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“You should.” Xander followed her, more slowly. The view over the jungle and the ocean in the distance was beautiful, but the sight of Maisy enjoying herself so much was even more entrancing.
“Yeah, right.” Maisy’s arms fell back to her sides and she shrugged. “Because being a queen and doing what you want really go hand in hand.”
Xander felt like a jerk for bringing up the future when they’d been having such a nice time.
“Sorry, Maisy.”
“It’s okay.” She sighed and sank onto a nearby boulder. “I just worry, you know? What if I’m not even a good queen?”
“Maise, you’ll be a wonderful queen.” Xander sat beside her, not too close. He was very aware of her presence, as always.
“I’m not so sure.”
“Come on. I’ve seen you. You’re kind, you’re thoughtful; you care about others more than yourself and about your duty more than anything. Those are all parts of being a good queen.” Xander bit his lip. “I’m the one who needs to stay off the royal stage, as it were.”
“What do you mean?” Maisy turned to him, her expression curious.
“My family is always encouraging me to take a greater role. When I turn them down, they assume I’m being selfish and that I want to live my life away from the limelight, which is true, in part. But there’s another part of me that stays away from politics because I know I’d just mess it up. I’m not like my family.”
“That’s ridiculous. You wouldn’t mess anything up.”
“Yes, I would. Even when I go into something with the best intentions, I make a mess of it.” Xander hadn’t spoken this honestly in, well, he wasn’t even sure how long. But something about Maisy’s openness and vulnerability made him feel comfortable enough to speak up, too. “Just think about this wedding. I wanted to help you and Niko, and I only made everything worse.”
“You didn’t.” Maisy reached for Xander’s hand and squeezed it. “You were only trying to help. And if anything, it was Niko and I who messed everything up by not being honest with each other or with our families about how we were feeling. Plus, you’ve done everything you could to make things right ever since then. By making this trip so wonderful, for instance. Those are all the qualities of a good leader.”
Xander was speechless. Hearing those words, and from Maisy, was unbelievably touching. And if she believed in him, well, maybe he could believe in himself, too. Xander wanted to maintain the openness and the connection between them, sitting here on this rock with the whole island of Kanalea spread below them and an afternoon of adventures to come. He wanted to say something encouraging about Maisy and about the future she would have.
But then he realized that he was still holding Maisy’s hand, with no cameras around to capture the moment and no legitimate reason to be doing so. And the pull he’d felt towards Maisy was only growing stronger. This was a dangerous path to be walking.
So, instead of being open or vulnerable or honest, Xander resorted to his usual tactics. He withdrew his hand, stretched, and put on a playful smile.
“Does this mean you’ve finally forgiven me for the twin swap? Did my charm win you over?”
Maisy picked up the change in atmosphere and went with it, although she looked a little confused.
“Sure, your ‘charm’ did it. Or maybe I’m just being nice to the guy who’s my ride out of here.”
“Wise. You don’t want to make the guy with the ATV keys angry. Speaking of which, should we continue?”
“Yep!” Maisy got to her feet. She looked a little flustered, and Xander felt the urge to ask her if everything was okay, but he didn’t. His heart still felt tender from the moment they’d shared. He needed to be careful.
If he wasn’t, the twin swap wouldn’t be the worst disaster he’d started this week.
CHAPTER 12
MAISY
“Smile!”
Maisy plastered on a pretty smile and lifted her paddle out of the water. There was a flash, then Safa gave her a thumbs-up.
“Good, both of you. I’ll take a few more candid shots, but that should be enough posed ones for now.”
“Thanks!” Maisy twisted to look at Xander, who was sitting behind her in the two-person kayak Safa had rented for this morning’s paddle through the island’s mangroves. “Shall we explore a little? I’ve heard there are flamingos and turtles around here.”
“Sure. Lead the way.” Xander gestured with his paddle, and Maisy turned around to face front.
“Let’s head left. I see a little passageway up there. Paddle on three. One, two, three!”
