“Actually, I haven’t had a chance to look at the selection.” I cleared my throat and picked up the large red menu.
“I’ll give you a little more time.”
“Could you turn the heat up a little?” The waitress started to turn, but his voice stopped her. His blue eyes locked on mine and for a minute I wondered if my clothes had caught on fire. Or maybe his accent had managed to make it hotter without turning up the heat. “I noticed your hands were cold.”
“No, no. I’m fine really.” It was cold in the restaurant, not that I noticed right this minute. Or maybe that was just the dress I was wearing. It wasn’t exactly designed for winter wear, but it was the nicest dress I owned. When my mother passed, it was one of the things I had made sure didn’t disappear. I wasn’t much of a fashionista, but I loved the vintage Chanel.
He looked at the waitress and smiled. “The heat, please.”
“Of course, Your Highness.” At her use of his title, the corners of his mouth twitched down briefly and he looked back at his menu.
“Thank you, but I really was fine.” I looked at him and narrowed my eyes. I didn’t care for men that ordered food for their women and picked out their clothing. Even if he was hot as hell. Maybe he was just used to making decisions for everyone.
“No reason to be uncomfortable.” He smiled, his eyes moving back to my face. I felt heat creep into my cheeks and I looked away. Squinting, I stared at my menu, not really seeing the words, and tried to crush the odd effect he seemed to have on me. This was a business meeting and it needed to stay professional.
I could feel his gaze like a hot touch and it was getting to me. It had been a while since I had been with a man, but that was fixable. They made toys to replace men. However, I had a feeling Prince Alex would make my toy wholly inadequate.
“Have you been here before, Samantha?” Rose’s voice drifted to my ears and I was glad for the distraction.
“No, this is the first time I’ve eaten at the Parallel, but I’ve heard the food is wonderful.” I smiled over my menu at the other woman. Sometimes there’s a feeling when you meet someone, a sense of understanding and connection. I felt it with Rose. “Dr. Geller comes here occasionally for business lunches. Speaking of Dr. Geller, I wasn’t able to get in touch with him before coming to dinner, so please forgive me for being unprepared. I’m not sure what exactly we’re discussing tonight.”
Rose smiled at me for a minute as if amused. I looked over at Prince Yummy—dang it, Alex, and frowned. His eyes were moving back and forth between me and his aunt, a small smile playing along his delicious lips.
“Let’s order and then we’ll talk about it. I’m starving.” Rose set her menu down, so I quickly looked through and picked something to eat. My mind was racing. Something weird was going on here and I was going to figure it out. I looked for the waitress and smiled, hoping that would bring her to the table a little faster so we could get down to business.
She glared at me as she sauntered back to us and I wondered why the staff here seemed to hate me so much. What on Earth had I done? Shown up to dinner with the duchess and the prince… Oh. The prince. She was glaring at me because I was eating dinner with Prince Yummy. Sheesh. It wasn’t like we were alone. Who brings their aunt on a date?
The thought brought heat to my cheeks—again. I was never going on a date with Alex. We were from different worlds. He wore expensive suits and probably never got his hands dirty. I wore blue jeans and flannel shirts. My hands were always dirty. Okay, not always dirty. I washed them, but I worked with animals and out in the field.
“You’re ready?” The waitress once again turned her body and ample cleavage toward Alex and smiled.
“Ladies first.” Alex leaned forward so he could look around the waitress. “Samantha, what would you like?” My name spoken in that accent made it sound much sexier, but it was the glint in his blue eyes that made my skin hot.
“I’ll take the chicken, please.” There were no prices on the menu, but I was certain that had to be the cheapest thing on there. Chicken would certainly fall under lamb or duck. I hoped.
“Got it.” If the waitress had been chewing gum she would have popped it in her mouth at me. I was torn between amusement and being offended. She smiled at Rose, though. A disgustingly sweet expression that made her look sick. Or maybe it just made me nauseated. “And for you, Duchess?”
“I’ll have the same thing Lady Rousseau is having.” Rose pushed her menu toward the waitress, but the girl didn’t notice. She was looking at me with a worried expression. I shrugged, not sure what to say. A deep chuckle made me sit up straighter in my seat and look at Alex. He was watching me, an amused glint in his eyes as if he was in on a secret.
