading a plate with food, “You are joining me aren't you?”

“If you'll have me,” I replied, taking a plate and looking over the food.

He took the plate from me and handed me the one he had already piled up, shooing me away and indicating for me to sit. He poured the wine and handed me a glass before loading another plate for himself and sitting down opposite me.

It should've felt awkward, but instead it felt… companionable, like we did this sort of thing everyday. I liked it. A lot.

As I sat down across from Priscilla, I could hardly believe that she was here in my office and that she had brought lunch with her. Not that I was complaining, in fact I was really glad she’d gone to all the effort. I had wanted to see her before tonight’s event, just to touch base after last night and to keep the momentum of what we had begun. I also just wanted to see her because, as silly as it seemed, I missed her.

How I could possibly miss her when we had only seen each other last night and we had been emailing all day was a mystery, but the fact was, seeing her had an odd effect on me. Like pouring oil on troubled waters, as the saying went, her presence gave me a measure of peace that had been missing from my day. I hadn’t slept well for thinking of her and what little sleep I did get had done nothing to make me feel rested. I had been walking around like a bear with a sore head, but now all that angst had gone and the only difference was that she had come to see me… and brought food.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked me before taking a sip of her wine.

“Just what a horrid day I’ve been having so far. This has gone a long way to making it much better.”

She frowned, “ Is there a problem? Is it something I can help you with?”

“Not really a problem,” I said, “Just little minor complications, but enough of them to feel like I’ve been besieged.”

We talked about the work I’ve been doing, about the issues I’ve been dealing with and she gave me some really good ideas of ways to solve some of them. We even argued a little, which in the past would have degenerated into something cold and hard, but instead felt like bantering rather than arguing. Our relationship had officially turned a corner and I couldn't help but think that last night was the catalyst. To be able to sit here with her over a meal and discuss work without being at each other’s throats was a significant improvement.

“So how has your day been?” I asked, moving the conversation on from me.

“Good, actually,” she replied, “I’ve been really busy, but it’s work I enjoy and I don’t have Bianca butting in every two seconds wanting something.”

I raise an eyebrow, “Where is she?”

“Downstairs working with the service staff.”

Both of my eyebrows climbed up my forehead. I knew she’d helped Louis that one time in the kitchen, but could she still be working with him?

Priscilla laughed at my expression and it was a shot in the gut. I wanted to close my eyes and let it wash over me, but I kept them steadfastly open… all the better to see the way her face lit up with amusement.

“I was surprised too,” she said when her laughter quietened, “But I haven’t had any complaints from the Majordomo or Ms Montague, so I’ve let it be.”

“You know Louis is working down there,” I said carefully.

Priscilla rolled her eyes. “I should’ve figured it was something along those lines.” She stopped and looked me in the eye. “I can trust my sister with him, can’t I?” she asked, “It’s just that she’s an innocent. She grew up very sheltered and Papa barely lets her out of his sight—”

“It’s okay,” I assured her, “Louis can be careless and irresponsible but he would never do anything untoward or reckless. It’s kind of good the way they are keeping each other company and out of trouble.”

The worry on her face faded and she smiled shyly. “It is. I wouldn’t have been able to do this if she’d been underfoot.”

“Then I’m extra glad that her and Louis have struck up a friendship.”

We gazed at each other over the leftovers of our decadent lunch and I wished there wasn’t a coffee table between us. I wanted to touch her; hold her hand or tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. It was an irrational thought and completely out of the boundaries of appropriateness, but there it was. I would’ve even settled for being close enough to her so that our arms accidentally bumped, or like in the car last night when her thigh rested against mine. The woman had become a fascination for me and I had no clue how to contain it. It’d been so long since I’d had such a distraction that I was struggling to behave the way I knew I should. Not that I would’ve ravished her in my office, that wasn’t what I was talking about, it was more about how distracted my mind got when she was near.

It took that thought to make me realise that I’d felt this way from the moment I met her and the antagonistic attitude I’d taken with her was because I felt so discombobulated around her. It took her sitting opposite me, smiling demurely and looking like an auburn haired angel for me to realise that from the first time we met, I’d been attracted to her.

I reached across the space that separated us and took her hand, enclosing it between both of mine. Her hand was small, her skin soft and her eyes wide when she looked up at me in surprise. I squeezed her hand gently, not quite sure what to do now that I was touching her, but knowing I wasn’t ready to let her go.

“Dom?” she asked hesitantly.

I cleared my throat and bent my head to her hand bringing it to my lips, kissing the soft skin of her knuckles. I caressed her wrist with my thumb and noticed the slight tremor, which I didn’t think was fear, but maybe something else, something a lot like what I was feeling. I breathed in the soft floral scent of her skin and lingered just a little longer before raising my head to meet her eyes.

“Thank you for lunch,” I said, my voice huskier than I would’ve liked.

“It was my pleasure,” she replied, her voice breathy.

A rap on the door interrupted the moment and she pulled her hand away from me as we both stood to see who was at the door. Louis walked in and stopped short, taking in the lunch trolley and my meal companion.

“Chef sent me to get your dishes,” he said, his face creased in a mischievous smile, “If you’re done of course.”

