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‘And so quiet. As if there’s no one else here.’
‘Hmm.’ He glanced in the mirror. ‘Apart from the car that’s been tailing us since we left the castle. Is Henri not with Arrosa? I thought he never left her side?’
She looked round at the sleek black car hanging a discreet distance behind. ‘Poor Henri. He was torn between returning with me and staying with Rosy. As people are meant to think I’m her he knew he needed to be here for business as usual, but he takes protecting her very seriously. It took some persuading for him to agree that she’d look too conspicuous if he stayed. No one expects my cousin to have a bodyguard! Although I expect Zorien has dispatched someone to keep an eye on her.’
‘Your father knows you’ve swapped?’
‘Rosy messaged him last night. I was hoping to hear from him today but of course he’s very busy. This would be such a good opportunity for us to spend some time together.’ She could hear the self-pity in her voice and winced, relieved when Akil didn’t pursue the subject.
They crested a hill and as they reached the top and the sea came into view Clem gasped. There it was, laid out before them, turquoise and silver and so dazzling she was glad of her sunglasses. She took in a wondering breath as Akil began to navigate his way down the curving road.
‘It’s like something out of a fairy tale,’ she said softly, transfixed as the flower-covered cliffs came into view, the sea tumbling against them. Asturia wasn’t the most famous of tourist resorts, but there was no coastline to rival it, not even her beloved Cornwall. ‘Just like I imagined,’ she almost whispered.
They carried on heading along the coast road until Akil turned off down a narrow lane, heading towards the sea and a tiny cluster of houses dotted around a wooden, slightly tatty harbour. Clem knew that there were plenty of glamorous beaches along the coast, home to exclusive beach clubs and harbours filled with fancy boats, but this seemed like the kind of place she loved, small and known only to a few locals.
Akil pulled into a car park and killed the engine. Clem looked around eagerly. Fishing boats bobbed by the wooden pier, bigger boats moored further out, a mix of working and leisure craft. In front of them a small hut overlooked the sea flanked by a few plastic tables and chairs.
‘Okay, then,’ he said. ‘Here we are. I hope you’re hungry.’
It was as if Akil had seen inside her soul and knew exactly what she craved. She followed him to the hut and took a seat on a battered but clean and comfortable plastic chair perched on the edge of a tiny stone harbour, fine white sand inviting her on the beach to their right.
‘What do you fancy?’ Akil asked. ‘I can recommend the fried clams.’
‘Clams and fries? Perfect.’
‘The local beer is good, or they make their own lemonade.’
‘A beer sounds good. In a way I am on holiday, I suppose.’ Not that she’d been gainfully employed for longer than she cared to remember. Money wasn’t an issue, thanks to the money Zorien had set aside for her, but she needed an occupation. She needed a purpose, a reason to exist. She pushed the thought away for another day and tilted her chin. ‘Besides, this is my first outing in Asturia. I should celebrate.’
Akil held her gaze for one charged second, the corner of his mouth turned up in amusement—and approval. Clem’s pulse thudded under his studied gaze and she turned to exclaim at the view, breaking the spell with a stream of meaningless words.
The food was as wonderful as promised, the clams fat and salty, tasting like the sea, the fries crispy on the outside, meltingly soft inside, tart with vinegar. The salad wasn’t the token collection of browned limp leaves Clem was expecting, but sweet crunchy leaves, tiny, delicious tomatoes and tart red peppers, another reminder that she was in the Mediterranean, not on the English coast.
Even better was the view. On one side the sea, calm and bright and endlessly beautiful, and on the other Akil. Six feet of broad-shouldered, olive-skinned, dark-eyed deliciousness. And shereallyneeded to stop thinking about Akil that way. She wasn’t here on a date. She didn’t know him, nor he her. He was just being kind to a lonely girl. And no doubt it suited him to do it. He must know that Clem would tell Arrosa all about the afternoon.
But she couldn’t deny that this really was her idea of a dream date. And that spelt trouble in all kinds of ways she wasn’t going to allow herself to think about.
Instead, she was going to keep busy and push the wordsdreamanddateright out of her mind.
‘That was amazing,’ she said, jumping to her feet and collecting up the plates and beer bottles and returning them to the hut with a smile. ‘Thank you for bringing me here.’ She didn’t return to her seat, leaning over the railing and looking out to sea, her pulse hammering with nerves.Keep talking, Clem.She glanced back at Akil. ‘So this is a favourite place of yours?’
‘Since I was a boy,’ he confirmed, lounging back in his chair. ‘My aunt has a holiday home near here, me, my sister and our cousins spent our summers sailing on these waters and spending all our money on snacks here at this very shack. Not that it spoiled our appetites.’ His grin was reminiscently boyish and her stomach tumbled. She could cope with him being handsome. She wasn’t sure she could manage charming as well.
‘I was brought up by the sea. I love sailing. Surfing, paddle-boarding, kayaking, I did it all. I just love being out on the water.’
‘It can be arranged, just say the word. My boat is moored here.’
He had a boat? Could he tick any more boxes? Regretfully she shook her head. ‘I can’t let poor Henri follow us in a dinghy.’ She grimaced. ‘I’d never realised how limiting it is being followed all the time. I know that Henri is kind, careful not to impose, but he’s always there. I don’t know how Rosy manages it.’
‘What she has now is freedom compared to how her life will be once she’s the heir to the throne.’
It was a sobering thought. No wonder her sister wanted companionship. Two sisters equally lonely but for very different reasons. Maybe Rosy should marry Akil. He was kind, intelligent and understood her world.
But then again she didn’t love him and, of all people, didn’t her sister deserve love?
‘Maybe I should stick around and be her body double for good and then she could escape whenever she needed,’ she half joked and Akil grinned.
‘Maybe you should. Although poor Henri would definitely want to clone himself if you two made a habit of this.’ He nodded towards the beach. ‘Fancy walking some of that off?’
