“Thank goodness. Because then I couldn’t have any of the bread pudding with bourbon butter sauce I plan on having in a minute. And quite frankly, it’s worth every inch it adds to my hips.” Sydney smiled and clasped her on the shoulder. Mila dared to look up and saw Zain trying not to laugh. At least Sydney's face displayed sympathy. So this is what happened when you were no longer invisible.
“Or are you baking up a bun in that oven?” Miss Lily asked, as Sydney just rolled her eyes in response.
“I am so sorry, Mrs. McKnight. I can’t thank you enough for letting me borrow these clothes. I must pay you something, though.”
Syd cut the air with her hand. “Don’t even worry about it. They’re yours to keep. I have plenty here. These bags, in fact, are for you to take home when we’re done eating. Abby said you’re joining us for dinner.”
Mila shook her head. “I can’t intrude.”
Danielle made a tsk noise that had Mila spinning around and dropping her head in a show of respect. “Your Highness,” Mila said with as much professionalism as she could gather. She was used to senators and congressmen, not royalty.
“Everyone calls me Dani. It’s nice to meet you, Mila. The Rose sisters were just telling me about you. And of course you can join them for dinner, isn’t that right, honey?” Dani looked pointedly at her son.
“Of course. Abby is already here. Let’s go in. Mom, are you joining us?” Zain asked as he moved to hold open the door.
Dani smiled proudly at her son. “No, the girls are meeting us for dinner. I’ll see you later, though. I look forward to seeing you around, Mila.” Dani swept into the café followed by the Rose sisters. Sydney followed them in and headed for Abby’s table. Mila looked up to a prince who was holding the door for her. She had somehow found herself in a place where a princess asked to be called Dani and where one of the world’s top fashion models-turned-business mogul drove a beat-up truck and looked like any other woman. Well, a really attractive woman. What in the world was in the water here?
CHAPTER FIVE
Zain bit the inside of his cheek to stop from laughing. He might be closing in on thirty, but his mother would still tan his hide if he embarrassed a woman. It was hard, though, because Mila was just so darn cute with her true-gray eyes widened in surprise. As he held the door open for her, he sent her a smile to reassure her that she was, in fact, welcome to dinner. Instead, she blushed, ducked her head, and hurried inside.
Zain didn’t mind. It gave him the chance to finish checking out what he noticed on the street. The little interpreter was all womanly curves. Any other time, he would have acted on the desire to run his hands over her body. But not with his mother standing here and not with the summit going on. He’d given up his playboy persona over a year ago. Sometimes he missed it. And looking at the way her hips gently swung when she walked definitely made him miss it.
“Mila, this is my husband, Deacon. And you already know Abby. And this hulking teddy bear is my cousin, Dylan. Everyone, this is Mila. She’s here to interpret for the German chancellor. Or so Abby tells me,” Sydney told them as she took a seat between Abby and her husband.
Mila put her hand on the closest chair and Zain swooped in to pull it out for her at the same time Dylan stood to grab the chair. Mila looked from Zain to Dylan and down to the chair. Zain smiled as politely as he could to Dylan. “I’ve got this.”
Dylan simply shrugged and took his seat again. Mila thanked him quietly as she took her seat. Zain sat on her other side and hadn’t even had time to scoot his chair in when Abby was leaning over and whispering, “What the hell was that all about?”
“Nothing,” Zain whispered back. Because it was nothing. He had a summit to prepare for and a nanotech lab to launch. He didn’t have time for a quickie with the sultry interpreter. However, that didn’t mean he liked the idea of Dylan having a quickie with her either.
The screen door slammed open and his mom’s two best friends, Kenna Ashton and Paige Parker, skidded to a halt and tried to casually make their way to where his mom sat with the Rose sisters. He knew trouble when he saw it, but Mila shifted in her chair and her leg softly grazed his thigh and all worry about what his mom and her friends were up to fled.
“So, you’re the interpreter for the chancellor,” Zain smiled as he tried to sound casual. “Where are you based?”
“Washington, D.C., Your Highness.”
Mila’s hands were clamped in her lap, her shoulders were back, and she had composed herself into all that was professional. Zain leaned back in his chair. “Zain.”
“Excuse me?”
“Call me Zain. Everyone does. You only have the slightest accent. Are you from Germany?”
Mila nodded and her wavy, walnut-colored hair bounced.
“I love Germany,” Sydney said from across the table. “I’ve been numerous times and always look forward to going back.”
Her husband, Deacon, smiled at Mila, and Zain felt foolish for being annoyed that his conversation with her had turned into a table-wide discussion. “How are you enjoying Keeneston? I know when I first arrived I was taken aback by . . . well, I can’t really put a word to it. Just know it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with it here. I hope you’ll have some time to explore while the summit is going on,” Deacon offered.
Mila’s shoulders relaxed as Zain sat back and watched her answer questions, ask questions, and even relax enough to laugh. Zain turned when the door opened and saw some more of his mom’s group come in. There was a group of nine of them that ruled the town. It didn’t matter what the Keeneston Ladies thought. It was the wives of all the Davies brothers, Paige Davies, Kenna Ashton, Bridget Mueez, and Zain's mother, Dani. The whole group considered themselves one big family.
Unfortunately, since Sydney just got married, her mother, Katelyn, had been telling everyone how wonderful it was to have a son-in-law and perhaps she soon might hear the little pitter-patter of babies running around. The year before, Sienna, Kenna’s daughter, married Ryan, who’s Paige’s son, which delighted the best friends to no end. Now all Zain heard about was that everyone was getting married. All the mothers, including Dylan’s mom, Tammy, who just walked in, had an unnatural gleam in their eyes. It gave Zain the shivers.
Zain leaned back in his chair and looked over Mila’s head at Dylan. “Dyl, this doesn’t look good.”
“It’s not for me. Mom’s been bugging Piper about finding, and I quote, ‘a nice young man to settle down with.’ Sometimes it’s great to have an older sister,” Dylan said in his deep voice.
“Bull. You’re going to kill any man that touches one of your sisters,” Abby teased. Dylan didn’t bother denying it.
“Cassidy,” Sydney called out to the young woman racing around the tables, filling drink orders.
“What’s up?” the young, perky blond asked.
“Your brother wants you to go over and spy on your mom and let him know if he’s next up on marriage block,” Sydney laughed.
“You’re such a coward, Dylan,” Cassidy said with a roll of her eyes before looking pointedly at Mila. “Maybe she’s the reason they’re here.”
“Me?” Mila asked.
At the same time, Zain and Dylan both said, “Her?”
“She is sitting between two of Keeneston’s most eligible bachelors. Even if one is a dork.” Cassidy’s hazel eyes flashed with curiosity.
Zain shook his head. “Mila Thiessen, Cassidy Davies, Dylan’s younger sister. And Cass, Mila just got to town an hour ago. She’s here because the airline lost her luggage and Syd brought her some clothes.”
“That sucks. Are you here for the summit?” Cassidy asked.
Mila nodded her head. “Yes, I’m the interpreter for the German chancellor.”
Suddenly Cassidy started talking quickly in a language Zain could only guess was German. Mila smiled and replied back and soon both of the women were laughing.
“I didn’t know you spoke German,” Dylan said with a raised eyebrow.
“I picked it up this spring.”