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Alex received bows and thank-yous froh, as ifto celebrate It weirded e spoke to soe

"This is a speech I wrote on the way here I forgot to tell you about all this and I feel terrible" He shook his head "But we don’t have tiht now Look it over while Simone speaks It’s short and sweet I tried to channel you"

"Sounds good" I sry Everyone lanced at the speech and tried to hts There was no way I would be able to say it all verbatiue-tied

The reporters who had followed us fro to hear what I had to say Or rather, what Chadwick had written for ht my attention up from the notes and I realized he had left the chair next toto the crowd

"I’ Samantha Rousseau home and I’m proud to say that she lives up to her faent I have no doubt that Duchess Rousseau will fit in here with all of us I’hbor--and my friend So, without further ado, I present Samantha, the Duchess of Rousseau, and the real reason we’re all here today" Alex turned toward me and smiled

Chadwick cleared his throat and I realized it was my turn to talk I stood up slowly and brushed at est three steps ofso much Alex held his hand out to me and I shook it in turn When he pulled me in to kissand ca filled my ears

"Relax," Alex whispered in my ear "Just keep it sio of my hand and took his seat while I was left to face the crowd I had no way of judging how e center watchinga State of the Union address I squeezed the paper in ave the crowd a smile

"People use the word honored in award speeches, they talk about how grateful they are and hu today, but it feels as though I’ve won an award and I as: honored by your reception, hurateful that Her Majesty sent His Highness to findto remember what else I was supposed to say, and was surprised by the applause I looked over the crowd, stunned "I’ to keep this short because I hate to keep you all out in the cold--you ht turn into Popsicles" There were chuckles fro out here tomore about each and every one of you" Very carefully, I said the words for "thank you" in Lilarian and silently prayed that I got it correct

People stood up and clapped I should have felt proud, but I just felt silly--like they were hu me I stepped away from the microphone and let Si ain while the crowd cheered Not sure what to do, I waved with o, I moved to where the others had stood They shook my hand like they hadn’t already been introduced to me and told me how happy they were that I was back It was very surreal and I didn’t really understand why they were so excited I was starting to think I never would understand

People stoppedand s So many nah it all, Alex stayed bywall of support Every person that he spoke to felt at ease; the woot back in the car, I felt like I had seen a whole new side to Alex

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He settled into his seat and raised an eyebrow at "

"About how incredibly sexy I am?" He turned to look at me with a s other than your ego?" I laughed "And no, I was thinking that you reat prince"

"Why is that?"

"You put people at ease and they still respect you" I smiled "You’re a natural"

"I’ve had years of practice You didn’t do so bad yourself" He pulled at my coat pocket and retrieved the speech Chadwick had written "Was that really what Chadwick told you to say?"

"I couldn’t reed that?" Alex whistled in appreciation as he unfolded the paper "Wow, this wasn’t bad either, but I think you nailed it" He read over the paper quickly

"It may have been the shortest speech in history" I looked out theas the car finally began to move

"It was exactly what you needed to say" He folded the paper and stuck it back in my pocket "It’s exactly what the croanted"

"Thanks" Ito take what I wanted? Would it be worth it if I let ive in? The ht my attraction to him