A/N: Hey guys! Here's the next chapter: a date to keep the fluffy times rolling. Thanks to Jennifer and CookieDoodles for reviewing! I was kinda sad about the reception of the last chapter, but that was probably because I waited so long to post and everyone is busy with their own lives (I know for me that school eats up nearly all of my free time). I'm glad that at least some of you still read this story after all this time. After all, it's you guys that keep me motivated to finish this super-long project that's completely taken over the fanfiction portion of my life. I'm always and forever grateful for everyone's support in this venture, and I love you all tons :)
Chapter 48
Kaden was late. He purposely told Lady Azalea not to be late, but there he was, hurrying down the stairs while toeing on his riding boots. He hoped no one could see him fumbling around like an idiot. It was really his fault; he brought this on himself. He shouldn't have stayed up all night reading over amendments made to the foreign trade policy. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and in the moment he really wasn't that tired, but now he could feel the measly four hours of sleep wearing off quick. It was going to be a long day that not even the strongest coffee could remedy.
Perhaps it was the lingering exhaustion mixed with distraction that led him to run smack into Lady Rose.
"Rosie, I'm so sorry. Good morning," Kaden said, rushing his words as he helped her up.
"Good morning," she replied cheerily for someone who had been knocked to onto their butt. She took his hand, pulling herself up while eyeing his clothing. "Where are you off to?"
"The stables. I have an appointment with Aristotle, and he'll be rather cross with me if I'm late."
Kaden subtly eyed his watch; he was already ten minutes late. While he felt badly about running into Lady Rose, he also had to get going. But then again he didn't want to be rude, and so settled to subtly bouncing his leg, waiting for her to dismiss him.
"Mind if I join you?"
"You ride?" Kaden asked, surprised. It wasn't that he didn't want her to join him, it was that he didn't strike her as the outdoorsy type.
"Not in the slightest, but I want to spend time with you."
"Okay." It was hard to turn her down when her eyes were doing the wide puppydog thing. That and it was nice to be wanted in a way that wasn't related to work. But when it was his turn to eye what she was wearing, he had a few concerns about her tagging along. "Do you need to go get changed or anything?"
Now that winter was on its way, the Elite were given more leeway in what was considered 'appropriate' for a queen-in-training to wear. Lady Rose was currently donned in a pair of cuffed, dark denim jeans and a large yellow sweater with brown boots, and while the outfit was supposed to be durable, it was not quite cut out for riding. In fact, the whole thing was a fashion piece and would most likely be destroyed by the time she dismounted a horse. But either she did know or did not care, because she was waving him off as if proper clothing didn't even matter.
"I'll be fine," she insisted, approaching his side. "Lead the way."
Kaden shook his head and let it go. If she wanted to ruin perfectly good clothes, who was he to stop her? If anything, she would be prepared for her next riding adventure...if she ever wanted to ride again after this morning.
They walked outside and started down the long path to the barn. Lady Rose made a few quips here and there about flowers and the weather and made up fictional lives for the guards positioned outside the garden doors. Kaden laughed along but wasn't nearly as skilled at comebacks as she was. By the time they reached the barn, Lady Azalea was already at the foot of the trail seated atop of a Pinto. She was clearly ready to go, and the nagging feeling of guilt came back.
"Good morning Lea," Kaden greeted, choosing a two-finger salute instead of his usual bow as she could not curtsey back, and if she was able to curtsey whilst on top of a horse, that was a skill he would love to see.
"I didn't know this was a group date," she commented politely, though it was clear she was not expecting to see Lady Rose coming up behind him.
"Last minute addition. I ran into Lady Rose in the hall and she said she was in want of something to do. I hope you don't mind."
"No, not at all," Lady Azalea smiled, though Kaden could tell it lacked her previous enthusiasm.
Kaden felt badly for including someone on what was supposed to be a one-on-one date, but adding Lady Rose would be good for the date. It would give him a chance to interact with both of them, but also see how the Elite interacted with one another. He was not a fool. He was sure that there was more rivalry and tension than usual running through the Women's Room these days. He just needed to know how deep that went.
If there was any bad blood between Lady Rose and Lady Azalea, they didn't show it. Lady Rose merely walked inside the barn with Kaden and Lady Azalea was content to continue waiting. Kaden introduced Lady Rose to Aristotle who whinnied as his own unique hello, before leading her to the remainder of the stalls, instructing her to pick whichever horse struck her fancy. She chose the Appaloosa and a stablehand came over to help with the tack and saddle. It was only a short time later that they were both on their ways out, trotting alongside one another to meet Lady Azalea. Together, they all headed down the riding trail, starting off slow so Lady Rose could get used to things.
