Suddenly Royal (25 page)

“
I know.” He frowned and looked out the window as we reached the palace gates.

The car deposited me and my bags at the main door while Chadwick basically pulled me into the palace. That was fine by me. I didn’t want to stay in that car another second.

Catherine and Alex were chatting near the entrance to a room. They were both wearing jeans and I felt incredibly overdressed. This was the first time I had seen Alex in jeans and I had to admit it might be my favorite view of him. His worried gaze found mine immediately.

“
Are you okay?” He took a step toward me and stopped.

“
Yeah. I’m okay.” I ran a hand through my hair but dropped it when I realized it was shaking. “It was pretty crazy.”

“
We heard the bodyguards talking about it. That must’ve been scary.” Catherine shook her head. “I’m so sorry they’re hounding you like this.”

“
Maybe when they figure out how boring I am, they’ll leave me alone.” I tried to make a joke, but it sounded a bit too hopeful.

“
I’m sure it’s going to calm down.” Alex’s fingers opened and closed by his legs. He looked antsy. In fact he looked as shaken up as I felt.

“
You went shopping without me!” Catherine glared at the bags someone carried in. I was grateful the subject change. I didn’t want to think about what had just happened.

“
It was Chad’s fault. He made me do it.” I pointed at my assistant, who rolled his eyes at me.

“
Trust me, there is still
much
more to do.” He lifted the bags. “I will take care of these, Samantha. Enjoy your night out with these two.” He gestured with a full hand toward Alex and Catherine. My heart froze. I’d almost forgotten I would have to go back out in that mess. “Don’t let them get you into any trouble, and call me if you need me when you get back.” He winked at me as he turned around so the others couldn’t see.

“
Thanks, Chadwick.”

“
We don’t have to go out.” Alex watched me carefully, a small tic running along his jaw.

I thought about it for a minute. I didn’t want to go out. I wanted to curl up somewhere quiet and hide. But I also didn’t want to stop living just because some nutso person wanted my picture.

“
I’ll call for extra security,” Cathy offered. “If you want. Or we can try again another day.”

“
No. Let’s go.” I was glad my voice sounded so sure, because the rest of me wasn’t. “Mind if I run and change? These shoes are killing me.” My feet were screaming in agony. I’d throw them away if I could forget how much they had cost.

“
Of course.” Alex leaned against the wall and tucked his hands into his coat.

“
I’ll be quick.” I hurried down the hallway in the direction of my room, only to stop and look around, confused. I looked back behind me and Catherine was smiling. Alex pointed to the right, so I nodded my head and took that hall.

Chadwick was standing at my door and held up one of my new sweaters.

“
Be careful tonight.”

“
I will.” I blew him a kiss as I took it out of his hand ducked into the room. I changed quickly, pulling my hair down from the clip I had been wearing and grabbing my scarf. I threw my necessities into my pockets and headed back to the others. The entire walk back I chanted in my head:
I can do this. I will have fun. I can do this. I will have fun.
I didn’t want the media to stop me from seeing my new country.

By the time I got there, my stomach was growling and Catherine laughed. “I think someone needs dinner.”

“
I haven’t eaten since noon.” I winced.

“
We can fix that. Do you have a preference?” Alex opened the door for us and I shook my head. I noticed there was a second car behind us, containing several bodyguards.

“
I’d settle for a peanut butter sandwich at this point.”

“
We can do better than that,” Catherine said as we climbed into the car.

“
What do you have in mind, Cathy?” Alex sat next to me, his leg brushing mine.

“
How about that little place you like in the South District?” Cathy poked at his stomach. “The one with all the greasy burgers.”

“
I don’t know. I just got back from the States, I’m not sure these will measure up. Why not get some local food?” Alex turned to look at me.

“
Sounds good.”

Cathy gave the name of the restaurant to the driver and we headed into town. Reporters followed us as soon as we left the palace gates. Cathy shook her head, but I could see how tense Alex was next to me.

“
What’s the big deal? We’re just going to dinner.” I frowned. Maybe we should have just stayed at the palace. Ordered pizza or something.

“
They’re hoping to catch an embarrassing shot.” Alex sighed. “It’s their livelihood.”

“
Like ketchup on our chin?” I was trying to lift some of the dreariness that had settled over the car.

“
Like us stumbling drunk out of a bar.” Catherine shook her head. “Like we would ever do that.”

“
It happens.” Alex frowned at her. “Kyle is often photographed acting like a baboon at nightclubs.”

“
Kyle just likes to have a good time.” Cathy looked out the windows. “Look, Samantha! There’s the Rousseau monument!”

I looked out the window surprised. “Really?”

“
Yes. Your family fought off a northern invasion and gave the capital enough time to rally troops.” Alex looked out the window with me as we drove past the large statue. A man rode a rearing horse, sword held high.

“
How about that.” I felt a little bubble of pride in my chest. My family had faced down invaders.

“
Just down the road here is the Lilarian library. There are paintings of some of the earliest families inside. You should go visit them when you have time.” Cathy was proving to be an excellent guide. “Oh! And that’s the Sverelle Bridge. Our mother’s family is responsible for it being here. It’s one of the few that survived the Nazis occupation.”

“
Wow.” And I meant it. There was intense pride in her voice for the work of their family and that of their country, and I understood. This was their home and they could literally trace their ancestors back to massive historical moments or places. It gave the history a life, a face.

We pulled up to a small family style restaurant situated between two buildings. There was faint music spilling out of the door, and I could smell food as soon as Duvall opened the car door. The press were on us immediately and I felt my hackles rise. I was trying to get used to the idea, but they certainly weren’t giving me any adjustment time. Alex opened the door for us and a tall thin man greeted us inside.

“
Your Highnesses, Duchess. A pleasure to see you.” He bowed to us.

