Page 31

“I’m wearing everything you got me. I’m still cold, but I think I’ll just be cold until I head back to New York.”

“It takes time to adjust to these temperatures,” Elizabeth replied, taking Palmer’s hat, gloves, and scarf and placing them on the table next to the door. “I’ve made coffee. That should warm you up.”

“Whatisthis place?” Palmer asked her.

She looked around, finally pulling her eyes away from the casual Queen to notice a comfortable yet small-looking living room. It was furnished with a sofa that had a quilt draped over the back of it. In front, there was a relatively small television mounted to the wall, with floor-to-ceiling packed bookshelves on both sides. There were many books sitting on the floor beneath the television as well. On the wall with the front door, there was a woodburning fireplace with stacks of firewood on either side. The far wall had two doors and a few framed photos. The wall to her right led to what looked like the kitchen and maybe, something else.

“This is my home,” Elizabeth explained. “Not exactly a palace, is it?”

“It’s still bigger than my apartment,” Palmer replied.

“How big is your apartment?” she asked, smiling at Palmer.

“It’s a studio. I barely have enough room for the bed,” Palmer told her, exaggerating a tad but not by much. “I chose to live in Manhattan, though; I knew what I was getting myself into. And it works for me. I don’t need much space.”

“Neither do I,” Elizabeth replied. “Before everything happened, I lived here. I was in school, on my way toward my degree at the university, and planning to stick around to get my Ph.D.”

“In theoretical physics, right?”

“That’s right.” She nodded. “This was really all the spaceIneeded. I was usually in class, in the library, or here studying.”

“No one bothered you in school?”

“Fifth in line, remember?” Elizabeth replied. “Most people were too busy focusing on my brother and his growing family or Alexander and his wedding to Teagan. Victoria and I were mostly forgotten about once Edwina came along. It was nice. I could disappear into my studies, and security could relax. Now, I have to take a covert vehicle in the dead of night just to get here because this place isn’t nearly as secure as the palace.”

“Whyareyou here, then?”

“As odd as this may sound, the palace is a bit suffocating to me. My closet there is probably bigger than this whole house, but I much prefer this place.”

“It’s nice. Feels comfortable.” Palmer looked around and took in some of the book titles and the photos on the wall, recognizing a few with Elizabeth and her family, including one with her and her sister and another with Elizabeth and Teagan. “This place feels more like you.”

“Would you like the tour?” Elizabeth offered. “It won’t take long.”

“Sure.”

“Let’s start with the kitchen. The coffee should be done,” Elizabeth said, walking past Palmer to head to her right.

What the hell did Elizabeth smell like? Heaven? Actual heaven? Whatever it was, Palmer was certain she’d never smelled that delicious scent before, and that included every other time she’d been around this woman.

“This is the kitchen. It’s small. I’m usually cooking for one or maybe two people, though, so it works out just fine.”

“You cook?” Palmer asked.

“Palmer, do I need to say that this is all off the record? I just realized I never asked that, and if–”

“Everything we talk about is off the record until you say otherwise,” Palmer assured her, placing a hand on Elizabeth’s forearm. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t–”

“It’s okay,” Elizabeth replied.

“Elizabeth, are you sure you’re safe here?” Palmer took in the tiny kitchen with its boiling kettle and empty coffee mugs awaiting their water and likely, instant coffee. “I like this house – it’s a lot more welcoming than the palace, where I have to go through three layers of security once I get inside, and that’s after another two before I get through the gate – but it’s not nearly as safe.”

“Are you worried about me?” Elizabeth asked as she began to pour the water into the cups.

“Of course,” Palmer replied. “I took a palace car through the gate to see you both times, and they still swept the thing with dogs and mirrors to make sure there wasn’t a bomb attached. Where is security around here?”

“Well, they followed you here covertly in unmarked cars. There’s a guard at the backdoor as well. The back garden is fenced in and has security cameras, as does the front door. The house immediately next to this one has at least six more guards in it until I leave. Once I made the official move back into the palace, the press left this place alone. And the university is on a break this weekend, so the town is pretty much deserted outside of the locals who don’t care when Iamhere. I’m about as safe as I can be outside the palace walls.” She passed Palmer her cup after adding a sugar cube.

“Shouldn’t you beinsidethe palace walls, at least until they catch that guy they keep talking about on the news?”