"You think you've got the hang of it?" Kaden asked, itching to go faster.
"Maybe...?" she replied, her voice wavering as she gripped onto the reins with white knuckles. Kaden could tell she was in pain, that her thighs weren't used to the stretch and she was most likely regretting not taking him up on his offer to get out of those jeans. That and she seemed afraid of her horse, like it would take off without warning if she did anything other than walk.
"You'll be fine Rosie, just relax!" Lady Azalea called, already paces ahead of the both of them. She seemed to be impatient to get going as well, already having circled them twice.
"Come on," Kaden encouraged, flicking his own reins to get Aristotle into faster trot. "I'll be fun."
Lady Rose seemed at a loss for words, her eyes wide and panicked, but she followed Kaden's lead. As soon as she started going faster, her body jerked back and she shouted out a string of profanities. Both he and Lady Azalea broke out in laughter, finding the situation amusing even though Kaden felt badly for Lady Rose. Still, he was confident she'd get it soon. It was that or she was going to fall off.
When he was certain that she was not going to fall off or be thrown, Kaden let himself get further ahead to catch up with Lady Azalea. She was far up the trail, but he caught up quickly, sidling up to her.
"Is she going to live?" Lady Azalea asked, her face flushed from the early morning cold.
"Yes. Though whether her pride makes it out undamaged or not has yet to be determined," Kaden replied, and Lady Azalea giggled, covering her mouth with the back of her gloved hand. She really did look lovely, nearly regal in her riding get up, the traditional deep greens and beige complementing her hair and skin tone.
"I don't know why she came if she didn't know how to ride," she said, shaking her head as she watched Lady Rose struggle to get over a fallen log. "Poor horse; it's doing most of the work."
"She wanted to come along and spend time with me. Who was I to say no?" Kaden replied, looking on at Lady Rose with pity. He really didn't want to pity her, but it was terribly hard to watch her fail at doing the most simple of things. "Besides, I didn't know she was going to be this...well..."
"Horrible?" Lady Azalea completed, and Kaden nodded. He hated saying bad things about his ladies, but there was no denying it: Lady Rose was a terrible rider. He was going to give her the benefit of the doubt for never having instruction before, but it wasn't too hard to figure out how to steer a horse, especially after being on it for a while.
"We all have our different talents I suppose," Kaden sighed, returning his focus to the path ahead of him. "Speaking of talents, didn't you say you were going to impress me with your riding skills?"
"I was going to, but now I feel badly. Shouldn't we stay behind and wait for Lady Rose?" she asked, glancing backwards to where Lady Rose was falling further and further behind.
"The guards are following close behind us. If anything, a few will stay behind to escort her down the trail if she can't catch up," Kaden assured. Yes, it sounded callous of him to disregard someone he was technically on a date with, but she was the one who wanted to tag along. This was supposed to be something between Lady Azalea and him, and he was determined to make that happen. He came out to ride, and so he was going to ride. "Or we can stay behind if you don't want to admit your skills aren't as good as you proclaimed them to be."
It was a challenge pure and simple. Lady Azalea merely cocked an eyebrow and gave a smirk in response. "Oh I am going to blow. You. Away."
Before Kaden could get another word in edgewise, she was off, speeding at a full gallop up the path, literally leaving him in the dust. It took him a moment to process just how fast she was going before he was able to follow, pushing Aristotle to the limit. The wind stinging on his cheeks, the blur of the woods going by was exhilarating. He forgot how much riding felt like flying. Sure, he rode on the group date, but nothing like this. Riding like this - with complete freedom and no inhibitions - was one of his favorite things in the world.
He caught up to Lady Azalea soon enough, but the smirk on her face made him believe that she was slowing down on purpose. Then, she veered off the trail, entering a more heavily wooded area. Kaden got worried that she would get hurt, but those fears were put to rest as she skillfully dodged trees and jumped over fallen logs as if they were nothing. Some of her hair had failed out of her helmet, flying out behind her as she rode. She looked like she was having the time of her life, and Kaden couldn't stop smiling, not even when she took the lead and kept it all the way back to the stables. He didn't even know they were racing until she dismounted and shouted. "I won!"
"That you did," Kaden teased, enjoying the exhilarated look on Lady Azalea's face as handed her horse off to the stablehand. "Was it everything you dreamed of and more?"
