by Amanda Tru
He paid the bill and found himself resting his hand on the small of her back as they walked back to his SUV. Mark found himself wondering what it would be like to kiss her.
When was the last time he’d wanted to kiss a woman?
He’d never even felt that way about Addie. He hadn’t let himself even as he believed he was falling in love with her.
After a stop at the hotel to get her things, they drove straight to Jonathan’s estate. Casey gasped as the house came into view.
“I knew he had money,” she whispered, “but I never imagined I’d see it myself.”
“You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen some of the palaces around the world. This is very nice, don’t get me wrong, but compared to say, Buckingham or the Montevarian palace set in the middle of an island in an Alpine lake? This pales in comparison.”
“I’m sure it does.” The wistfulness in her voice told him she’d like to visit those places someday. For most tourists, even with money, they’d never get to see more than the public tour areas, and not all palaces had them. Buckingham did at times, but the Montevarian castle only did tours for very select groups.
Mark wanted to tell her that someday he’d take her, but he didn’t want to make a promise he wasn’t certain he could keep.
He parked the car near the outer door leading to a small entry and stairs to the apartment. Both doors were locked, so he showed her how to punch in the code, should she need it.
About halfway up the stairs, Casey stopped in her tracks.
“I don’t have my van. How do I get to the convention center tomorrow?”
Mark had thought of that about the time he punched in the code for Jonathan’s gate. “I’ll pick you up. If something comes up and I can’t, Kenzie is going in the morning. If you need to go earlier than her, Jonathan has a car you can borrow. He likely has several you could use.”
She started back up the stairs. “I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that. I’d much rather go pick it up now.” At the top of the stairs, she punched in the code like he’d shown her. “That is, if you really think something might come up so you can’t come get me. I don’t mind that as much, though I’m not sure I can define why.”
“Because I’m your date for the day.”
“Which reminds me. I need to get Bruce from Jonathan.”
“I talked to him while you were getting your things from the hotel so he’d know we were on our way. Lorelai offered to watch him tomorrow while you’re at the craft show.”
“That’s very kind of them but unnecessary.”
Mark set her suitcase and duffle bag down near the sofa. “Jonathan already had his assistant get them everything Bruce needs. He’s being fed and has a litter box.” Mark sat down on the couch, right in the middle. If she wanted to sit by him, she could, or there were two other chairs she could choose.
She sat inches away from him, though she perched on the edge.
The question was, could he work up the nerve to kiss her?
As she tried to work up the nerve to lean back against Mark’s arm where it was outstretched along the back of the sofa, Casey wondered when she’d get around to texting Rachel about Bruce.
“Would you like to watch a movie? Can we even watch a movie in here?” She looked around. A large television hung over the fireplace, but she had no idea if there were movies or a streaming service.
“We can find something, or we could talk some more.”
She finally let herself sit back. “I’d like that.”
Mark’s fingers played with the hair at the nape of her neck, but he didn’t try to get her to move closer to him. She could have chosen one of the other chairs, but she wanted to be next to him.
“You need to relax. I’m not going to hurt you or try to take advantage of you or do anything that makes you uncomfortable. If you’d like me to go, I will. If you want me to give you a neck and shoulder rub because that’s where you’re carrying all of your tension from today, I can do that.”
“If I want you to kiss me?” Casey blurted the question out before she could stop herself.
Mark chuckled. A warm sound that sort of rolled over her. “I might be convinced to do that before I leave, but likely not until I’m at the door.” He stood and moved the coffee table out of the way. “Have a seat on the floor and let me see if I can work some of those knots out of your muscles.”
She slid onto the floor as he moved to sit behind her.
Strong hands squeezed her shoulders lightly before his thumbs began to knead right where she needed it most.
“You’re good at this,” Casey told him.
He kept going but didn’t say anything.
“Have you ever been in love before?” She needed to know, and if this was going to work, she’d have to tell him about her old boyfriends. All two of them. The history of her love life was quite boring.
“Once. I thought I was anyway.”
“What happened? Did she not feel the same way?”
“She never knew.”
He didn’t seem to be lacking in courage, so why wouldn’t he have told her? She asked him just that.
“It’s complicated,” he told her with a sigh. “Or rather, it’s not complicated at all. I knew there was no chance of a future with her, so why tell her something when I knew she didn’t feel the same way and would never even entertain the idea of a relationship.”
“Why wouldn’t she? Unless she was the queen or something, that’s ridiculous.” Even as she said it, Casey remembered who his boss was. “That’s it, isn’t it?”
“I moved here with the Crown Princess and one other guard, Todd, for six years. The three of us were virtually inseparable. Everyone here thought we were chosen by our country for full scholarships. They bought us a place to live and paid our bills while we learned, so that was true in a sense. We weren’t with Addie all the time like you’d expect. We all went to school. We all took classes. We all were in most of the same classes. But as time went on, we became more like friends.”
