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“Very American,” he said. “And admirable. But… I suspect there’s something more, something you’re having a little difficulty telling me.”
God, he was good. On top of it all, one glance at those steely, hunter’s eyes let me know right away that there was no sense in trying to lie to him, he would’ve spotted it right away.
I bit down on my lower lip, looking away from him as I tried to figure out the words.
“It’s my father.”
“The king?”
“One and the same.”
“What happened?”
At that moment, I couldn’t help but notice that his hand was still on my shoulder. I didn’t make a move to remove it.
“We had lunch together,” I said. “First, there was that stupid, huge table. I mean, come on! How are we supposed to talk and have a normal meal together if we’re seated on opposite ends?”
“I know.” Now it was his turn to look away and try to figure out how to properly word what came next out of his mouth. “Make no mistake, the king is a good man. But he can come off a bit callous.”
“That’s putting it mildly.”
“And more than that, he’s one for tradition. Meals for the staff are in the dining hall, and the royal family are at their proper places. Doesn’t matter if it’s the first time he’s seeing you after all these years. Such traditions might seem strange and alienating to you, but they’re how he finds order and comfort.”
“It wasn’t just the seating arrangement,” I said. “He asked me to catch him up on my life. He just sat there listening to me telling him everything about what I’d been up to over the last two freaking decades and it was like talking to a bank teller or something, he was totally impassive. It felt so cold and lonely. Then he just got up and left. I don’t know if I can do this. I keep thinking about being back home in Seattle, working the crab cake truck and slinging sandwiches.That’swhere I’m supposed to be;that’smy element. Not any of this. Here, I’m confused and clueless and alone.”
I turned my attention back to Luc, who continued to regard me with an expression of mild confusion, as if he wasn’t quite sure what to do with this outpouring of feelings.
I sighed. “This is so stupid of me. You’re trying to shave and go to bed and here I am, dumping all this out on you. And you’re my father’s right hand, there’s no way you’re not going to take his side. I know you don’t care about any of this.”
“That’s not true.”
“You don’t have to say that. It was careless of me to march into the bathroom like this. I’ll let you finish. I’m sorry.”
With that, I turned away from him again, Luc’s hand falling from my shoulder. As I left, I couldn’t help but take one final glance back at that chiseled, rock-hard body. The last ten minutes had been a total disaster, but at least I had the mental image of Luc without a shirt on to tide me over.
I opened the door to head to my room. The moment I was over the threshold, however, I heard him speak.
“Wait.”
I turned to watch as Luc left the bathroom and came into the hall between our quarters. He stopped close enough to give me pause. His nearness suddenly made me very aware of the clothes I had on—a spaghetti strap top and a pair of short shorts that showed off most of my legs.
As weird as it was, part of me liked being dressed in such a skimpy way in front of him. Plus, it was only fair, right? If he was going to be wearing nearly nothing at all, then shouldn’t I return the favor? My pussy clenched and my heart began to race.
What the hell did he want? I wasn’t fully versed on royal palace protocol, but I didn’t need to know a thing about it to understand that a man like him being just outside the princess’s royal chambers with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist was a major breech of protocol.
“I’ve got an idea,” he said.
“An idea?”
“An idea. You’ve got a lot on your mind, Princess. More than enough to keep your thoughts occupied.”
“You’re right about that.” Why was he standing so close? It was making it hard to think.
“Instead of going through it all bit-by-bit, I’ve got a better solution—a distraction.”
“A distraction?”
“That’s right. Something that will hold you over in the moments where you feel isolated or out of place. Something that will take your mind off all the unfamiliar things going on in your life.” He nodded past me. “You’re feeling out of sorts right now, but that’s only temporary.”
