Page 103 of Fit for a King

My lips twitched at the sparkle in his eyes, and I wound an arm around his waist, pulling him in that final inch. “You might have to decline.”

“Oh?” He placed a hand over my heart, his lips so close I could almost taste them. “But where will I live? What will I do?”

“That is a bit of a conundrum, isn’t it?” I smiled as he played with my lapel. “How do you feel about a palace with a lot of big, drafty rooms?”

Noah slapped my chest lightly. “Montclair isn’t drafty.”

“No, it isn’t. But it will feel all the warmer if you’re living there, bringing the sunshine back to the halls.”

He took in a deep breath. “Living there? As…”

“My fiancé, I hope. And then my husband.”

The breath he’d been holding left him on a rush.

“Will you, Noah Bennett, do me the honor of marrying me? Of walking through life with me and helping to guide me to the right side of every decision, be it big or small?”

“Yes, of course. But…”

“But?” I held my breath, worried that he might still have misgivings about how I felt and what I’d done.

“Are you, um…are you allowed to do that?”

A smile curved my lips as I leaned in. “What have I told you the entire time you’ve known me, Mr. Bennett? I’m the king. I can do whatever I want. And I want to marry you. If you’ll have me.”

Noah grinned and nodded. “Then it would be my absolute pleasure to marry you, sir.”

33

NOAH

NICHOLAS DIDN’T LET go of me the entire drive back to Montclair Palace—and for much of that time we weren’t wearing much of anything, so thank God for the privacy screen. It felt like I was still in a dream, like any second I was going to wake up with my heart still crushed. Maybe it was habit, the way we’d had to sneak around for so long, but I kept waiting for Nicholas to let go of my hand, the one I couldn’t stop looking at.

The one he’d put his family’s thick sapphire-and-white-gold ring on.

“If you don’t like it and would rather have another—” he’d started, but I’d shut him up with a kiss, because it was perfect. Truly, it wouldn’t have mattered what it looked like as long as I belonged to Nicholas. It was all I wanted, to never have to leave his side.

That didn’t stop my stomach from twisting when the palace gates came into view, though. It all came crashing down, what was about to happen, and Nicholas must’ve felt the change in me.

“You’re quiet,” he said, brushing his thumb over the back of my hand.

“I’m, uh, trying not to panic.”

“And how’s that going?”

“Terribly.”

He brought our hands up to his lips and pressed a kiss to my knuckles. “Would it help if I told you I’m also trying not to panic?”

I met his eyes and saw every emotion I felt mirrored back at me. A nervous sort of hopefulness, but mostly determination, because he was mine and I was his, and there was nothing truer than that.

“Not really,” I said. “But I appreciate the honesty.”

His smile deepened, and for a brief moment, the palace outside the window didn’t feel like the place that had broken us. It felt like the place we were returning to together.

“Oh God.” Past Nicholas’s shoulder, I could see the staff lining the front entrance the way they did when the king arrived home. My fingers tightened around his, and as the car slowed to a stop, I had to remind myself to breathe.

“It’ll be okay,” he said. “All that matters is you and me. Whatever anyone says or does has no bearing on our relationship.”