“I’d like the rib eye, please. Rare.” He handed his menu to the waitress without looking at her and leaned forward, his hands clasped in front of him, and smiled at me. “Samantha. Are you from here?”
“I’m a transplant. My family moved here ten years ago for a job. Thankfully, the college I wanted was nearby.”
“Is that so?” Alex leaned forward and looked at me intently. “I would think most people going off to college would want to get as far away from home as possible.”
“My mother passed away and I didn’t want to leave my father.” I didn’t like where this conversation was going. I felt like I was giving away secrets. Secrets that could be important for some reason.
“How is your stepfather? I understand he’s been sick.” Rose’s eyebrows drew together. “I can’t say I care very much for the way that healthcare is handled in the States.”
“He’s handling everything very well, thank you.” I guess my outburst with her lackey earlier hadn’t gone unreported. “But we’re not here to discuss my family. What kind of questions do you have about the center and our program?”
Rose leaned forward. “Actually, your family is exactly why I am here.”
How to Lose a Royal
—Perry Talks
“My family?” I felt my eyebrows rise and tried to control my expression. What the hell was going on?
“Why did you decide to keep your mother’s maiden name when she married your father?” Rose folded her hands in front of her and her eyes bored into mine.
“I’m not sure why that would be any of your business.” I looked at Alex, but his face gave nothing away. “I thought I was here to discuss the raptor program for Dr. Geller.”
“Yes, I realized that earlier. However, I was hoping to discuss something else.” Rose leaned back as the waitress and several helpers delivered their food to the table. “I was hoping to discuss you.”
“I can’t imagine why.” Shaking my head, I leaned back so the waitress could set my plate in front of me. “Thank you.”
“Do you know much about Lilaria?” Rose took a sip from her glass before picking up her fork and knife. “We’re a small but proud country.”
“No, I can’t say I know much about your homeland.”
“Let me tell you a bit about it. We control a rather large portion of Europe’s oil resources, which brings a great deal of wealth to our citizens, but it also brings trouble. In the late eighteen hundreds, a royal family of the name Malatar felt it was time for a change; however, they didn’t want an outright war. You see, they didn’t have many supporters. The country was flourishing and the people were happy.” Rose looked at the waitress, who seemed to be taking longer than needed to deliver Alex’s plate. With annoyance, I realized she was buttering his roll while pushing her cleavage into his face. I don’t know why I cared, but it bothered me. Here we were trying to have an important conversation and this chick was acting like a dog in heat. He didn’t look exactly happy about it, but also looked like he wasn’t sure how to stop it without a fuss.
When the waitress stood up with a smile on her face, I pushed my dinner roll in her direction. “What exceptional service the Parallel offers. Thank you.” The waitress’s eyebrows pulled together, but there wasn’t much she could do. Taking the butter knife off my dish, she slathered the roll with butter and set it back on the plate.
“I haven’t seen bread buttered that well in a long time.” I smiled at her sweetly and heard Alex chuckle. The waitress turned around and stormed away. I narrowed my eyes at Alex. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but maybe you should practice telling people to leave you alone. I thought she was going to maul you.”
“Occupational hazard. If I’m rude, there’s a story in the paper about me mistreating the staff. If I do nothing, it could go either way.” He raised an eyebrow. His words made me narrow my eyes; I was obviously not cut out for diplomacy. I was also a little surprised he had decided to explain it to me. “But thank you for stepping in. I was afraid to breathe or I might fall into her shirt.”
“No problem.” I shook my head and looked back at Rose, who was watching us. “You were telling me about the family trying to take over.”
“Yes. Well, they didn’t have much support, so began going after the royal families they thought would put up the most resistance. Several royal families died in bizarre accidents and that’s when everyone became nervous. There was a lot of anger and finger-pointing, but no hard evidence. Our family was left with no way to legally arrest the traitors.” Her sigh was laced with frustration. It was obviously something that had caused her relatives a great deal of stress. “Eventually, some of the families felt threatened enough to leave the country. At times with no notice, leaving everything behind like they would be back any day.” Rose leaned forward, her keen eyes brightening. “One of the largest families to leave was that of Duke Rousseau.”
I was glad I didn’t have anything in my mouth, because I was pretty sure I would have spit it out on the table. “You think I’m part of his family?”
