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Finally, introductions are made.
“Oh, my dears, I didn’t see you there. Kala told us the most fascinating story about her recent trip to Malaysia. Torben, you remember Kala, don’t you?”
His jaw rippling, Torben replies. “Of course I do. How are you, Kala?”
The statuesque woman bows her head and replies, “Very well, your highness.” Something is so fetching about her that I can’t take my eyes off her. Every word, every moment is so…polished. When she lifts her gaze to meet Torben’s eyes, she smiles. “Thank you for asking. I hope Your Highness had a pleasant summer.”
Her pearly white, perfectly straight teeth compete with the brightness of her eyes and the shine in her lustrous hair. This Kala, whoever she is, is blindingly radiant and as achingly polite as the prince was when we’d first met. And I sort of hate her guts for absolutely no reason. What the fuck is wrong with me?
“Very pleasant. How is your family?”
She beams at him. “Exceedingly well. Father is enjoying his retirement in Spain. I plan to join him and Ilsa there soon. Unless I am called upon to be of service in another capacity.”
What the hell does that mean?
Etienne coughs, and Flora elbows him.
Torben squints at her. “I thought your father sold the beer business to an American company? Are you running the local headquarters, then?”
Kala’s perfect, practiced expression falters only a little. She’s thrown by this question and hesitates. “Why, no…I….”
Torben’s hand goes to the small of my back, and the sensation settles me. Down, girl. There you go. “Kala,” he says, “I’d like you to meet my fiancée, Hailey.”
Have you ever seen someone buffer like an old computer? Because that’s what this Kala seems to be doing right now. “Fiancée,” she repeats, her smile remaining but her face pale. She recovers quickly, though. “Of course. How wonderful to meet you.”
We shake hands, and she gives me a slight bow of the head. I feel like an ass for thinking anything negative about her. She’s an angel, and someone didn’t prep her for meeting me.
“You too, Kala. I love your dress, by the way.”
The woman blushes and smooths down the skirt of her yellow chiffon shift. “Oh, really? I’ll have my dry cleaner deliver it to the palace in a day.”
“I…wait…what?” Now, I’m buffering. “No, that’s so not necessary.”
“It is customary,” she says, confused at my ignorance.
The king, clearly bored, booms out. “Let’s sit down and eat before my porridge turns cold, shall we?”
Over breakfast, which mercifully keeps my mouth occupied with oatmeal, eggs, bacon, and local wild berries, I learn that Kala is the daughter of close friends of the family who owns one of the biggest beer producers in the country. I also learned that Kala attended a finishing school, studied political science and international relations at Oxford, and now works at the United Nations. She’s fluent in five languages, is an accomplished equestrian, businesswoman, and runs a charity for children with terminal diseases.
“And what do you do again, dear?” The queen directs this at me while the king looks on with what feels like feigned interest.
“I’m a tollbooth operator on the West Virginia Turnpike. Graveyard shift.”
The queen blinks. “Graveyard shift? People pay tolls to visit their loved one’s graves?”
Is this a joke? “No, your majesty. The graveyard shift means I work 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. It sounds rough, but I don’t mind it. Let me tell ya, you see some interesting characters come through at 3 a.m..”
“That’s how we met,” Torben says. “I was driving too fast, didn’t understand how tollbooths work, and this charming woman gave me a thorough dressing down. Not harshly, but in such a way that I could not stop thinking about her. So I came back to her tollbooth, looking for her. And there she was. And that was it. I was done. I’d found my bride.”
The room goes so silent I could hear a pin drop.
“I’ve not heard you tell our story before,” I say, words catching in my throat. I reach over and rest my hand on his knee under the table.
“It’s my absolute favorite fairy tale,” Torben tells me.
And this man guaranteed he’s going to get his dick sucked so hard he’s going to see stars.
* * *
