His Forbidden Princess (9 page)

“Oh. What if I don’t like it?” It was a valid question, but it didn’t matter.

“You will. Trust me.”

“But what if I don’t? It is possible, Ian.”

“Do I have to remind you of the weekend we went to Paris?”

Her eyes narrowed at the reminder, then she looked away. “The view is quite nice here,”

she said.

Obviously, Sofie didn’t want to talk about Paris.

“You told me to let you order for me? I ended up eating pasta made with octopus ink?”

“I was helping you expand your palate,” she defended. “You needed to eat something

other than hamburgers, fish and chips, or shepherd’s pie.”

“I ate snails,” he said.

“
Escargot
and it was delicious.”

“Goose liver.”

“
Pate de fois gras.”

“Fish eggs.”

“
Caviar!
Oh, good grief. Stop it, now you’re just being contrary.”

He laughed, enjoying every annoyed look she sent in his direction. It was only a few minutes when two beers appeared on their table. No glasses, just the bottles.

He took a long pull on his, letting the cold brew make its way down. After waiting a few minutes for her glass to show up, and realizing it wasn’t going to, Sofie did the same. .

“Patty truly adores you. It’s sweet to see how you two are with each other. She’s like your big sister.”

“She’s good people,” Ian agreed. “Gave me a job when no one would hire me.”

“Why was that?”

“I was a little bit of a hell raiser. Got into some trouble.”

“You were? And now look at you. What changed?”

“My girlfriend dumped me.”

“Oh, no. Smartened you up a bit, I guess.”

He smiled, leaned back in his chair and sipped his beer. “That’s for sure. I was seventeen and she was the sixteen-year-old, youngest daughter of a very wealthy family. They’d rented a house for the season and she and I met at the beach.”

“A summer romance. I never had one of those.”

“There’s nothing better when you’re a teenager. Heat, hormones, and angst, make for some great memories.”

Now picking at the label on her beer, he could see her bottled-up nerves. “So tell me about your lost love,” she said.

“Ah. You want to hear about my humiliation? Her name was Hannah and she was

blonde, blue-eyed, and beautiful. Sweet as sugar. I gave up my rowdy teenage ways for her.”

“I doubt you were that rowdy.”

“I got in my share of trouble. Nothing serious, but Hannah had two older brothers who didn’t like that their little sister was getting mixed up with a local. So, when the end of the summer came and her family had a big party to send off the season, I wasn’t invited. I thought it was a mistake, so I showed up. Her brothers and their friends kicked the crap out of me.”

“Oh, that’s mean. That’s awful. It’s not like you were robbing banks.” Sofie was so angry for him, it made him smile. “Snobs. I have no use for snobs. I hope she married badly.”

“Things have a funny way of working out, you know? I straightened up, obviously. But a couple of years ago I was in on a joint operation with the SEC, and one of the guys arrested was one of Hannah’s brothers. Apparently, he’d been laundering money for some very shady characters. He’s in prison now.”

Sofie clapped her hands together in celebration. “Oh, that’s brilliant. I love it. Did he recognize you?”

“Not at first. I reminded him when I cuffed him and marched him out in front of his entire staff. I’m not normally into payback, but the bastard broke my nose. I think I was entitled to that one.”

Clinking her beer bottle to his she smiled. “Here’s to justice being served.”

Justice
. He doubted Sofie felt justice was at work where her family was concerned. He sensed she felt life was treating them pretty unfairly.

They went quiet. It wasn’t a difficult silence, but an easy one. The kind of silence you could have with an old friend or lover. Comforting. And unnerving. They had slipped into old habits so easily—walking closely, light touches, inside jokes, offering a napkin or a smile without any prompting. Their brains might have been begging them to keep the relationship friendly, but there were other things at work. Like their hearts.

“I like your uncle. Very much,” she offered quietly. “The influence he’s had over you is quite obvious.”

“He’s a good man. I was lucky to have all my uncles when my father died, but I’ve

always had an extra bond with Uncle John.”

“Your father had four brothers?”