“
We’ve been coming here since we were kids, Luca. Why are you suddenly bowing?” Cathy pulled her coat off and hung it on a rack near the door. A few of the patrons inside turned to look at us, but for the most part seemed more interested in their food.

“
Ah, but this is Duchess Rousseau’s first visit!” Luca smiled widely. He motioned us to follow him, and he sat at us at a booth in the back. It was far from the little window at the front and I knew he was used to dealing with public figures.

“
You’re going to love this place.” Cathy smiled at me over the table. She pushed a menu at me. “I already know what I want.”

Alex eyed the booth for a minute before taking a seat next to his sister. I was relieved. Sitting next to him in the car had been difficult enough. It’s amazing the little things you notice about someone when you have the hot’s for them. Like the way he smells or how long his legs are compared to mine. Then there are the other things, like wondering how his hands would feel running over my skin. Things I wouldn’t think about sitting next to just anyone, but here I was thinking about them and trying to pretend that I wasn’t.

I opened the menu and looked over the selections. I frowned when I realized it was in Lilarian. There weren’t even any pictures to help me pick. I looked up at my companions and Alex was watching me with shrewd eyes.

“
Need help?”

“
A translator would be nice.” I winced and laid down the open menu on the table. “I have no idea where to begin. I want to try something new.”

“
I hadn’t thought about that. You don’t speak Lilarian, do you?” Cathy shook her head. “You need a teacher.”

“
I have a teacher.” I raised my eyebrow at Alex. “I won one in a bet.”

“
Really?” Cathy looked at her brother. “You lost at something?”

“
Don’t.” He shook his head. “It’ll never happen again.”

“
What was it? The bet?” Cathy looked at me, her large eyes wide with curiosity.

“
I beat him at Monopoly.” Alex groaned and leaned back in his seat.

“
No way!” Cathy leaned forward. “Did you figure it out? He has to be cheating. There’s no way he’s won that many times otherwise!”

“
Maybe the karma gods thought it was time he lost.” I shrugged.

“
Karma gods, huh? Well, it’s about time.” Cathy sat back in her seat.

“
So, foreign-language teacher. Tell me what this is!” I pointed at the first thing on the menu.

“
Well, that is the word for stuffed.” Alex grinned while Cathy laughed.

“
Oh.” I looked at the menu and wondered if there were any words that wouldn’t trigger naughty thoughts.

“
And I said I’d be your teacher, not your translator.” Alex shook his head.

“
Well, you’re not doing such a good job. I’ve been here a day and know nothing. I think I should get the drawing as forfeit.” I narrowed my eyes at him. Luca brought over three glasses of water, wineglasses, and a bottle before quickly departing.

“
Drawing? Is that the one I saw on your desk?” Cathy turned toward Alex with a small smile.

“
Miss Nosy wanted to know what I was working on, so I made a bet. I won.”

“
So she hasn’t seen the picture?” Cathy narrowed her eyes at Alex.

“
No. But she does owe me a week of volunteer work for the FBT.”

“
Then how did he end up being your Lilarian teacher?” Cathy looked at me, confused.

“
It was a long flight. He lost the second game.”

“
Ha! Alex, you better start teaching her, or that lovely sketch isn’t going to belong to you anymore.”

“
Fine.” He leaned forward and pointed at the menu. “This is the word for stuffed. What do you think would be good stuffed?” His eyes twinkled at me in the candlelight. I could think of something I’d like to stuff, all right. And who I’d like to do the stuffing.

“
Chicken? Lamb? Some kind of pasta?” I ignored the innuendo, though it was hard to do.

“
Chicken. So, this is the word for chicken, this is stuffed, and see how these words are in the front? They tell you what the chicken is stuffed with. Here.” He turned the menu so that it was facing me. “See if you can figure out any of the other dishes with these words.”

“
What is this? Advanced classes? What happened to starting with the alphabet?” I let my eyes run over the menu and tried to pick out words that seemed familiar. There were a few words I remembered from my high school French class.

“
Go over there and help her! She’s starving and Luca will be back any minute.” Cathy shoved his shoulder.

He looked at me and I could see the hesitation in his eyes, but he slid out of the booth and in beside me. Leaning close, he pointed out some of the words that would help me most. After a minute I’d found a dish that sounded great and we were ready to order. Luca came over, blocking Alex’s exit from my side of the booth, and started pouring wine.

“
This is one of my favorites. A celebration to the duchess coming home!” Luca smiled at me and I lifted my cup before taking a sip. I wasn’t much of a drinker, so had no idea if it was a good vintage or not. It also struck me as odd every time someone welcomed me home. I understood why they said it, but home would always be in the States where I had grown up.

“
To the Rousseau family.” Cathy lifted her glass.

“
To Samantha.” Alex looked at me over his glass of wine.

The food was delicious and I was completely satisfied by the time Luca brought several bowls of chocolate mousse.

“
I don’t have room!” I groaned.

“
Make room! You don’t turn down Luca’s mousse. It’s amazing.” Cathy dove into her bowl with relish and I looked at Alex. He had finally relaxed next to me and stayed there through the dinner. His arm lay on the back of the booth and his long legs stretched out under the table.

“
Where does she put it all?”

“
No idea, but if you want to try it, you better do it before she finishes hers.”

“
You only live once, Sam! Try it!” Cathy nudged my bowl with her finger and I realized that was the first time she had called me by my nickname. A little piece of me relaxed and I picked up my spoon.

The dessert melted in my mouth and it was like I had swallowed a little piece of heaven. I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the flavors. There was a hint of raspberry from the sauce that made me consider pouring the rest of the bowl in my mouth. Forget the spoon. When I opened my eyes, Cathy was nodding her head in agreement, but Alex was watching my mouth with a stony expression.