“I know you are part of his family.” Rose’s grin was victorious. “My sister, the queen, has been searching for all the families for years in hopes of bringing them home. We’ve traced your family all the way back to the day they set sail from the French coast for America.”
I sat there for a minute, completely unable to form a coherent thought. Images of my mother passed before my eyes. Snippets of conversation repeated themselves. I knew that at one point my family had come from money, but my great-grandfather had gambled most of it away. Then there was the fact that my family had supposedly run. Run away and deserted our homeland. I felt sick. Confused.
“Why? Why are you telling me this?” I looked up from the plate of food I was no longer interested in.
“We want to reinstate your title and lands, Samantha. They are yours and have been kept in trust until we could find you.” Rose watched me, apparently not sure of my reaction.
“It’s true, Samantha. My mother has been searching for the missing families for years. If my aunt says you’re from the Rousseau line, then you are.” Alex reached out and touched my hand, the one that was clutching the fork so tightly my knuckles had turned white. Heat washed up my arm and I met his eyes.
“Why? Why would she want to find the people who abandoned their country?” I couldn’t wrap my brain around the thought.
“Samantha, in our country, the most important thing to us is family. Not just among the royals, but all our citizens. Our work laws are geared to protecting families. Duke Rousseau did what he did to protect his family. There was no legal way of safeguarding themselves, and he knew they would be targets.” Alex squeezed my fingers and I looked down at our hands. His was much larger than mine, and somehow, even though I had just met him, I found his touch comforting.
“What does this have to do with me? What do you want?” I thought I’d come here tonight to discuss a donation for the raptor program. Instead, my whole life was being turned upside down.
“As I said, the queen wants to reinstate your lands, Samantha.” Rose calmly folded her hands in her lap. “She wants to reinstate your title.”
“Title?” My mind was mush. I couldn’t make sense of what they were telling me.
“Yes. By all rights, you are the Duchess of Rousseau. You are the legal heir.”
I stared at her and tried to wrap my brain around what she was telling me. “That can’t be right. There must’ve been a mistake. I’m not a duchess. I’m a grad student.” I gently pulled my hand out from under Alex’s.
“Samantha, ask yourself this: Why did your mother keep her maiden name? Why did she not take your stepfather’s last name for you and herself?” Rose sat patiently, her face blank as she waited for me to think about it.
Unbidden, my mother’s voice filled my mind. There are two things you must never forget. One, you are a Rousseau and you should always be proud of that. Two, family always comes first. Always. She had told me those things a hundred times, but I’d always thought she was telling me to be proud of who I was, it didn’t matter that I didn’t know my father. And we were a family until we met Dean, my stepfather. And then they became family. The saying never changed. Family comes first.
“Did she know?” I looked at Rose and hoped she didn’t notice the tears in my eyes. Mom had been gone for five years, but it still hurt when I heard her voice in my head like that. And now, to find out this, I wasn’t sure what to do. What to think.
“I’m not sure. It’s likely she knew a little, but I don’t believe she knew everything.” Rose frowned. “I’m sorry we didn’t find you sooner. I would have liked to have met your mother. I understand she was a brilliant biologist.”
“She was.” My eyes slid around the room as I tried to regain my composure. How could she not tell me? Did she know the truth? Part of the truth? And what about my dad? My feet started to itch and I wanted to get up and go demand an answer.
“I’m leaving in a couple of days to head home. I’d like it very much if you would return with me.” Rose leaned forward. “The Rousseau family was a very important one and my sister is extremely excited to meet you.”
“In a few days? I can’t. I have school. Projects. I can’t just leave.” I shook my head. A queen wanted to meet me? This was insane. “What would I do?”
“Aunt, surely we can give her more time to consider everything.” Alex looked at Rose, his bright blue eyes serious. “That’s a lot to put on her all at once.”
“True.” Rose picked up her fork and knife and cut her chicken. “But the world has a way of throwing us curve balls. We have to decide whether to swing or strike out. This is your moment, Samantha. You’re up to bat.”
I snorted. I couldn’t help it. The duchess had just made a baseball analogy about my life. I picked up the glass of wine, deciding I needed a sip to help calm my jangling nerves. “How long would I be away?”