“Yep. My grandparents raised five boys. I can only imagine the insanity.” He laughed to himself. Knowing the kind of trouble he got into, he thought about multiplying that by five and was convinced there should have been an award for surviving that kind of stress.

“But what fun. All those sons. I’m sure it was never boring.”

The way she smiled at him right then brought back all the memories of the first time they met. He was a first semester graduate fellow in International Studies when she came into the department office to meet with a professor she was working with on some special research project. It was unusual for an undergrad, but the fire in her eyes, the intelligence, told Ian this girl was anything but usual. He liked her immediately.

Their second meeting they exchanged names. The third time they ran into each other in the library. The same with the fourth, but that was when Ian asked her out for coffee, and she said yes. Their friendship grew and two months after their first meeting, Ian asked Sofie out on an official date.

It was the first time he kissed her.

His heart hadn’t been the same since.

He was brought back to reality by Patty who placed two lobster roll specials on the table.

“I dare you to find better than that.”

Patty smacked him on the shoulder before walking away. Sofie was staring at her

sandwich.

“I will say this looks quite edible, but I’d like to know exactly what I’m eating.

Obviously we have pommes frites,” she pointed at the French fries. “And this looks like lobster?”

“Very good. This is a lobster roll, a traditional coastal dish in the northeast. It’s fresh lobster meat with mayonnaise and seasonings on a buttered, toasted roll”

“Oh. So nothing I have to be wary of?”

“No. There’s no octopus ink in this.”

She giggled as she dipped her first French fry in the catsup, then took a bite. “It was squid ink and you have to admit, that was a fun night.”

“
For you
. It was fun for you.”

Picking up her sandwich, Sofie took a bite and the only way Ian could have described her face was pure joy as she started to enjoy her lunch. It was almost as good as watching her eat the Twinkie.

“Good?” he asked, taking a bite of his sandwich.

“Divine.” Reaching out for his hand, breaking the rules they’d agreed upon, Sofie laced her fingers with his. “Thank you for bringing me here and for introducing me to Patty. I see that she’s special to you.”

“She is. I’m glad you could meet her.” He should have pulled his hand back, but he

didn’t. Instead he squeezed her hand tight and let the warmth that was uniquely Sofie go right to his core. Agreeing to be her bodyguard was a huge mistake. Right then and there, when their eyes locked and held, Ian knew he’d never be objective where she was concerned.

Sofie wandered the aisles of the market pushing the basket that Ian was filling with food.

He’d picked up steaks they would grill for dinner, as well as the things all good pantries should have. Sofie was overwhelmed at the selection because she never did shop for food, but she was also taken aback by how little of the food was fresh. What did he say about the Twinkies she so loved? They could last on a shelf for over thirty years? That was a tad frightening, but she had no intention of giving up her new favorite thing, which she spotted on the shelf at that very moment.

She picked two boxes and put them into the cart while he was scanning the different loaves of bread. It made Sofie think of the bakeries that dotted every street in the market district at home. There were cheese shops, sweet shops, and butchers all bunched together, with each one offering not only fresh food, but an experience. It was something these large markets lacked, in her country and here.

Every once in a while, someone would stop Ian to say hello and ask after his mom or one of his uncles, aunts, or cousins. Ian’s younger sister, Faith, was in the Navy, a newly commissioned medical officer she’d just been assigned to a ship, and was asked for often. The Stuarts were a well-liked and respected part of the community, and Sofie fell for him a little bit more every minute.

He was a good man. The very best and she loved him more now than she did eight years ago. In just two days she learned about the man he’d become--the public servant, the son, the nephew, the neighbor. But love wasn’t part of this equation. They were no closer to being together, in fact, with her position; they were farther apart than ever before. And Sofie had to get the fantasy that they had a chance out of her head.

“Sofie? Two boxes?” Looking up she saw Ian holding one box of Twinkies in each of

his large, beautiful hands.

“Don’t you dare put those back.”

“I won’t I may add another box. It looks like we might be stuck at the house for a couple of days. There’s a bad storm heading our way. I just got an alert from the Bureau.”

“A storm? What kind of storm?”