That had to be hard. To become friends when you knew the friendship would be limited to a certain time and place. When they returned to Europe, things would automatically be different. She asked Mark just that.
“Exactly. When we weren’t here, Addie kept a low profile for the most part. She didn’t want to be seen in public much so that her pictures would make their way back to Serenity Landing and her privacy would disappear.”
His thumbs worked in tandem on the tendons in her neck. Casey had to stop herself from groaning at how good it felt. “What happened?”
“She took one of the cars one night. Ice came on earlier than expected. She was in a fender bender with a single dad, one she fell in love with almost immediately. Her father and Parliament would never approve of Charlie, though, and he refused to leave Serenity Landing.”
“Why? If she was a princess, he had to understand that she would be queen someday and couldn’t stay here.”
“Exactly, but he didn’t know who she was, just that she refused to even consider the idea of staying local. He grew up with parents who lived all over the world on archaeological digs. He grew up living out of a tent or a trailer or here with his aunt and uncle. He didn’t want that for his daughter. He wanted roots here.”
“How did she find out?”
“Do you remember when the US President was in Europe a few years ago, and his family went skiing, but a local king had an accident and was injured?”
Casey searched the back of her mind. “Vaguely. Rachel probably told me about it.”
“That was her father, King Jedidiah. She went straight home. Because the First Family was there, the news covered it here in the States. Charlie and Lindsey, his daughter, saw her on the news.”
“And that’s when she dated Jonathan? I do remember that much.”
“Yes. But then a bunch of stuff happened. Charlie saved her from a guy who got too handsy. His parents and daughter were both given titles for finding a los
t treasure. He received an Order of Merit of some kind for his actions. Her father decided to go up against Parliament if he had to, but in the end, he didn’t.”
“And all the while, you were in love with her.”
His hands stilled. “I thought I was. I don’t know for sure. I suppose when I’m in love for real, I’ll be able to compare and see if I was really in love with her or if I was in love with the idea of her or the idea of something sort of forbidden overcoming the odds. Regardless, after a couple of years back in Montevaro, I decided I didn’t want to be there anymore, so I came here.”
“Self-exile?”
“In some ways, I suppose.” He sounded sad. “I still talk to my parents regularly and visit several times a year. The queen lets them stay at the house when they come here for a visit, but it isn’t the same. I always thought I’d move back and be part of Addie’s detail when she returned to life as Crown Princess and eventually queen. I was but not like I envisioned. I decided it was time for a change.”
Casey leaned her head against his knee. “I don’t know why you ended up back here, but today I’m glad you did.”
His hand rested on her head, and his fingers brushed her hair away from her forehead. “I am, too.”
He hadn’t kissed her.
By the time they finished talking about Addie and Mark’s relationship with her, such as it was, Casey had been too tired to think clearly. He wasn’t about to kiss her in that state of mind.
Maybe before the day was out, there would be another chance.
He pulled up outside the apartment and texted her that he’d arrived, just as she’d requested. While he waited, he sipped on his coffee. He hadn’t been that open with anyone about his feelings for Addie, ever. Todd suspected, but Mark had never confided in anyone before.
Why now?
Why Casey?
Because instinctively he knew something was different with her?
Or he was just tired of pretending when that question came up?
A text from Casey said she’d be down in a minute. Before he could reply, his phone rang. The number wasn’t stored in his phone, but he recognized it as the queen’s private line.
He swiped across the screen. “Good morning, Your Majesty.”
“It’s afternoon here, Mark.”
“It’s still early morning here.” He took another sip.
“I spoke with Jonathan last night. He told me about the cat and how you spent the day at a craft fair.”
Mark knew Jonathan only had the best of intentions, but he wished the other man had kept his mouth shut. “Yes. All of those things are true.”
“Do you like her?” There was undisguised glee in the queen’s voice.
He put his coffee in the holder. “Listen, Addie…”
Before he could go on, she interrupted him. “Addie? You never call me that anymore.”
No. He never did. “Because I’m not talking to my queen at the moment. I’m talking to the woman who was my friend but who, because of life’s circumstances, no longer can be. Please leave it alone. Leave my love life alone. Who I date, or don’t date, or if I date, is my business. Unless and until it affects my job, I need you to back off and let it go.”
Silence on the other end of the line told him his words hit their mark. He never wanted to hurt her - that was the last thing he’d choose - but it needed to be said. He and Addie couldn’t be friends.
Not while Adeline was both his boss and his queen.
“I understand.” Her quiet words told him something had shifted in their relationship, something that had shifted years earlier but was finally being acknowledged. “I do want only the best for you, Mark.”
“I know, and I appreciate that, but there comes a time where we need to maintain professional boundaries, and this is it.”
“Then I will wish you well and see you the next time I come to the States.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Goodbye, Mark.” There was a finality to her tone as she hung up, one he didn’t quite understand. Just because he needed her out of his love life didn’t mean he wanted their easy working relationship to end.
