Did she actually think a man who’d never had a romantic relationship would suddenly change his spots for her? Sure, he was into her now. She lived with him, worked with him, slept with him. But the moment she left town, he’d move on.

I’m a project. Like boarding or launching a digital platform or a bath and beauty products company.

Snap out of it already.

Of course they didn’t have a future together.

You knew that.

Can you imagine Brodie in St. Christophe? Wearing slacks and button downs, visiting hospitals, attending royal ceremonies? That regimented life would kill him.

As much as it hurt, one day soon, she’d have to consign Rosie to a memory.

And then get on with her real life as Princess Rosalina.

In the bunkhouse, Rosalina stood at the long kitchen table watching this wonderful group of people who’d gathered to package her lotions for tomorrow’s market testing.

At home, she worked alone in her lab. Neither her family nor the Allards got involved. Marcel might listen to her go on about her formulas or ideas, but his interest was limited to the business side.

It hadn’t really bothered her before. She’d just carried on, convinced that one day they’d see the obvious wisdom in her plan to expand their product line.

But, here, people jumped right in. Brodie had put out the call, and a couple hours later his entire family had shown up and gotten to work. They were all entrepreneurs, so they embraced each other’s ideas readily.

Fin had opened a training center, and even though his brothers were busy with their own projects, they helped out all the time. Gray’s wife wanted a digital store for her wedding gowns, and Brodie had immediately set out to find a three-D modeler.

This family supported each other’s dreams. They were real and honest and loyal.

And it ripped open a tear in the Villeneuve family portrait. As much as she loved her parents, the duty, obligation…the loyalty ran in one direction. They expected her to fall in line: get married, produce an heir, and step into the shoes of every princess before her.

She understood that. Of course she did. It was the way it had been done for six hundred years. But what about supporting her? They’d turned down every idea she’d had. They viewed her work in the lab as a hobby.

The world had changed, and her parents hadn’t adapted.

If she went home and assumed the role expected of her, she would lose herself. She would bruise and wither like a petal.