“That would depend on you. There is a ceremony to be performed. Legalities to be followed through with. Of course, once you take control of the estate and become the family head, it would be pertinent for you to stay in the country as much as possible. You would be your family’s voice on the council to the queen.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I looked at her, my mouth hanging open. “Holy shit. You’re serious.” Rose’s mouth twitched and I realized I had just cursed in the presence of royalty. “Sorry. A seat on the council to the queen? You guys know nothing about me!”
“That’s not true. You’ve made the dean’s list at your school every year. You were the top student to be chosen for your graduate program. You are dutiful to your family and take good care of your stepfather. You are a remarkable young woman our country would be proud to have.”
I knew my mouth was still agape. I didn’t care. Rose had just outlined my life, but instead of making it sound boring, she had made it sound like I was a saint.
“I can’t just leave school. My degree is very important to me.” I’d worked so hard to get to where I was. The scholarships alone had taken countless hours of work to receive.
“Raptors are incredibly important in our country. Each of the noble houses has one as their symbol. Your family is the merlin. A small but fierce bird. There are several well-known schools and programs that would be pleased to have you. And you would have the added benefits of our medical system for your father.” Rose looked up from her food. “There are many treatments available overseas your government has not allowed here.”
That gave me pause. More than anything she could have said tonight, that was the one thing that would make me seriously consider this craziness. From the look in her eyes, she knew it, too. I was being maneuvered. I didn’t like it, but at the same time, she made a good case. And I knew about merlins. They were amazing birds.
“I need to think about this.” I picked up my fork and pushed the potatoes on my plate.
“Of course.” Rose smiled and I caught a hint of victory in it. “Like I said, I will be here for a few more days. And if you decide to come, we can push it back a little so you can accomplish any tasks you’d need to do first. I’m sure you will want to speak with your father, as well.”
“Thank you, but I’m not sure I’ll be going.” I took another sip of wine. And then another. Oh good God. What would Dad say?
“I hope he will be able to come for the ceremony.” Rose sipped from her wine. “If you decide to take up the mantle, of course.”
If I decided, of course. I had a feeling it wouldn’t be that easy.
“If you come out, you’ll have to go hunting with me.” Alex nodded toward me.
“I’m not much of a hunter.” I racked my brain, wondering why he would think I would want to go hunting, but found it a little difficult to get past the fact he had asked me to do something with him. “I’ve only shot a gun a few times.”
He chuckled and the sound sent a wave of goose bumps over my arms. “No, I meant with birds. I own several hawks that are excellent hunters.”
“Oh.” That made much more sense. I scooped some of the food into my mouth, enjoying the flavors. Despite the crappy service, the Parallel’s food had lived up to the hype. “I’ve been a few times, but don’t have a bird of my own.”
“I’d be happy to lend you one of my birds. I’ve been away for a while, so it would be good to have help exercising them.” The corners of my mouth pulled up a little. He was being nice. There was no way he didn’t have a gamekeeper to help him take care of the birds while he was away.
“What do you have?” I pulled apart some of the bread I had asked the waitress to butter.
“Three Harris hawks.”
“Alex and his father are very large bird advocates in our country.” Rose tilted her glass toward her nephew. “He presented his first bill to the Lilarian council when he was twelve. He called for stricter punishments for the purposeful deaths of raptors and endangered birds.”
I looked over at Alex and felt my first true smile of the night. “That’s a pretty big proposal. Good for you.”
“Didn’t do it for me.” Alex sipped from his glass and smiled.
Playboy Prince on the Prowl
—L.A. Chatter
When I asked for the bill, Rose waved it off. “You’re our guest. We will take care of the bill.”
“Thank you.” I didn’t want to offend her by insisting, even though it made me uncomfortable.
“I hope to hear from you soon, Samantha.” Rose looked over her shoulder and Duvall appeared from the shadows of the room. I tried to keep my face from registering my shock. The man gave me the willies. He handed Rose a card and a pen. She wrote something on the back and handed it to me. “Call me if you have any questions. That’s my direct line.”
“Thank you.” I tucked the card into the small purse I was carrying. I was sure Rose didn’t give out that number very often, so didn’t want to risk losing it.
“Off to bed then, for me. I’m not as young as I used to be. But don’t let that stop you and Alex. I’ve heard there are many interesting places in town for young people.” Rose held her hand out to me and pulled me close once. Softly she kissed my cheek and smiled. “It’s been a pleasure, my dear. A pleasure.”