Glancing at his smartphone, he grimaced. “It’s a hurricane right now, sitting just off the Georgia coast, but the water is still too cold up here to sustain those winds. The way it looks we’re going to get a pretty good tropical storm. Lots of rain.”

“We won’t have a problem?”

“No. We’ll just stock up on essentials, some bottled water, batteries. We’ll get some comfort food.”

She nodded, a little nervous, because she’d never gone through something like a tropical storm before. They had blizzards in Aubonne, but the country was landlocked, and mountainous.

“Come on,” he said. “We better get our provisions before the crowd gets here.”

Ian took the cart from her and she followed, picking up things that wouldn’t spoil should they be stranded or without power.

Just as he predicted as word of the storm hit the island, the people were out in force. By the time she and Ian had paid for the items, the store was very busy. It amazed Sofie how quickly people could mobilize when they heard about foul weather, it actually had her a little worried.

“Why did you only just hear about the storm?” Weren’t they able to forecast the weather more than two days in advance?

“The best I can tell you is that it was originally supposed to go out to sea. It didn’t. It changed course and is heading in our direction.” He glanced over as he took a gentle curve through one of the most picturesque parts of the island. “There’s nothing to worry about. I’ve been through storms much worse than this one.”

“Okay. I’ll try to think of it as an adventure. It’s new for me, though. I’ve never been through anything like this.”

“There’s a first time for everything.”

Right.

When they arrived home, Ian saw his uncle on a ladder taping a large second floor

window. He tended to over prepare for storms of any kind, but Sofie didn’t know that and her eyes went wide. “It’s just a precaution,” Ian reassured her.

“Why does he do that?”

“It’s so glass doesn’t shatter. He’ll only do it with the big windows and doors.”

“Oh.”

That was all she said. “Come on. Let’s get the groceries inside. Then we can give him a hand.”

Sofie nodded and to her credit grabbed two of the grocery sacks from the back of the car.

There was no pretense, no hesitation, she just pitched in and helped. It was one more thing he remembered about her. And why he never suspected she was royal.

Her ability to be kind, helpful…normal…were all reasons he believed they'd had a future.

Fighting the urge to try again with her was taking everything he had. He knew it couldn’t happen because their situation was no better, in truth, it was worse. His uncle came down from the ladder and handed him the masking tape.

“I don’t think the storm’s going to be a problem, but the big windows have all been taped just in case. She’s already weakening, as she heads north, but winds will be hitting seventy miles an hour by the time it makes landfall in our neck of the woods. It’s supposed to pass to the west.”

“Great.” Ian knew they’d have an easier time if the storm passed to the east, but he couldn’t control it, so he was glad they were ready.

“A package came for you. I’m guessing it’s the secure phone you requested.”

“Good. Sofie really needs to talk to her family. It’s only been two days and no matter how many times I tell her they’re okay, I don’t think she believes me.”

“Are they okay?”

Ian locked eyes with his uncle and looked at the door to make sure they were alone

before he answered. “They aren’t dead, but they are going into hiding. Maybe even permanent exile.”

A soft whistle escaped his uncle’s lips. “That’s huge.”

“I know. I haven’t figured out how I’m going to tell her.”

Folding up the a-frame ladder, his uncle lifted it and took two steps. “I’m leaving for Florida later tonight, unless you want me to stay.”

“Were you able to get another flight?” It looked like his uncle was going to get south no matter what he had to do.

“Hell no. I’m driving.”

“Driving? You’ll be going right into the rain and wind. Did you bump your head when you were on the ladder?”

“Don’t be a smart ass. My flight was cancelled, and everything else was booked, so I’ll head west, and then south. Stay out of trouble that way.”

This didn’t sound like his uncle. Normally, the man would be keeping his eye on the homestead during a storm, now he was leaving?

“Uh huh. Trouble, right. Have you heard from Mom, or any of your brothers?”

“Oh, yeah. Your mother will be here in a week or so. Your uncles will be around if you need help after the storm. Call Roy if it’s an emergency. He’s the only one who always carries his cell phone.”