The Princess Affair Read Online Free

made it possible for her to attend.
    At Princeton, she found Gothic spires and acclaimed faculty and new teammates. She also found Virginia. Virginia, who had taken the seat next to hers on the first day of their humanities class—who had admired the doodles in her notebook as their professor droned on about Plato’s allegory of the cave. Virginia, with her spiky, pink-tipped hair and outrageous T-shirts and infectious laugh. Virginia, who had kissed her under the budding cherry tree outside the School of Architecture on the first day of spring. Virginia had endured life in Kerry’s closet for almost two years before finally walking away. And who could blame her? She deserved someone who would hold her hand in public and invite her home for Thanksgiving.
    Virginia’s absence accomplished what her presence never could. The loss of the only person who had truly seen her—and loved what she’d seen—shook Kerry to the core. Her closet was no shelter from the storm; it was Plato’s cave, full of shackles and shadows.
    Finally, she found the inspiration to confess herself to her Irish Catholic family. In the time it took to speak four simple words, she fell from grace. Her mother quoted Romans. Her father quoted the Pope. Her sister proclaimed her “disgusting.” Only in her two brothers did she find some measure of compassion.
    But at least she was free.
    Kerry slid into the seat next to Harris, who groaned as he pressed his forehead to the cool window. The cascade of memories had set her own head to pounding and she leaned back, closing her eyes. She was not that uncertain, frightened girl—not anymore. She had faced her fear. She had lost Virginia, but won the Rhodes. She had purpose. She had loftier goals now, along with the means to fulfill them. Life stretched before her, a corridor of open doors extending past the horizon. So what if she was lonely?
    She opened her eyes when Harris stirred beside her. As the bus pulled away from the curb, he swallowed down the dregs of his coffee in a series of noisy gulps, and she had to smile. Built like a bear but gentle as a kitten, he reminded her in many ways of her brothers. Had he suffered when he’d finally come out? Had his fellow rowers ostracized him or joined ranks around him?
    Only when he blinked his red eyes and said, “Do I look that bad?” did Kerry realize she was staring.
    “You’re fine.”
    “Liar.” Harris massaged his temples. “I’d better pull it together by tonight. We’re meeting Princess Sasha, remember?”
    Kerry nudged him with her elbow. “I think you’re supposed to address her as ‘Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra.’”
    “I like Sasha better. Sassy Sasha. Try saying that ten times fast.”
    “You’re incorrigible.”
    Harris laced his hands behind his head. “Actually, by all accounts she’s incorrigible. The gossip rags claim she’s bi.”
    “The gossip rags also claim the Rapture is happening next week. For real this time.”
    He rolled his eyes. “Does that mean you’re not going to let me try to fix you up?”
    Kerry had to laugh. “Me? With a British princess? You’re delusional.”
    “Why not?”
    “For one thing, I’m utterly plebian. A commoner. Besides, isn’t there some kind of prohibition against the royals carrying on with Roman Catholics? Even lapsed ones?”
    “They got rid of that. And so what if you’re not a Rockefeller?” He cocked his head, squinting. “Who could resist those cerulean eyes and fiery hair? Or that chiseled jaw? Or your tight—”
    “Enough!” Laughing, Kerry covered his mouth to stop his rhapsodizing. At his baleful stare, she pulled her hand away. “Like I said. Delusional.”
    “You need to learn to take a compliment.”
    His dark eyes held a serious expression, and she looked away. Harris, she was learning, could be like a dog with a bone when he sensed a touchy subject. She scrambled for a way to distract him.
    “Forget Princess Sasha. Yesterday, I overheard Anna