PRINCE CHARMING: A Stepbrother Secret Baby Romance(35)
As the sun rose higher into the sky and the rest of the palace bustled to life, Olivia painted, finishing the scene of the palace crumbling from age and neglect. She set that one aside and picked up another of the haunted jungle, shadowy and dark. The only color was the flora and fauna buried deep in the center of the shadow. The brushes moved smoothly across the canvas, and soon she was covered in blues and greens, violets and shades of red while she perfected it and set it aside to dry as well. The whole time, her thoughts were on Quincy and the way his hands moved across her skin. How he’d kissed her deeply, letting his tongue move with hers…
“Princess Olivia? You are a mess!”
“Huh?” She turned, the end of the paintbrush in her mouth as she nibbled on the wood. She’d been so lost reliving last night she hadn’t heard her barrage of ladies enter her room. “Morning, Allete.”
“What are you doing, miss?” She moved to her side and looked at the finished paintings drying in the sun. “Those are beautiful. What time did you wake up this morning?”
“Early,” Olivia said with a satisfied sigh. “Finally found some time to get them done.”
“Well, they are magnificent, but what is that one you started? I don’t recognize that place.”
So focused was she on remembering every detail of last night that she hadn’t noticed she’d started to paint Quincy’s private cove. It was barely started, mostly the outcropping into the waves she’d fallen off of last night and the faint hint of the beach. With a blanket and her shoes from last night set off to the side.
“Are those your shoes?” Allete asked as she leaned in closer.
Olivia shrugged. “I guess so. I was letting the inspiration of the island take me for a ride.”
“Well, I am afraid your inspiration must be put on hold. You must look good for the outing today.” She walked back inside, dragging Olivia with her. “Wash your brushes quickly, then you must shower and dress.” The maid frowned and leaned forward, sniffing Olivia’s hair. “Interesting.”
“What? Do I smell bad?”
“No, but you smell like Prince Quincy’s shampoo. Odd, that’s all. I thought you had your own. The maids must have switched it by accident,” Allete said and pushed her once again towards the bathroom. She missed Olivia’s wide-eyed stare and gulp.
“Yeah, must be. I’ll shower, then I’ll be out,” she said and closed the bathroom door behind her.
She pulled a strand of hair to her nose and sniffed. Damn, she did smell like Quincy. Leave it to Allete to pick up on that, but she would just have to be more careful in the future. In the future? So you’re going to do it again? The idea wasn’t exactly smart, but Olivia couldn’t stop smiling when she thought of Quincy.
“I do not hear water running,” Allete called through the door.
“I’m going, I’m going,” she huffed and hurried to rinse her brushes in the sink, hoping the maids wouldn’t get upset at the paint staining the basin. She set them aside to dry, turned the water of the shower on, and got ready for the day. “Another outing with Quincy. Wonder what this one will be like.”
***
Allete allowed Olivia more casual attire than normal, dressing her in a blue sundress that varied in shades from the top to the bottom. It was sleeveless, and her shoes, thankfully, were flat. Her hair was curled but down, which she was thankful for. After last night and all those pins, her scalp was still sore and hating her for it.
Olivia hurried to the main hall to meet Quincy. He, too, was more casual than normal in slacks and a printed, button-up shirt. “Am I late? Allete kept trying to fix my hair.”
“I think it looks fine,” he told her. His hand lifted as if to touch it, but he cleared his throat and shoved it in his pocket instead. “And no, you’re not late. Royalty is never late. Something to remember for later when you are officially a princess.”
“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”
“Good, that’s good. Shall we?” He offered her his other arm, and she slipped her hand around it so they could walk to his Jeep which was parked out front on the drive. “The weather is supposed to be perfect today, so a tour of the campus will be the first thing.”
Anything sounded good to her as long as she was with Quincy. They climbed into the Jeep, and once the guard was ready in front and behind, they drove out the palace gates and into the city. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky as they went, waving at the people cheering for their prince and new princess. Olivia was nervous at first but waved back with a smile and laugh. She would get used to this at some point, especially if Quincy was always at her side.
He wound them through the streets and slowed when they came to the outer reaches. Olivia felt her jaw drop open at the sight of the building. “That’s the university?”
“I had a feeling you’d like it.”
“That’s an understatement,” she muttered as they drove under the stone archway and up the paved path to the front of the university. At first, it looked like one giant stone building, but as they turned to park the Jeep, she saw the others stretched out to the sides. They were made of the same stone as the palace, and if she hadn’t known any better, she would have thought it was the palace. “This is crazy. It’s beautiful.”
“It was originally built to house the army—well, what little army there was,” he explained as he got out and walked around to her side. “About fifty years ago, my family cleared it out and turned it into our own island university.”