Page 11 of Falling for the Queen Mother

She couldn't manage to keep the smirk off her face, and she knew he'd noticed.

"That doesn't mean you get to dictate what happens in my personal life or the personal lives of your siblings, for that matter." She took a deep breath and suppressed the urge to fix her hair where it had been mussed by Nathaniel. "Now, to what do we owe this interruption?"

He continued to give off petulant threenager vibes, but his stance did relax a tiny bit. "I spoke with Madeleine Woodward Middleton a few moments ago. She was able to give me some information Mr. Dougherty didn't have access to. It convinced me there likely is something to all of this. I was going to speak to Mr. Dougherty about what else can be done to expedite the process."

"Is this something that will begin this evening? Or is it something that will begin tomorrow and can be addressed during regular business hours?"

Frederick shifted uncomfortably. "I wanted to have a plan in place this evening so they could start first thing in the morning."

"I see." Alaina's heart continued to slow down from the frenetic pace it had been at, but it wasn't back to normal yet - and probably wouldn't be for a while. "And how often do you let yourself in to the quarters of one of your guests without being granted permission? Even kings shouldn't do that, except in exceedingly rare emergencies - which this definitely was not."

His shoulders relaxed a bit and the hardness in his face dissipated somewhat. "You're right, Mum." He turned toward Nathaniel. "You have my apologies, sir." The wariness didn't disappear completely, but that wasn't too surprising - not given what he'd walked in on.

Nathaniel acknowledged Frederick's words with a slight nod of the head.

"Now, is there anything further, Frederick? Or can it wait until morning? I'm certain if you send additional staff to assist Nathaniel and the archive team, they'll be put to good use."

Her son looked like he wanted to say something else, but instead he tipped his head and bade them goodnight before turning to leave.

At least he hadn't brought anyone else with him.

"I apologize for my son, Nathaniel." Now that they were alone, Alaina felt the rest of the adrenaline quickly fade from her body. She didn't turn back toward him. "I believe it is time for me to return to my own quarters. I'll see you in the archives in the morning. You can order breakfast this evening and let them know what time you'd like it delivered. You can also let security know what time you'd like to be in the archives and they'll send someone to escort you down. For the time being, they would prefer if you didn't wander the building alone."

Had they already discussed that requirement? Her mind was too scrambled to remember.

"Have a good evening." With that, she started for the door, but before she could open it, she felt his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't you think we should talk about what just happened?" His voice was soft, but she could hear underlying concern in it.

Alaina didn't turn around. "Two consenting adults shared a lovely moment then were interrupted by someone who should have known better. I'm not certain what there is to discuss."

His hand slid down her upper arm until it lightly gripped her elbow and pressed against it for her to turn around.

She resisted for a few seconds. He didn't force her. He could have. He was strong enough. But he also didn't let up the light pressure of his hand against her skin.

Controlling the urge to blow out a breath, Alaina turned until she faced him. "It was a lovely moment, Nathaniel, but it doesn't need to be analyzed. We're adults. There's an attraction between us, but it doesn't have to be anything more than that. We'll continue to work together on this project, but it's likely best if I don't join you for dinner anymore."

"Because your son interrupted us having a moment?"

Alaina shook her head. "No, or not only because of that. It's best if we keep our relationship professional. It has little to do with my son's reaction to what he saw."

"But not nothing to do with it?" he pressed.

"Not nothing," she acquiesced. "But it's a conclusion I would come to even if he hadn't interrupted."

"Why?"

Alaina abruptly moved away from him and found her way back out to the balcony. She leaned against the railing and looked at the waves crashing against the base of the palace wall. Low tide left plenty of beach, but high tide occasionally came right to the wall below Nathaniel's balcony.

She heard Nathaniel follow her but he didn't stand next to her like he had earlier. Instead, he moved behind her and rested both hands on her shoulders. "Should I not have kissed you?"

It only took half a second of contemplation for her to shake her head. "No. I wanted you to. It's not that. I'm not in any kind of position to be in any kind of relationship. There's no point in starting something, even for a period of time, that can't go anywhere."

"Why can't you?" He seemed genuinely curious.

"I'm the Queen Mother. Queen Mothers don't get to have relationships. We finish raising our children if they're not already adults then we support our eldest as the monarch, in whatever form that takes. We don't have personal lives."

He gently pulled her back toward him. This time, she didn't resist. For just a moment, she let herself remember what it was like to be held close by someone who cared for you.