AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I leaned back, mirroring his pose and sighed. “So, tell me about yourself, Henryk. What do you do now?” This was a royal castle and he was sitting in a formal dining room, being served. “Do you work? Or is managing this castle a job unto itself? This place is huge.” If he didn’t manage this castle, that meant something wholly different. I didn’t want to think about it. That would make me reconsider every second and every word I’d said since I got here and I didn’t need that kind of pressure right now.
Henryk chuckled. “It is pretty big, I will grant you that, Erin.” He steepled his fingers in front of his mouth, but I could still see the faint smile behind those fingers. “I guess you could say I work for the country and my family. Not in a modern sense, more in a traditional sense.” Rather than hyperventilate as I digested what he hadn’t said, I nodded and pretended he’d said he was the janitor.
“Yes, I’m getting thattraditionalvibe.” I smiled and nodded. I loved hearing him talk, but he wasn’t overly forthcoming. And a girl had to do what a girl had to do. “So, tell me about this woman you’re arranged to marry.” In some cultures, arranged marriage was a thing. But Lichtenstein seemed as socially forward as South Carolina. I had a lot of questions but I wondered what kind of woman agreed to this kind of thing. I also wanted to know how the arrangement had come about. Who decided this kind of thing?
Henryk shook his head and he looked down at his hands in his lap. “She’s from a neighboring family.”
Somehow, I doubted he meant his next-door neighbor. Hell, from my room in the castle, I could see far and wide and there hadn’t been any structure close. “You’re marrying your next-doorneighbor?” It just didn’t fit. Nor did I understand. And I wanted more information. “Is she nice? Do youwantto marry her?”
He blinked like I’d asked if she had an extra eyeball or a third arm. “Pardon me?”
“I know. Americans, right? I’m curious though.” I swirled my finger around a design in the tablecloth. Maybe it was rude to ask, but I didn’t care. “I mean, before I divorce you so you can marry another woman, I want to make sure you’re happy.” This time I smiled.
He didn’t return the gesture but continued studying his hands. “I don’t know her that well.”
“Is she beautiful?” I couldn’t imagine him with anyone less than a beauty. I didn’t honestly want to imagine him with anyone else.
He nodded. “She’s beautiful.” Of course, she was. “She’s no you.”
My skin flushed with heat. “Do you love her?” It was the second time I asked the question and the second time he didn’t answer, so I expanded on the thought. “It’s very strange to me. I can’t imagine marrying someone I didn’t love.”
“You Americans and yourlove.” He used air quotes. “I’m sure you know that America’s divorce rate is over fifty percent?” He was mocking the idea of love.
“Coming from someone who’s been bound in marriage since he was seven and now has to get divorced, you can imagine how ironic I find your disdain toward love.”
“I didn’t profess my undying love when we were seven either.”
I laughed. That was true, he hadn’t. “You were the one who said you wanted to marry me.” Whether he was or was not, he’d still said yes. Slipped my daisy ring on my finger and allowed me to put mine on him. I took a big sip from my wine glass and continued, “And if the grown-up version of you is saying we’re screwed no matter what, so we may as well marry someone our parents choose for us, then I’m sad for you and I miss seven year old Henryk.”
His jaw fell open then snapped shut.
I pressed my lips together, musing over the idea.I couldn’t imagine the kind of guy my parents would choose for me. Probably a dairy farmer. Mom liked fresh milk. Or a cop. Dad liked honor and duty. To be honest, I didn’t think my parents would choose anyone. They respected my choices and my ability to make a choice.
I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the chair. The wine was kicking in. “My head is spinning, Henryk,” I admitted.
His chair scraped against the floor, and I forced my eyes open. He stepped up next to me with a concerned look, and I stared at him. “I’ll escort you to your room,” he said softly and held out his hand. I aimed to slip mine into his, and I had to close one eye to hit the mark. “You haven’t actually had that much to drink, but you’re probably suffering from jetlag. And the wine on top of that...”
True. I yawned and shifted closer to him, suddenly exhausted. I couldn’t remember how far it was to my room, but I wouldn’t have minded a rolling chair or a scooter.
I clung to his arm as he walked me out of the dining room and down the hallway. A muscle in his arm flinched and I could feel the power in him. “Was I rude to you?”
He stopped walking and looked down at me. “When we were children?”
I laughed and it felt too loud and long, so I cut it off. “No, tonight. Was it rude to ask if you love your fiancé or if you want to marry her?” He was kind, helping me to my room, arranging for my accommodations tonight, feeding me.
He squeezed my arm gently. “No. But no one else has ever asked me that.”
I leaned my head against his shoulder as we started walking again. “That makes me sad.” And it did. I didn’t want to think of him as stuck in a marriage with someone he didn’t want to be married to.
He chuckled and slowed as we reached my bedroom door. “To answer your question a little more honestly, I’m not sure how I feel about marrying someone I’ve only met once or twice.” He smiled when I tilted my chin up to look at him. “It’s probably about the same as remaining married to someone I met when I was a child.” It felt like we’d been walking for an hour. I wanted to sit, but I let him continue leading me down the hallway as he spoke. “I’ve known since I was young that my duty was to make an advantageous match.” Whatever that meant.
I turned toward him and used my body to crowd him backward against the wall. I pressed closer and stared up at his big blue eyes. “You’re the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen in real life.” Sure, there were magazine guys and book cover guys, but those men had the benefit of photoshop and makeup. Henryk was the real deal. And I wanted to stare at him until every pore and bit of chin stubble was imprinted in my brain.
This time he smiled and his cheeks reddened. “Thank you.”
“It’s true.” I gave him an up and down look that left no doubt. “And you’re built like you know your way around a weight bench.” He chuckled and I couldn’t move much closer without crawling into his clothes. But I sure as hell tried. I could feel all the valleys and planes of his body, the ridged, hard muscle. “You, my friend, could have any woman in the world.” Not a wine-induced exaggeration, either. Although, wine might have had something to do with the ease of which I said the words.
“Any woman?” And then he shook his head. “I wish that were true.” His smile was gentle as he took both my hands, lifted them to his lips and pressed kisses to the fingers of my left hand, and then my right. “Erin, it’s you who deserves the world. I’m just sorry I can’t be the one to give it to you.” He pushed off the wall and smiled
