Duncan found himself standing outside of Alix’s rooms after dinner that evening. He had been planning on letting her come to him for the bangle, but felt a pull toward her that he couldn’t explain. It was unusual, and intriguing, for his charms to have so little effect on someone. He could be patient, however. He would ask her to the children’s hospital gala the following week, to try again. If she refused, he would know she definitely wasn’t interested. It hadn’t happened before, but he’d respect it. He never did anything a noble woman didn’t ask for; his sister would have roasted him ages ago if he ever had.

Any notion of respect flew out of his mind, however, the second she answered the door. She was wearing the shortest pajama bottoms he’d ever seen, and the thinnest of tank tops. Her long, dark hair was piled up on top of her head and the surprise at seeing him there was evident in her deep, chocolate-brown eyes.

“I… I came to give you this,” he stammered, holding out the bangle. He shoved his hands in his pockets the second she took it from him, unsettled by the strong reaction he was having to seeing her. It was usually the other way around.

She smiled a genuinely happy smile, and placed it back on her wrist.

“Thank you, Your Highness,” she tilted her head.

“Duncan,” he blurted out, fumbling over his words in response to her gorgeous smile. “You can call me Duncan.”

Another smile, though less enthusiastic than the first. His own smile dropped for just a moment.

“Is that all, Duncan?” she asked impatiently, looking over her shoulder.

“I wanted to ask you something,” he said, finally finding his relaxed and confident tone.

“Fine, come in for a moment then,” she said, stepping aside. He brushed past her, his arm grazing hers, and it took everything in him not to wrap his arms around her and show her what she’d missed by walking away the other night.

He stopped short when he came in, not expecting the clean, organized scene that greeted him. When the countesses and other nobles stayed at the palace, even for a weekend, they usually took over the guest apartments. They made the rooms their own, with bright, feminine colors, and magazines and shoes strewn everywhere.

Alix had only brought a few personal items, all of which were placed carefully on the desk and bookshelves. Through the open bedroom door, he saw a pale green comforter. Matching pillows and blanket were laid neatly on the couch, giving the entire apartment a fresh, clean feeling. Everything was tidied away, except a letter on the desk, and a book on the coffee table.

“It’s all so clean,” he said, amazed. “You must ask the maids to come all the time.”

“Um, no,” she said, her eyebrows drawing together. “I can keep it clean myself. I don’t like them touching my things.”

Duncan arched one of his own eyebrows, unsure if he was impressed or incredulous.

“Clean yourself? What on earth do you mean?”

“I mean, I don’t leave my clothes on the floor, I put away the books and movies that I take out, and I try not to leave food everywhere. It’s not that hard. You should try it. Give your maids a break.”

That was their job, though, Duncan almost said, but bit his tongue. He had known from the moment he met her that Alix wasn’t like the others, but he hadn’t realized quite how much so. He felt his interest grow beyond what was under the thin tank top, and found himself eager to learn more about her.

“You have something to ask me?” she asked, glancing at her desk. A letter sat there; he must have interrupted her reading it.

His heart was suddenly pounding in his chest. Why was this so hard? He’d asked girls to accompany him before… But he was always entirely sure that they would sleep with him at the end of the night. Was that all he wanted with her? Looking at her fierce gaze while she waited for his answer, thinking of how different she was, he wasn’t so sure.

“There’s a gala ball for the children’s hospital next Wednesday night,” he finally managed to get out, much louder than he’d intended. “I want you to accompany me.”

“Is that a request, or an order from His Highness?” she raised her eyebrow in response to his tone.

“A request, Alix,” he said, gentler. She softened at this, her shoulders and stance relaxing.

A few long minutes passed as she considered his request. He walked around her living room, running his hands along the white, clean furniture, picking up the knick-knacks that she’d brought with her.

This seemed to agitate her, and she followed him around, putting things back in their original places. He smiled to himself. She wanted to say yes, he could tell. But she’d be giving up control that she clearly wanted. He stopped moving around the room and stood by the open balcony doors. As he turned to face her, he saw her shiver at the cool night air coming in and moved to close them. He thought of her shivering under his touch and closed his eyes briefly, concentrating on the task at hand. First he had to get her to go out with him.

“Helena can help you find something suitable to wear, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“No, I don’t need help,” she said, fiddling with the bangle that once again sat on her wrist.

“You’re not still studying, are you?” he said, with a slight chuckle. “University is over, you can relax and have some fun.”

“No, that’s not it.”

She said nothing else for a moment and brought a hand to her mouth as if to bite her nails, before returning her hand to her side, looking everywhere around the room except at him.

“So that’s a no?” he said, almost succeeding in keeping the disappointment out of his voice. He quickly discarded his earlier rule of accepting a no to the invitation, his mind quickly searching for other events she might be interested in attending.

“No – I mean, yes. I mean…” She glanced at the closed balcony doors and took a deep breath. “I’ll go.”

His heart leapt against his chest and he beamed.

A wicked grin suddenly spread across her face.

“Only if you give your maid a day off,” she declared, the fire back in her eyes as they locked with his.

His face fell. Conditions? This was unexpected. But so was everything about her. That’s what was so intriguing.

“Deal,” he said, with a wink and a smile that elicited a satisfying sharp intake of breath from Alix. He turned to leave before she could make him promise anything else. He had a feeling that with her, he’d agree to almost anything.