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"It’s so good to see you again, Griff," Princess Heloise cooed at hiainst the sleeve of his tuxedo

"Likewise, Your Highness" He was not on a first naht

She delicately steered them past the crowd and into the center of the dance floor, ether, including the photographers "I told myself I would be positively bereft if I didn’t see you here tonight How are things in the States?"

"Fine"

"I’ve heard you’vewith his lapels in a far too familiar way "And rue’s little house and your mother’s palace That’s so sweet of you"

He raised an eyebrow at Heloise As a rule, royals didn’t talk about money Whether you had it or not, no one spoke of personal fortunes It was assumed you’d simply conduct yourself as if you were richer than Croesus The fact that Heloise was flaunting protocol and talking about his money meant that she was far too interested in it

"Is that why you’ve been on the lookout for a hness?" His words were sharp, and his eyes watched George’s retreating back The man disappeared between double doors reserved for the staff

Damn it all Griffin’s hand clenched

The princess of Saxe-Gallia laughed, batting at his ar hilarious She fluttered her eyelashes at him, and for a moment, he was struck by how she looked Flawlessfa, of course But all he could see was the artificiality of her appearance

And he’d made Maylee fix her appearance so she would be exactly like this

Hell

Heloise continued to stroll the rooain "So when are you going to ood union for myself, but I’m bored with all the nobles in Saxe-Gallia, and all the available European princes are too young or way too old" She gave him a mock pout

"Perhaps you should find yourself an American, like my cousin," Griffin said smoothly

Heloise froze She blinked, at a loss of words, and he felt a vindictive stab of spite If she insulted Americans--as he suspected she would have--she would then be insulting her host’s bridegroom But if she admitted otherwise, she would probably feel as if she was insulting herself Heloise siave him a brilliant smile and squeezed his arm "Or perhaps I should find e"

And she leaned in and touched his jaw, just as a photographer knelt in front of thee to roll his eyes, Griffin waited for Heloise to reave her a polite shness"

"It’d be a wonderful political union"

"I’ politics, either"

Her eyes widened in surprise "I’ e is immaculate and I’m fourth in line to the throne of Saxe-Gallia"

As if that was a selling point "And I’s the enored into a forced s you’d hear fro to say ‘an American’?"

"Don’t be ridiculous" But there were spots of high color on her flawless cheekbones

He merely sently touched the neck of Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Alexandra "You can’t thank me or pay me in any way, or this won’t work"

The tearstained eyes of the princess nodded into the ht, then," Maylee said, and gently felt the sides of the princess’s neck They’d called her in fro about first aid The princess had been burned with a curling iron and asked Maylee for help She’d volunteered, of course, and the equerry had whisked her to the princess’s dressing rooms

The private chamber of the princess was in an uproar Luke held his fiancée’s hand, looking al maid sobbed into her hands, and staffto repair the princess’s makeup even as tears spilled down Alex’s pale cheeks, and an older woman held an ice pack to the back of the princess’s neck

Maylee had immediately swept in "I can fix this" She’d taken the ice pack from the woman and realized too late that she’d more or less just elbowed aside the princess’sshe could do about that, though

And so Maylee had removed the ice pack, put her hands on the sides of the princess’s neck, and began to talk When so, she pitched her voice low and smooth and made the person describe the injury It seemed that the princess’s hair stylist--as the wo to curl a few stray tendrils with a last- iron A nervous servant had dropped a tray of wine, breaking a bottle, and the wo iron ended up flattening on the princess’s neck and burning the tender skin The ht red, and it looked like it would blister The skin surrounding the burn was hot to the touch, so she stroked her fingers over the good skin next to it and kept the princess talking Was she excited about her wedding? Did she want to dance at tonight’s party? Was Luke a good dancer?

He was not, the princess adh He squeezed her hand even as Maylee continued to urge the princess to talk Every so often, she’d ask the princess if she wanted to give Maylee the pain The woreed every time Maylee prompted it