Page 23 of Royally Drawn (Resplendent Royals #3)

Badminton

INGRID

“ H oof black,” I handed a tin off to Keir.

He suffered at my hands in the run-up to my dressage test. The trot-up was only twenty minutes out, and I was bringing up the rear. I wanted my horse to look impeccable. Kraken was a big black Trakehner with lots of chrome. The hoof black made his stockings pop.

“You are so posh, aren’t you?” Keir laughed.

“Are you whinging about it?” I asked. “I thought you were at my disposal?”

He looked up from where he crouched in the aisle of the stables, giving me a look like he’d enjoy throwing me up against a tack room wall. Against all reason, I wanted to try it out.

“No, princess, I’m not arguing.”

“Good boy,” I said, returning to my current task—plaiting my mount’s tail.

Queen Kiersten rushed up. “Let me finish that. You need to get dressed, darling.”

I groaned .

“Let her,” Cici called from where she sat in front of her horse’s stall. “She’s brilliant at plaiting—better than most grooms.”

I relented. I’d change into my dress for the morning, then finally my dressage kit. It was my first big trot up, and the press photographed me. I needed to look good. I hoped Astrid would be here to hold my hand and help me, but the train was delayed. She would be lucky to make my dressage test at all. I was grateful for Queen Kiersten’s maternal energy.

Pulled into a pretty pink dress from a fabulous resort collection and a pair of dependable flats, I was ready to go. Men got to wear dress shoes, but we didn’t get that benefit. Kraken’s trot was wild. I’d be running full steam. Heels only spelt trouble.

“You look adorable,” Betty said, giving me a hug and a kiss. “Let me work on your hair.”

I took the help, standing in the aisle as Betty brushed out my hair. I’d pulled it down from my morning ponytail.

“You’re lucky your hair is straight. Makes it easier,” Betty sighed.

“You got five minutes!” Cici called down the aisle. She’d been one of the first to trot up this morning and was watching the queue.

“Tail is done!” Queen Kiersten declared.

“Are the hooves alright?” Keir asked, stepping back.

“He looks lovely,” I said. “Many thanks to you both.”

“I’ll do Anything to help,” Queen Kiersten said. “He’s such a beautiful, big boy, isn’t he?”

“His feet are the size of dinner plates,” Keir chuckled. “Thankfully, he’s calm.”

“For now,” I said. “We’ll get in the lineup, and he’ll be a complete dick. Just wait.”

It was true. By the time we made it out, we had to hurry into the vet inspection queue. Kraken was calling out to his friends and dancing around like his legs were on fire. He was 17.2 hands of pure muscle. He was ready to go after being stabled the past day and not working properly for a week.

“You think you still have your giblets, don’t you?” Betty joked, waiting with me.

“He’s ridiculous,” I sighed. “Terrible. Calm down! ”

Finally, our number was called. I didn’t have to do anything to move my normally calm old man into a good trot. We looped down, did our inspection, and left clear. It was time to throw a saddle on him and go to the warm-up.

“Half pad?” Keir called to me from the stall that housed all our tack.

“No. No half pad,” I answered.

He was surprisingly good at playing horse show boyfriend. I adored watching him toil.

“Okay. Numnah and saddle,” Keir said. “Go get dressed. I hate to say that and wish I could say otherwise.”

I stared at him, surprised.

“You can’t just boss me around without paying for it,” Keir whispered.

“You should mind yourself,” I said.

“You’re thinking about it, too,” Keir said.

He swatted my ass as I passed with my helmet and the garment bag holding my kit.

I was. But I had to keep my eyes on the prize. Of course, thinking about shagging him was a nice distraction from my intense nerves—only made worse by my sister’s absence. I’d hoped she and Parker would be here to make me feel more at home. Instead, I relied on Keir’s family and our coach to settle me. Keir was staying the night. I shouldn’t hope for anything and should avoid him like the plague, but I knew I wouldn’t. If he booty-called me to his room, I’d go in a heartbeat. I feared he’d moved on from our week in paradise, but he was still game. This sealed it.

I emerged from the changing room to see my sister and Parker chatting with Keir.

Astrid rushed over to give me a big hug. “I’m so sorry, darling. I meant to be here?—”

“It’s okay,” I said. Queen Kiersten, Betty, and Keir helped Cici and me so much. They treated me like one of their own.”

“Good. That’s so sweet. Queen Kiersten is supposedly the nicest person. ”

“She is so sweet. She insisted on plaiting Kraken’s tail.” I giggled. “Keir did his hooves.”

“Uh-huh. And he’s here even though his sister isn’t riding?” Astrid laughed.

I rolled my eyes.

“Did something happen?” Astrid asked in a low voice. She continued to stick to French.

“Um… so what if it did?”

“Oh my God!”

“You cannot say anything. It’s a mess. Cici and Betty don’t know—and I don’t want them to. Besides, Lars got into it with me. He had a crush, and… well, I was crushing on his brother.”

“I told you that man fancied you!”

“Yeah, he got agitated when I told him I was uninterested. And he’d probably lose his mind to know Keir was here helping me. Betty and Queen Natalie guilted him into coming. That’s his excuse, anyway.”

“He’s hot. I had a mad crush on him once.”

“Astrid!”

“What? He’s objectively hunky. He’s fit as fuck!”

Parker walked up. “What are we talking about?”

“Nothing, baby. Mind your own business,” Astrid said. “Girl things. You wouldn’t understand.”

Parker groaned before hugging me. “I am sorry we missed the running thing.”

I giggled. “Trot up or jog up, Parker. Now you get to see the fun bit, don’t worry.”