"Better," she replied, a bit breathless. She was bouncing on her toes, her entire body humming with energy. "I haven't gone that fast in ages."
"Consider me blown away," Kaden teased and her smile grew even wider, if that was even possible.
The next thing he knew, she surged up and pulled him down into a kiss. He was surprised, his eyes growing wide before he realized what was happening and then relaxed into the kiss. She was really getting into a habit of taking him by surprise, and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not. On one had, he liked kissing her, a lot. She was eager with soft lips and her kisses tasted sweet like sugar. On the other hand, it really messed with the composed and proper image he was trying to relay to the public. Even now, he could hear the cameras popping and could see the lights flashing as the cameras frantically tried to capture the moment.
That was all the kiss was: a moment. The next moment came and she had to release his lapels in order to regain her balance - standing up on tiptoes could only work for so long. She was blushing wildly, seemingly forgetting where she was and the constant presence of the cameras. Kaden could tell she was embarrassed, but he didn't want her to regret her actions. So he grabbed her hands from where they had pressed to her cheeks to cover her mouth and wove their fingers together. He squeezed her hand gently, and slowly the embarrassed blush faded, replaced by a different kind of blush.
He walked her to the stable door before saying their farewells. She had a one-on-one lesson with Sylvia that she didn't want to be late for, otherwise he would've suggested breakfast. That was still a possibility though, as there was still one lady left who could be partial to an after-ride meal. However, as Kaden approached the stall where Lady Rose was grooming her horse, he could tell that something was wrong. Perhaps she felt inadequate or embarrassed? Maybe she didn't like being left with the guards. Or maybe it was something totally different. Women could be so confusing. The only way to know for sure was to ask.
"You didn't seem to enjoy your ride," Kaden commented, watching Lady Rose as she raked the brush through her horse's mane with precision.
"It's not my favorite," she replied, her tone disinterested as she continued to focus on brushing, not even turning to face Kaden. "I turned around after you two rode off. One of the guards let me ride back with him and just pulled my horse along."
"You could have chosen to stay inside," Kaden said, confused as to why she went in the first place if she wasn't going to enjoy herself. It was obvious she was not in a good mood, her shortness and inability to look his way clear signs she was mad at him.
"No, I know. It's fine. I brought it on myself," she mumbled, casting another nasty glance at the door Lady Azalea exited. "I just didn't know that everyone else had gotten so far. Have you kissed all the girls except for me?"
Her tone was accusatory, and it caught Kaden off guard. He wasn't expecting that, not from someone as friendly and funny as Lady Rose. Perhaps the stress of the competition was starting to get to her. Still, that didn't excuse her tone, and Kaden himself got defensive.
"What goes on between the other Elite and I is private."
"Private," she scoffed, and Kaden flinched.
He wasn't expecting to be kissed so suddenly, and definitely not so publicly. The press was going to have a field day with that once the photos got published. I could see the headlines now: Sealed with a Diss: King Kaden Puckers Up While Scorned Lady Watches On. Something ridiculous like that. Whatever it took to sell tabloids of him messing up for the millionth time. He could only imagine how Lady Rose felt while that was going on. She must've been blindsided, and Kaden couldn't deny that her bitterness was well founded. Except for kissing all the other girls. He had still yet to kiss Lady Serena, and he knew if he even tried to get near Heather with his lips she would cut them off.
"Tell you what, I'll make it up to you," Kaden decided, his mind racing to push aside a few meetings and make room for new last minute date plans. "How's tonight, a picnic in the same place where we had our movie date?"
"But it's freezing at night now," she said, and Kaden frowned, realizing she was right. The days were manageable with a sweater and pants, but the nights...those were something else. Angeles may have been warm, but not warm enough to block the cold December winds. Still, Kaden was determined to make things work.
"We can bundle up! I'll be sure to bring lots of blankets. We can make a campfire, roast marshmallows, and watch the stars," Kaden suggested, the idea sounding pretty romantic and much more her style. He could see that she was starting to consider the idea, her miffed expression falling and a new content one taking its place.
"Okay," she agreed, a small smile growing on her lips. "That sounds nice."
"Perfect."
Kaden smiled, grateful for his second chance, and watched Lady Rose place her brush down and exit the stables. Just as he'd suspected, her jeans and boots were covered in leaves and mud, and she was walking with a slight hitch in her step. She was going to feel that burn for days, Kaden remembering it from the days when he was just starting out. But despite all of that, she had a smile on her face, and that was worth something right?
