Page 50 of Falling for the Queen Mother

He heard movement in the back of the apartment and turned to see Alaina emerging in another pair of comfortable pyjamas. She was still on the phone, but headed into the kitchen. Taking that as his cue, Nate closed his laptop and went back to get ready for bed himself. After a quick shower, comfortable pyjamas of his own, and making sure his things were set out for the next day, he went back out into the bedroom to find Alaina sitting on one side of the bed, with her back against the headboard, and her ereader in her hand.

She didn't look up at him, but the covers on the other side of the bed had been turned down. "Please don't think you need to sleep elsewhere."

The thought had occurred to him in an abstract way earlier, but he hadn't really contemplated whether or not he would sleep here or on the sofa. "Thank you."

He went back to the sitting room and grabbed his own tablet before returning to take his place leaning against the headboard. Using the stylus, he played a couple more games before a big yawn and heavy eyelids told him it was time for him to say goodnight.

After doing just that, and giving Alaina a light kiss on the cheek, Nate slid down and pulled the covers up around him. It didn't take him nearly as long to fall asleep as it had the night before and the next thing he knew, it was morning again. Once more, Alaina was already awake, though this time, it turned out she had already left the apartment.

The note she left for him in the bathroom simply said that she'd woken early and didn't want to bother him so she'd gone to the office to get some work done.

Maybe one day, he'd figure out what exactly she did for work. Supported charitable organizations, certainly, but what else?

A message buzzed on his phone. The lead stylist for the palace asked to meet him later in the day. He replied and they set up a time around his lunch break. They were closing in on finishing the first full cursory accounting of everything in the archives. The second accounting would take much longer and be much more in depth. The hope, of course, was that anything out of the ordinary would be noticed on the first pass, like the painting had been.

Once dressed for the day, he grabbed a quick snack out of the kitchen and headed for the archives. At least he knew how to use the app on his phone to get to the spot where the stylist would meet him.

The morning was spent helping authenticate items the teams wanted looked at a bit more closely. Two warranted even further examination, but they were too far out of the bounds of Nate's expertise.

When the time came to break for lunch, he used the app to find his way to the stylists office on the other side of the palace. To his great surprise, his clothes were nearly ready. Apparently, they'd obtained his measurements from someone.

Also to his great shock, he wasn't wearing what he considered to be a traditional tuxedo. Instead, he word a gray vest with a forest green cutaway coat and tan trousers.

Nate did his best to keep his skepticism to himself. The stylist wouldn't do anything to bring embarrassment to the family.

Once it had been marked for alterations, he used the app to get back to the archives where it was time to get to work.

17

Sitting in her office, Alaina wondered what exactly she should be doing. Emilia and Kay had come in to discuss a minor event coming up in a month or so.

They were getting ready to leave when Emilia turned around. "Ma'am?"

Alaina looked up. "Yes?"

Emilia looked uncomfortable. "I know this is odd and I could probably get fired..."

Frowning, Alaina wondered what could scare her that much. When she hesitated, Alaina urged her on. "I can't guarantee that, of course, since I have no idea what you're going to say, but I have a hard time believing whatever you're about to say is that bad."

"You said something the other day, and I don't know if you were serious."

Alaina nodded and tried to look encouraging. "Go on."

"You said something about watching Alice if I ever needed someone to."

Fighting to hide her grin, Alaina nodded again. "Yes, I did."

"I noticed you don't have anything on your schedule for this evening." Her hands twisted together.

Rather than making her wait or actually ask the question, Alaina let the grin loose. "I would love to spend some time with that precious little one." She didn't even ask what Emilia had to do. "I do want to make sure you know that the palace daycare is available to you at any time, not just while you're working."

"I know, and they're wonderful, but I'd feel better if she could be put to bed in her own crib." Her eyes went wide. "I mean, you can watch her wherever you would prefer, of course."

Alaina gave a light laugh. "I'd be happy to watch her in your quarters. It's probably where she'd be most comfortable anyway."

"Thank you, ma'am." Emilia curtsied, even though she didn't really need to.

"Send me a message with any details I need to know, like what time and what her schedule is." She suspected that Emilia would feel better if there were written instructions for her to follow.