He reached for his coffee cup as Casey opened the passenger door. Shoot. He’d meant to get out and greet her, open her door for her. Be a gentleman.
“Everything okay?” she asked as she buckled her seatbelt.
Mark shifted into gear. “Yeah. Just had a phone conversation that didn’t go how I would have expected but it’s fine.”
“You don’t have to stay with me today, you know.”
He made a conscious effort to shake himself out of the funk. “I know, but I want to. I mostly enjoyed yesterday, and this time I’ll know what I’m doing.”
“I do appreciate it.”
“I’m happy to.” He’d picked her up earlier than strictly necessary because he wanted to make a stop before going to the convention center.
“I know I’m new and all, but is this the right way?”
“Did you eat breakfast?” he asked glancing over at her as they passed Serenity Landing High School.
“No.” She twisted in her seat. “Are those cows?”
He chuckled. “Yes.”
“At the high school?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a thing?”
“Serenity Landing is still a semi-rural area. A large portion of the student population live on farms and want to farm or do other agricultural related jobs when they grow up. The Ag department raises cows every year. They also rotate crops in the acreage around the school. I think one is soybeans and one is hay, but I’m not sure what the others are or if soybeans is right. They’ve always hayed the area around the school.”
“Wow. Don’t have anything like that in the city.”
“I’d imagine not.”
She turned back to look at him. “Did you say something about breakfast?”
“Chick-fil-A is right around the corner. We’ll grab something and eat on the way to the convention center because you need to eat breakfast.”
“I normally do, you know. Yesterday, I overslept. Today, I didn’t have anything available.”
“I understand completely. Just making sure you get some.” He turned into the parking lot and into one of the two drive-through lanes. An employee he didn’t recognize, but whose nametag said her name was Maggie, met them with an iPad in hand. He ordered his usual - chicken breakfast burrito, no hash browns, with bacon and Chick-n-minis.
Maggie turned to Casey. “And for you, ma’am?”
Casey winced. “I have had breakfast here like once. Do you have a menu?”
The girl smiled and handed a laminated card about the size of a piece of paper through the window. Mark passed it over to Casey who studied it for a moment.
“A chicken biscuit and the biggest coffee you’ve got.” She handed the card back to him. “Thanks.”
Maggie gave him the total and told him he could pay at the window.
He pulled around, stopping two cars back from the window itself.
“Thank you for thinking of this,” Casey told him. “You didn’t have to.”
Mark reached over and took her hand, linking their fingers. “I find I like the idea of your company in the morning as well. It’s no trouble at all.”
“Even though nothing happened last night?” She looked straight ahead as the cars began to move.
“What do you mean nothing happened last night?” He squeezed her hand. “I spent a lovely evening with a beautiful woman. What more does there need to be?”
Was this guy for real? Casey sure hoped so.
None of the other guys she’d met through the app - or in real life - felt that way. Or didn’t seem to anyway.
As Mark eased the car forward to the window, he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. “Good morning, Ashleigh,” he said to the young woman standing at the window.
“Hi, Mark. I thought that was you! Not many people get that combo.” She handed him a cup of coffee that h
e handed to Casey. “Do you need cream or sugar?” Ashleigh leaned around a bit, so she was looking at Casey, not Mark.
Casey lifted the cup. “This is perfect, thanks.”
Ashleigh handed him a bag of food. “You know you could get your coffee here.”
Mark grinned at her. This was clearly a conversation they had often. “You know I like my own blend. Thanks, Ashleigh.”
“My pleasure. Have a great day!”
Casey took the bag from him as he handed it over. “You come often?”
“Often enough. She knows I get extra good coffee from home. I have a Thermos of it in the back if you want some. I wasn’t sure if you drank it or not.” He looked both ways then turned back down the way they’d come.
“This will do for now.” She took a small sip to check the temperature. Hot, but not too hot. A longer sip followed before she put it in the cup holder. “Do you want your burrito or your other thing?” Passenger always handled divvying up the food.
“Nothing just yet. Give it a minute.” He turned onto another road, one they hadn’t been down before. A couple minutes later, they pulled onto a dirt road then came almost to a stop. He inched the car forward a little bit until she could see the lake spread out beyond the windshield.
“Aren’t we a little close to the edge? Are we even allowed to be here?” Hadn’t there been private property signs?
“This is Jonathan’s property. I told him we’d be out here. Normally, there’s a gate, but he had one of his guys open it for us so I wouldn’t have to.”
“He’s quite a guy.” She took her biscuit out and handed the bag to Mark. “But we’re not too close?” She couldn’t see the edge of the cliff.
“Nah. It’s farther than it looks, but I’m still careful when I pull up.”
They ate in silence as the sun continued to rise in the sky over the lake.
“It’s pretty,” Casey told him as she balled up her tin foil wrapper.
“I like it here. It reminds me a little bit of home, though this lake isn’t quite as pristine as that one.”
