Page 126 of American Royalty

As president and patron of the All England Club, a role he’d inherited from Prince John, Jameson’s uncle was scheduled to be with him during the event today.

“He called right before you went out. Said since the queen had entrusted you to be the face of the family, you should be able to handle it.”

“Great.”

Louisa exhaled. “She isn’t happy,”

“Tell me something new,” Jameson said, shoving his hands through his hair.

“I’m serious.”

“So am I. I’m doing everything she’s asked me to do.”

Louisa eyed him. “Except controlling Dani.”

“When did that become a part of my job? In fact, the last time I responded to my grandmother’s summons, she told me to keep my distance.”

Jameson had been clear on what her directive had been. That’s the reason he was in this current mess.

“Did you see the headlines this morning?” Louisa asked.

Jameson sighed and began taking the labyrinthine walk to the Royal Box.

Louisa fell into step next to him. “The Telegraph,The Times,Daily Mirror,The Sun—”

“I saw them.” Most of them. “Bloom Urban got some nice coverage.”

“The few times they were mentioned! The majority of the coverage centered on Dani and either her feud with this singer Samantha Banks or her relationship with Liam Cooper.”

He was well aware. He’d been tormented by those images. Of Cooper standing too close to her. Gazing at her. Touching her. They certainly looked like two people attracted to one another. Even to him. And he knew better.

This past week, their days had been filled with events, which meant her evenings were filled with her preparations for the concert. They didn’t have the time to spend together, and he was missing her terribly.

Seeing the coverage of her and Cooper hadn’t helped his mood, but he’d known how distressing it must have been for her to see this Samantha Banks show up. All he’d wanted to do was hold her and reassure both of them it would be okay. He’d had to settle for a phone call.

“You have nothing to worry about,” Dani had told him.

“I’m not worried.”

At least, not the way she thought he was.

“I’m not interested in Liam. But the media thinking I am... it’s a good thing, Jay. If they’re focused on that romance, thenyouand I can remain a secret. And that’s the plan, right?”

It was. Except he didn’t know if that’s what he still wanted.

Louisa was venting about the situation. “The media is also running with this idea that the tickets are too expensive.”

“Dani didn’t say that.”

“She didn’t dispute it, either.” Louisa exhaled and massaged her temples. “It’s all added up to a difficult morning.”

“I’m sorry, Louisa.”

“It’s fine. This one was easy. Introduce the match. Watch the match. No opportunities for anything to be said or done to take attention away from the event and the concert tomorrow evening. Nothing to tarnish the family’s image.”

“You care about the family’s image?”

“The queen does. And her feelings about the event are also directly related to her opinion about my job performance and whether I’m given another high-profile assignment.”