Page 10 of Royal Deception

She nods, dunking her tea bag absently. “I have terrible balance. I trip over my own feet more than I’d like to admit. It’s embarrassing.”

I smile. “I’m not graceful either. My boss jokes that I walk like I’m always on a mission.”

Ana tilts her head. “What do you do?”

“I work for a security firm as a personal assistant to the CEO,” I say choosing my words carefully.

Ana taps her chin. “I wish I did something like that. Helping people sounds… kind of nice.”

“What do you do?” I ask as I take a sip of the hot liquid, savoring the tangy ginger taste.

She hesitates. “I work for my father. Kind of. It feels more like I just exist to be a nuisance to him, though, sometimes.” She winces, as though she didn’t mean to say that out loud.

“Oh. I’m sorry.” I’m not sure what to say to that.

“Oh, God, I know I can overshare,” Ana says, her cheeks turning red.

“I don’t mind,” I say honestly. “I get it. I feel like that to my boss from time to time. I want to do more for him, but I don’t know how to get him to take me seriously.”

She looks at me then, her sharp green eyes softening. “Yeah. Exactly that. It’s like, can you just tell me if I’m annoying you, and how, and we can just skip the silly dance where we pretend everything is fine?”

I chuckle, and a comfortable silence settles between us as we sip our tea. I think I’m beginning to like Ana. She’s easy to be around, even if she’s a bit awkward.

“You know, I took that yoga class because I wanted a way to have a little more control in my life,” I say, swirling the tea around in my cup. “I don’t think I’ll be going back to the class, but I’d still like to find a way to find that same sense of peace. Maybe you and I could go on daily walks?” I offer.

Ana studies me for a moment, head tilted. “Walks?” she asks, blinking.

“Yeah, nothing crazy. We could just walk and talk.”

Ana considers it. “That actually sounds nice.” She quirks a smile. “As long as we don’t have to power walk.”

“Definitely not,” I say, a giggle escaping me.

“Alright, let’s do it,” Ana says as she grabs my phone to put her number into it.

The next day, my phone buzzes just as I step out of the shower, steam clinging to the air around me. I hurry to grab it, thinking it might be Ana texting to set up our first daily walk.

When I pick it up, Miranda Voss’s name flashes on the screen.

I hesitate for a second before answering. "Hey, Miranda."

“Hey, Clary! Hope I’m not catching you at a bad time,” she says, her tone warm. “I was just thinking about you and wanted to check in.”

“Oh,” I say, a little surprised. “Thank you.”

“Of course. We haven’t talked much since the baby shower, and I figured… well, I guess I just wanted to see how you’re doing. Are you free for lunch today?”

I nibble my lower lip, considering her offer. “Yeah,” I say finally. "Lunch sounds good."

“Great! There’s a little café downtown–Rosemary & Sage. Do you know it?"

I nod, even though she can’t see me. “Yeah, the one near Twin Shores Hotel?” I ask.

“That’s the place,” Miranda confirms. “Meet me there at noon?”

I stare at my phone for a second longer, then sigh. If Miranda is checking in, she must still be thinking about the conversation we had a couple of months back—the one where she casually suggested I might be pregnant and blew my whole world apart.

I don’t know if I’m ready to face her again, but a part of me is curious why she wants to see me, so I head into the office and keep my head down until just before it’s time to go.