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“That’s okay with me. Do I get some of your famous pancakes?”
“Maise, after last night, you can have anything you want.”
“A pet panda?” She grinned at him.
“Sure. Anything. Although I can get you the pancakes now, whereas the panda might take a while.”
Maisy pretended to consider, then nodded. “Okay. I’ll take the pancakes for now.”
“Okay. But then we have to get up…”
They smiled at each other. Xander knew there was a lot to figure out between them, but none of that seemed important right now. The only thing that mattered was Maisy in his arms, looking up at him with those big, green eyes. Another image from last night, of Maisy beneath him, flashed through Xander’s mind, and his smile grew.
They lazed in bed a while longer, talking, before Xander finally dragged himself up and, after a quick trip to the bathroom, headed to the kitchen to start on the pancakes. Maisy got up a few minutes later and got dressed before appearing in the kitchen.
“Are we exercising this morning?” she asked, stretching her arms above her head. The top she was wearing lifted to reveal a strip of her tanned stomach and Xander struggled to focus on the pancakes instead of taking her into his arms. Then, with a sting of joy, he realized that he didn’t need to hold himself back anymore. He put down the whisk he’d been using to mix the batter and crossed to Maisy. He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her against him. Then he kissed her slowly, tenderly.
“I think we can find some way to work out,” he suggested.
“I suppose we probably can.” Maisy lazily stretched her arms up and rested them on his shoulders. “A run, perhaps? A spirited game of tennis? Maybe a windsurfing class?”
“I was thinking of something we might need a little less equipment for.” Xander raised his eyebrows at her.
“Swimming, then? Or a walk?” Maisy winked, and Xander kissed her again. He felt like he was walking on sunshine.
“Let me finish the pancakes, then I’ll show you.”
“I can help today.”
“I don’t know… I remember your toast…”
Maisy whacked him on the shoulder. “It wasn’t that bad. Come on. I can at least cut fruit or something.”
They took up their positions in the kitchen. Xander finished making the batter while Maisy sliced strawberries and mangoes, then made them each a cup of tea. They sat at the table to eat, but after just a few bites, Maisy stood and dragged her chair beside Xander’s. Then she looked up at him, a little shyly.
“It was too far away.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” Xander took one of Maisy’s legs and draped it across his own. “Better?”
“Much better.” She curled her leg around his and returned her attention to her breakfast.
“I don’t know how we went years without touching,” Xander mused as he assembled a bite of pancakes and fruit.
“We didn’t.”
“Okay, I’m pretty sure we did. I would have noticed if we were sleeping together on the side.”
“Not sleeping together.” Maisy rolled her eyes. “But we didn’t not touch, either. We danced a few times. You took my hand to help me onto the boat that one time we went sailing. And our arms brushed now and then. I remember all of it.”
“So do I.” Xander smiled at her.
“I wish you had been born two minutes earlier. Maybe this really would be our honeymoon.”
“As much as I would have liked for you to be betrothed to me instead of Niko, I wouldn’t want to have been born two minutes earlier.” Xander sighed. “I’m not meant to rule. I would be terrible at it.”
“You’ve said that before, but I don’t believe it.” Maisy tilted her head. “I still think you’d be a wonderful king if things were different.”
“Thank you. But even if I want to steal Niko’s bride, I wouldn’t want to steal his job.” Xander smiled, but his stomach had formed a knot. If he and Maisy were together, would she feel sad that she’d missed her chance to be a queen? She’d mentioned that she wasn’t excited about living her life on the public stage, but surely she would be a wonderful queen. Xander had said it before, and he’d meant it. If he and Maisy could make things work, it would mean that Aenicea would miss out on a wonderful ruler and Maisy would miss out on a chance to change things on a large scale. That didn’t seem right.
