AllFreeNovel
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I’m seeing things. I must be. There’s no way that the crown prince of Gravenland is here in my tollbooth outside of Dry Creek, West Virginia. There’s no way. I swallow hard and try to think of a reply.
I look into his eyes, and I see the truth. It’s him. I know it’s him. But he doesn’t know that I know.
Glancing behind the red sports car, I see no other fancy vehicles. Nothing with diplomatic plates or any black cars that one would expect to be escorting a prince around Appalachia.
So what the heck is going on, and why is a crown prince wearing a dang Yankees cap and a freakin’ Salt Life tee shirt? Did he bump his head?
“Sir,” I say when my throat finally lets me speak again. “It remains to be seen if I’m unwell.” My voice shakes as he stares a regal stare. Did his face suddenly become regal now that I’ve recognized him? “How about you? Are you…in distress?”
“Distress…” he mumbles. “Indeed.”
“Are you lost?”
“Quite lost.”
My boss Sylvie in the next booth radios me because my line is backed up.
“Everything okay over there?”
“This driver is lost,” I say.
“Where’s he headed? Maybe we can get him there.”
I’m still staring like a creep at his mouth. “Where are you going?”
“I’m not sure,” he answers, his blue-green eyes studying me.
“You’re not sure?”
“I am sure where I want to end up, but…it’s complicated.”
Complicated. Sure.
He shows me his phone. “I’m trying to get to this address, but every time I get close, GPS has me making a U-turn. It’s very frustrating.”
I lean forward out of the tollbooth and examine the map on his phone screen. How can I care about his phone screen when the hand holding it is so beautiful? Tanned and rougher than I would have thought for a monarch, some of his fingers bear white scars. And why do I find that sexy? I have to get it together and stop staring at his hands. Other drivers are starting to back up and move to other lanes.
I gather my senses and squint down at the screen. I read the words of his final destination: Thistle Rock Inn and Resort.
Excitement pulses through me. He’s staying here? In West Virginia? A bona fide prince is gonna be sleeping in my neck of the woodstonight?
April is going to freak out when she hears what we manifested.
Do not freak out. Be professional.
“Oh, sweetie, that’s because GPS wants you to get there by the way the crow flies. But once you leave the turnpike, you turn right, go down about a quarter mile, cross the bridge, and go the opposite direction on the other side of that river. See? But the next road there is closed for construction, so you’re gonna have to take that dirt road…there…and meander up the mountain until you pick up the river road again where it opens. Make sense?”
His stern face softens. “Perfect sense.”
I beam at him. “Anything else I can help you with?”
He purses his lips. “May I buy you a coffee?”
Heat surges straight to my nipples.
“Ah…that’s so nice, but my shift ends at seven.”
What am I saying? I should hop out of this booth right this second because a prince offered to buy me a coffee. When is that going to happen again?
