Summary: The show sends the women on a group date to the Barn Raising and Riley receives a private invitation from Liam.
Riley woke up the next morning with a smile on her face. She looked down and remembered she had worn Drake’s shirt to bed. She didn’t care that it hadn’t been washed because it smelled like him – a scent she could only describe as clean scented deodorant mixed with a pleasant but earthy, manly smell. She thought back to last night and how Drake kissed her; a kiss that was more than worth the wait. If she had any lingering doubts about choosing him over Liam before, those doubts were long gone now.
She wanted to sleep in a little longer, so she had chosen to get her breakfast delivered. They had a full day ahead of them for the barn raising group date, if you could really call it a date. But now that she wasn’t going after Liam anymore, that didn’t really matter. The only big thing on her mind now talking to Liam about quitting the show. She knew she’d be disappointing more than just him, but it was the right thing to do.
Riley picked out some denim shorts and a red plaid shirt, which she figured would be functional for the work and fit in with the theme of the event. She did her hair in a lose braid that she swept to one side. Just as she was finishing up, she heard a knock on the door. She looked through the peep hole (she never forgot that again after being scolded by Drake) and sure enough, it was Drake, and he was right on time.
Drake looked her up and down. “I like this sexy cowgirl thing you have going on.”
“So you think I’m sexy?” Riley asked just to hear him say it.
Drakes eyes darkened just a little. “You have no idea. I want nothing more than to keep you in that bed all day. Unfortunately thats not an option…yet.”
“Well you aren’t so bad yourself,” Riley smirked. “Even though you are wearing practically the same thing you were yesterday…which is strange because I kept your shirt last night.”
“It’s my favororite shirt. I have three of them.”
“You mean you had three of them. I’m keeping the one you gave me.”
Drake shook his head but had a smile on his face. “Whatever you say Bennett. Now let’s get going.”
Drake dropped Riley off by the limos to wait for the rest of the women to arrive. He was going ahead with the rest of the security team. The 11 remaining women were split between 3 cars. Riley was grouped with Hana, Penelope, and Kiara, and was thrilled not to be stuck with Madeleine or Olivia. She and Hana were relatively quiet on the ride. Riley knew why her mind was preoccupied, and could take a good guess as to why Hana’s thoughts were elsewhere, but with Penelope and Kiara’s constant chatter, their silence wasn’t noticed. They both had a good feeling Liam wasn’t really interested in either one of them, so they were all ready to set their sights on the other men at court. They brought up names of other men at court Riley had not met like Rashad, Neville, and Tariq.
“So Riley, Do you think…” Penelope paused.
“Do I think what?”
“Do you think I would make a good match for Maxwell?”
Riley hadn’t even considered that her brothers, as single males, were in the pool of eligible bachelors. Penelope was sweet, and very pretty. She was also smarter than other’s gave her credit for. She probably would make a good match for Maxwell, even though it would be like two puppy dogs dating. “I could put in a a good word for you.”
“Really? That would be amazing!” Penelope gushed.
“I don’t think I’m interested in any of them.,” Kiara spoke up. “They are all boring, conceited, or just not my type. No offense to your brothers Riley.
“None taken. Maxwell really is a better match for Penelope…and Betrand is, well…Bertrand.”
They all laughed before Kiara chimed in again. “You know who is really hot though?” The other three waited for a response. “Drake Walker. He’s not even a noble, but that doesn’t matter to me. I plan to have my own career, and just want to marry for love. You are lucky that you get to spend so much time with him, Riley.”
Riley didn’t know how to react. “Yeah, he’s, uh, not bad.” She could see Hana shoot her a glance out the the corner of her eye. “He’s a little cynical and sarcastic though. Kind of hard to get to know.”
“Well I think I’m going to try.”
Riley didn’t know what to say, so she said nothing at all. She wished she could tell Kiara that he was spoken for, but nobody else could know that yet, especially not with cameras on them. Thankfully they pulled up to the location at that moment, and she wouldn’t have to talk about it anymore.
When Riley stepped out of the Limo, she was swarmed by the press, taking pictures and trying to ask her questions she couldn’t make out. She was overwhelmed and confused, but then seemingly out of nowhere, Bertand and Maxwell shielded her and got the press to back off.
“Maxwell, Bertand! What’s going on?”
“The first episode of Queen of My Heart aired last night,” Maxwell replied. “Your story is out, and you are a big deal now.”
“Riley, you don’t need to answer their questions, but maybe if they got a photo of you with us they would would back off,” Bertrand suggested.
“You would do that for me? Thank you. I’m really not prepared for a press conference.”
“It will be our first family photo!” Maxwell exclaimed.
Bertrand addressed the crowd of reporters. “We don’t have time to answer any questions, but will agree to pose for a photograph.”
Bertrand and Maxwell stood on either side of Riley and the photographers snapped what seemed like thousands of pictures in total. Bertrand dismissed the crowd, and thankfully they were respectful and did not follow.
Riley looked to be the last to arrive between her Limo arriving last and the press debacle. The Frame of the Barn was already halfway constructed. Bertrand left right away to join what she assumed was another group of nobles. She and Maxwell happened upon Hana and Drake trying to lift a beam with a pulley to no avail, but what caught her attention the most was Drake’s naked upper body. She forgot for a moment she probably shouldn’t be staring at him with her jaw dropped, but she couldn’t help it. He was gorgeous, and every muscle in his upper body was clearly defined and gleaming in the sun as he pulled against the weight of the beam. Riley was glad nobody could read the inappropriate thoughts running through her mind at that moment. After another good effort without success, Hana and Drake dropped the beam a turned to face them.