“I’ll see you tonight,” Priscilla said, making a dash for the door.

I watched her leave and felt a distinct loss, like there was something unfinished between us.

“Now that is a surprise,” Louis said and my bad mood returned.

I walked around to sit behind my desk as Louis cleaned up the remnants of our lunch. I tried to ignore him, but he kept shooting me knowing glances with a stupid grin on his face and it started to annoy me.

“What?” I said, throwing down my pen and crossing my arms.

“Nothing,” he replied.

“Just spit it out.”

Louis stopped what he was doing and came to sit on the edge of my desk. “So are you and Priscilla a thing now?”

“No,” I replied, harsher than I had intended.

“So this lunch was…”

“Just lunch. A working lunch.”

“Uh-huh,” he said, nodding and smiling.

“No, not like that.”

I actually didn’t know why I was trying so hard to deny that there was more to that lunch than just lunch. I suppose because I wasn’t too sure exactly what it was and it felt too precious to sully with trying to explain it to another person. It felt too precious to gossip about.

“That’s a shame,” Louis said, getting back to clearing away the lunch dishes.

“Why?” I asked, genuinely curious.

He shrugged a shoulder. “I’m really into Bianca. I know she’s young and a little too spoilt and princess-y, but when you dig beneath those things, she’s really quite nice. If you and her sister hit it off, getting to see her would be a hell of a lot easier, especially now that her father is in town.”

“I still don’t get what you see in her,” I said, picking up my pen, “And although I did you a favour the other night, I don’t intend on letting you use me just so you and your little girlfriend can get together behind everyone’s back.”

“No, it’s not like that,” he tried to explain but I wasn’t really listening anymore.

I had thought, for a very brief moment, that Louis was happy that I was finally finding someone after losing Adélise, but he was still too wrapped up in his own little world. He only cared how my relationship with Priscilla affect him in his quest with Bianca.

“Hey Dom,” he said, garnering my attention once more.

I looked up at him and waited for him to continue.

“Any chance you could escort Priscilla to the event tonight and keep her occupied for a while after?”

“I’m pretty sure tonight is a work event for Priscilla, for both of us in fact,” I replied, looking back down at the work in front of me.

“Yeah, but she won’t be tied up all night. I just want you to… distract her for a while.”

I huffed out an annoyed breath and looked up at him again. “Why do you need me to distract her?”

He shrugged and grinned. “It’s not what you think. I like talking to her and it would be nice if we could slip away for a few moments and have some time together without being interrupted.”

“You had that last night,” I replied.

“Yeah, well that didn’t quite go as planned. Bianca couldn’t stay long because her father wanted to have dinner with her.”

I chuckled as Louis scowled. He thought Priscilla was the only obstacle to his pursuit of Bianca, but according to Priscilla, it was their father who was the real gatekeeper.

“Don’t laugh,” he grumbled, “I had everything planned. A beautiful candlelit dinner on the balcony overlooking the rose garden, a nice bottle of wine, music and it was all ruined because the Ambassador wanted to share a meal with his daughter.”

Something struck me as strange about that. “Why wasn’t Priscilla invited?” I asked, voicing my thought aloud.

Louis shrugged. “Who knows. From what I gathered, Priscilla and her father had a run in before she came here and they don’t speak much anymore… or something like that.” Louis pushed the trolley towards the door. “So tonight? You’ll keep Priscilla busy so that I can see Bianca?”

I sighed and looked at his earnest face. It wouldn’t be a hardship to keep Priscilla occupied, I had been planning on doing it anyway. Priscilla intrigued me in the way no one had in a long time and I wanted to see what would become of it. Besides, I liked talking to her and if I could dance with her tonight, all the better.

“I’ll try,” I said and Louis smiled and waved as he pushed the trolley out of my office.

There was a niggling apprehensive feeling bothering me about agreeing to Louis’ request. If felt a bit underhanded, but I justified it by telling myself that I wasn’t really doing it for him, I was doing it for my own reasons and they just so happened to coincide with his needs. There was nothing duplicitous going on, despite my feeling that if Priscilla found out she wouldn’t agree. On the outside it could maybe be construed as deceitful, but my motivations were pure. I actually wanted to spend time with her and if Louis thought it was for his benefit and that meant he would perform his duties without complaint, then it was a win/win. And no one needed to know, anyway. Let Louis think that I was doing it for him, there was no harm in that. None at all.

The thought didn’t sit well with me, but what could I do about it? If I told Louis that I was seeing Priscilla for my own reasons, he wouldn’t believe me or if he did he would make a big song and dance about it and I wanted to avoid that at all costs. Whatever was happening between Priscilla and I was a little too new and uncertain to be exposed to the glaring spotlight of Palace gossip. But that didn’t stop me wanting to pursue it, to see what was beyond the surface fluff and bubble.

It could all be nothing. It could just be that my heart had finally awakened after too many years of cold darkness and Priscilla was the first woman in it’s sights. My attraction to her could wane at any moment and then all this angst would be for nothing. Having an excuse to see her made it easier to test the waters and see if there was anything of substance below, and if there was? Then I would deal with that when and if it happened.