“Very much so.” I bussed her cheek and tried to suppress the queasy feeling that surfaced when she suggested I spend more time with Alex. What the hell was I going to do with a prince? Good grief, even the voice in my head squeaked when I thought the word prince.
I watched quietly as Alex kissed his aunt good-bye before Duvall ushered her through the restaurant. I looked up into Alex’s amused eyes when he cleared his throat.
“Would you like to get a drink? The bartender seems rather knowledgeable.” His eyes slid over my body in a lazy perusal. “Or if you’d prefer, we could try somewhere else.”
“I probably shouldn’t.” The most attractive man I had ever met just asked me for a drink and I tell him no? I’m insane. I’m sure he was just trying to be polite. “I drove, so no more drinks for me tonight.”
“Ah.” He looked down at me and I felt small. Not in the personal sense, but literally small. The man was tall. “Well then, let me walk you to your car.”
“Thank you.” As we moved toward the entrance, he placed a hand on the small of my back. The warmth from his palm seeped through the thin material of my dress and made me shiver.
“I thought you weren’t cold.” He dipped his head so his breath tickled my ear.
“I’m not.” My voice sounded a little breathy and I swallowed to wet my throat. “I mean, it’s cooler closer to the door.”
“Hm.” As we neared the door, he dropped his hand from my back and smiled at the hostess. “Our coats, please.”
“Of course.” She batted her eyes and I had to fight to not roll mine. When she brought our coats back, she practically threw mine at me and I had to scramble to not drop it. Alex swooped down and grabbed the coat before it could touch the floor and held it open for me. Carefully I shrugged into the ugly jacket and let him help shift the shoulders so it sat correctly. After pulling on his coat, he led me outside and motioned for the attendants. The young man who had given me my ticket earlier waved at me before running off toward the parking garage.
“Samantha, I hope you don’t mind my saying this, but I hope you consider what my aunt has offered. Our country would benefit from another forward-thinking member on the council. And our healthcare rivals the best. Your father would be well seen to.” Alex stepped close to me, buffering the strong winter wind.
“This is something I’m going to have to think about.” I shook my head—his eyes were almost hypnotizing. And he smelled scrumptious. Clean, delicious man. The longer I spent time with him, the harder it was to ignore how attractive he was.
“Of course.” He looked away from me for a minute, his eyes trailing over the traffic before turning back to me. “I know what it’s like to have your life turned upside down. Especially when you’ve worked as hard as you have at your education.”
“I have no idea how to be a royal. I can’t even speak Lilarian.” Thinking about it was overwhelming. “It’s a lot of responsibility. I don’t even know what a Duchess does.”
“We wouldn’t throw you to the wolves.” He dipped his head down so that he was looking me in the eye. “I wouldn’t throw you to the wolves.”
Not sure how to respond to that, I just nodded my head. His eyes starred down into mine and I felt entranced. There was some kind of emotion swirling behind that ice that I didn’t understand. I had the feeling he wouldn’t have promised to just anyone.
“Miss!” The parking attendant jogged toward us, my keys in his hand. I groaned when I realized what that meant. “I’m sorry ma’am, but I can’t get her to start.”
“Not again.” I closed my eyes for a brief moment. “Okay. Where is it parked?”
“It’s on the third deck. I can take you to it, but I popped the lid and checked the battery and I don’t think a jump will do it.” The young man held the keys out to me and I took them from his hand.
“It’s probably the starter.” Turning toward Alex I smiled ruefully. “Thank you for dinner. I’ll be in touch with your aunt about what we discussed.”
“How are you going to get home?” Alex stepped closer and touched my shoulder when I started to turn.
“Well, I’m going to go check to see what’s wrong, and I guess I’ll call a cab.” I winced slightly at the thought. A cab home from downtown would cost a small fortune.
“Let me call a car for you and I’ll have someone take care of your truck in the morning.” Without waiting for my response he looked at the attendant. “Will the vehicle be fine where it is for now?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Very well. Please call us a car.”
“No, thank you, but I can take care of my own business.” I narrowed my eyes at Alex. He definitely was used to being in charge. Too bad I wasn’t used to people making my decisions.
“Samantha, I’m not going to let you run off into a dark parking garage to take care of a broken vehicle.” He shook his head. “What kind of man would I be?”