“Hey Bennett, are you just going to supervise, or are you and Maxwell going to help us out?”
“Drake, uh, you aren’t wearing a shirt.”
“I think he’s trying to show off for the press,” Hana teased.
“I prefer to stay out of the spotlight, thank you. It’s hot and and I don’t want to get my shirt all sweaty. Maxwell, you are going to die with that black shirt on. You should take yours off too.”
“I’ll be fine,” Maxwell protested. “This shirt is very lightweight and has moisture-wicking fabric. Anyway, lets get this beam lifted.” They all worked together and hoisted the beam up with relative ease. “Okay, now that that’s done. I’m going to go find a good photo op to get some more good press for House Beaumont if you want to join me Riley.”
“Well, I think I’m going to go put some planks together for the siding if you would rather do that,” Hana suggested.
“Thanks for the offers, but I think Drake needs more help here.” Maxwell and Hana headed off in different directions. The camera operator who had been filming them headed off after Hana, leaving her and Drake completely alone momentarily.
“So are you sure you weren’t trying to show off for the press, Drake?”
“Not for the press, but I may have been trying to show off for someone in particular.” A smile pulled at the corners of Drake’s lips.
“Well then you can consider that someone thoroughly impressed. So what do we do now?”
“Stay right here. I’m going to go get something to help us out. Drake ran off and a few minutes later came back with a horse. Since it’s just the two of us, I thought some literal horsepower would be useful.”
“I hope this goes better than the last time I was around a horse,” Riley joked.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be here to save you again if anything goes wrong.”
They worked together and hoisted a few beams with the help of the horse, and thankfully the horse was fully cooperative. By that time someone else from the film crew had come by to catch Riley in action, along with various members of the Cordonian press.
Just as they finished the last beam, Kiara came stumbling towards them with a small, but still very heavy beam. Riley was just about to run over and help her when Kiara stumbled and the beam fell on top of her. Drake quickly ran over, threw the beam off of her, and pulled her to her feet.
“Kiara, what were you doing carrying that all by yourself?” Drake asked.
Kiara didn’t respond right away because she couldn’t stop staring at Drake. Riley saw her eyes sweep up and down his torso before she seemed to become aware that he asked a question. “Oh, sorry, Penelope said she would be gone 5 minutes, but 30 minutes later, she was still gone. She was probably chasing after Maxwell. I got tired of waiting.”
“Next time ask someone like me for help, okay?”
“Oh…yes Drake…I’ll ask someone…like you.” Kiara laughed nervously. “I’m going to go find Penelope now. Bye.”
“Do you think she hit her head, Bennett? She was acting a little out of sorts.”
“I’m pretty sure I know the reason, and that was not it.” Riley replied.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You really are oblivious aren’t you?” Riley shook her head at Drake. “Just look at her. She is still drooling over you from way over there.”
Drake looked over and Kiara quickly averted her eyes. “I still think you are imagining things Bennett.”
“I’ll have to tell you what she said in the Limo later.” A surprised look flashed across Drake’s face, but before he could respond, Riley spoke up again. “On the topic of gawking, who are those guys?” She motioned to two men standing around just watching the women work.
“Two nobles that are not worth knowing. The one on the right with longer hair is Rashad. He’s not terrible, but he’s as dull as a box of rocks. All he talks about is his job and money. The constipated looking one on the left is Neville. He looks down on anyone he considers beneath him, even though he has nothing to offer aside from his money and status. As far as nobles go, he’s just about as bad as they come. I mean, look at them standing around just waiting to scoop up Liam’s leftovers.”
Speaking of Liam, I should probably try and find him. I haven’t talked to him at all today.”
“Yeah, you probably should.” A look of disappointment crept across Drake’s face.
Riley wished there were no cameras around. so she could tell him she was only doing it because she wanted to get the chance to talk to Liam alone, so she could be with Drake. He had to know that, didn’t he? “Well you should probably come with me since you are supposed to be watching out for me, right? You weren’t around when I got out of the Limo and the press swarmed me. Maxwell and Bertrand had to save me.”
Drake looked genuinely concerned, as Riley hadn’t told him about that yet. “I’m sorry, I just got straight to work and didn’t think about it.
“I guess you’ll just have to stick with me so it doesn’t happen again.” With that, Riley saw Drake’s smile return, and they set off to find Liam.
The entire frame of the Barn was up by that point and people were starting to bring over and put up the siding panels. Riley found Liam carrying one with Madeleine.
“Riley!” Liam greeted her. “I haven’t seen you all day. I hope you aren’t working too hard. Riley glanced over to Madeleine and saw her roll her eyes. He and Madeleine set the plank down by the barn. “Riley, would you like to help me get more siding?”
“I would love to.” Riley and Liam headed to the prep area to get the another plank and Madeleine walked off in a huff. When they got there, Liam secretly slipped a piece of paper into her hand. She waited until the camera wasn’t directed at her and read it:
I know we won’t get much time together today. If you would like to meet me later, I’ll be waiting for you in the spa room at the palace at midnight. – Liam
She knew the discussion she would have with him would not be what Liam was expecting with that invitation, but it was the best opportunity she would get.