“Oh, this is too great,” Maria cried. “You’re carrying her over the threshold. Oh, I’m going to cry.”
Again, Angelina felt shame for deceiving Rico’s family, but selfishly, her guilt was surpassed by the thrill of being in Rico’s strong arms. His large hands cupped her intimately and she melted against him. In two long strides, they were inside the bright apartment. She kissed his cheek and whispered, “And you said you weren’t romantic.”
Maria followed them in. “It’s not a big apartment, but I have a feeling you two won’t mind the cozy space. This is the living room, of course, and you can see the dining space is right there. Kitchenette is there and is fully stocked. Papa put staples in the refrigerator but I know they’ll love for you to eat as many meals with us as possible. But don’t feel bad about telling them you want to be alone. They’ll understand.” She crossed the small room to the door at the other end. “The bedroom is through here. Do you want me to bring the bags into the bedroom for you?”
“No,” Rico replied. “Thank you. I’ll take care of them. I appreciate all you’ve done, but I’d like to be alone with my bride now.”
Maria giggled. “Of course. But don’t forget breakfast.” Then she was gone and Angelina was still up in Rico’s arms.
“Are you going to put me down?” she asked softly, her head tilted back to look him in the eye.
“Yes.” But he didn’t. He held her gaze and she trembled.
“You’re a very good kisser,” she told him, then blushed. She’d been instructed to think before she spoke, but her training seemed to have gone out the window as far as Rico was concerned. Nerves made her blurt out whatever was on her mind, regardless of the implications. Perhaps his family was rubbing off on her already.
“Really?” Amusement turned up the corner of his mouth and she wanted to press her lips there. So she did.
“Yes. I imagine you’ve had lots of practice. Have you? Had lots of practice kissing women?”
Rico cleared his throat and lowered her to the floor, guiding her feet to the shining hardwood. His large hands were warm on her body before he let her go. “I’ve had my share of kisses.”
“I haven’t.” The admission slipped out softly. “I know I’m probably a lousy kisser.” Her gaze bounced around the room, but she was too distracted to really appreciate the exposed brick wall and rafters, the expanse of windows facing the street, the comfortable looking sofa. Still, she looked anywhere but at the sexy man beside her.
He caught her chin and tipped her head until she looked at him. “Your Highness, that’s a ridiculous thing to say.”
“You can’t call me that here,” she reminded him yet again.
“It’s still ridiculous.”
“But I do need more practice,” she told him. “Practice kissing.” In that moment she decided to say what had been building in the back of her mind since she first realized she could have been killed the previous night. “But I need practice with more than just kissing too, Rico. I want you to help me.”
Practice? Help?
Rico took a step back when all he wanted to do was come closer. “What are you saying, princess?”
“Well, it was my first kiss. How can you expect it to be good? I need more practice.”
First kiss?
Merde.
“I didn’t say it was bad.” There hadn’t been anything really wrong with the kiss. It had been endearingly clumsy. He’d thought she had been self-conscious because his family was watching. Evidently, Princess Angelina had been much more sheltered than he’d thought. King Alberto had been very protective of his only daughter, but Rico had no idea she was so inexperienced.
“When we get back home, you can practice all you want,” he told her.
She took a step closer, tipping her head back to look at him with a hopeful, vulnerable expression. “I want to practice with you.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I do.” The princess stomped her foot. “You said it yourself. I could have been killed in that attack last night. What if I had been? I would have never known what it was like to have a real kiss. Never! And what if they followed us here? Or what if they find me later? I could die and never have even gone on a real date.”
“You’ve never… I know you’ve gone to many banquets and balls and celebrations.”
“And I got paired up with a guy like Phillip the duke with the wandering hands. Or Viktor with the creepy smile. I’ve never been asked out on a date. Never.”
Rico didn’t know how to respond to that so he picked up the bags and carried them into the bedroom. The princess followed him into the small room. The outer wall was more exposed brick. No window to worry about. The bed took up most of the space.
“My clothes will need to share space with yours in the wardrobe,” he said, trying to put some distance between them by speaking professionally. “But I will sleep on the sofa in the other room.”
“I don’t want you to sleep out there,” she said, tilting her head in that way royalty must be taught from the cradle.
“And where do you propose for me to sleep?”
“In the bedroom, of course.”
“You’re not sleeping on the sofa.”
“You’re absolutely right. I’m sleeping here too.”
Rico didn’t even recognize the choked sound that escaped his lips. “You want us to share a bed?”
“You said you wouldn’t let me out of your sight.”
“Your Highness, there is no outside access to this room. If anyone gained entrance to this apartment, they would have to go past me on the sofa. I won’t let anyone get that close.”
“Rico.” She swallowed. “I could have been killed last night. I could have died and never known what it was like to make love.”
Oh no. No. No.
Rico backed up. “No, Your Highness.” She was a princess. He was one of the staff.
“I want to know what it is like to make love, Rico. I want you to help me with that.”
This was a nightmare. He was responsible for the princess’s safety. But just as important, he had a responsibility to his king, to the prince.
And to himself.
It was going to be difficult enough to spend so much time with the princess. To be staying in the same small apartment with her. That kiss had nearly killed him. Her reaction had been so sweet. There had been nothing artificial or practiced about it.
But he couldn’t share a bed with her. And he couldn’t agree to her demands. “No, Your Highness. My job is your safety, nothing else.”
“I know I am only a job to you,” she snapped. Her wide eyes locked on his. “But while we are here, I am Lucia.” She took a step closer, placed her small palm on his chest. “Your wife.”
“We both know we are not actually married, Your Highness.”
Angelina grasped his shirt and tugged. She surprised him so that he let her bring him close. Her soft body bumped against his, sending fire blazing through his. “Don’t call me that,” his fierce little
amore
demanded. “I am Lucia. I am not a princess. I am your wife.”
What was wrong with him? She was not his
amore
. Could never be.
She rained tiny kisses along his jaw, little pecks with her lips. “Treat me like your wife, Rico. I want you to make love to me.”
He wrapped his fingers around her slender wrists and pulled away. “Don’t embarrass yourself.”
He strode from the bedroom before the tears welling in her eyes could spill over. Before he took her at her word and pushed her down on the wide bed and took her like the animal he felt like at the moment. He stopped at the windows overlooking the street. The sidewalk was busy with people now. “They are expecting us downstairs for breakfast. We will go down as soon as you pull yourself together.”
In the ensuing silence Rico’s training took over and he scanned the pedestrians below. He homed in on two men in black suits on the corner, looking up at the villa, appearing to look up at the bank of windows where he was standing. Rico slid out of view and lowered the blinds.
“You don’t understand.” The princess had stepped into the doorway. Her eyes still glistened but he was pleased to see no tracks of tears down her cheeks.
“I understand all too well, Your Highness.”
“You throw my title up as a wall between us.”
“It is a thick and high wall, Your Highness.”
“There should be no walls between us now.”
“Out there, no. Out there we must pretend. But in here. In here when it is only you and me, there must be a wall.”
“I don’t want a wall.”
“Wishing a wall doesn’t exist doesn’t stop it from being there.”
“It is if we both want it gone.”
That wall was all that was keeping him from taking her innocence. “I don’t wish it gone.”
“How can you be so calm? Am I the only one on fire?” She crossed the room in long, angry steps. “Don’t you lie to me, Rico. I saw your hands tremble. I heard your ragged breathing. Don’t lie to me.”
“It doesn’t matter if I do burn for you. I cannot do as you ask.”
“But why not?”
If she did not want to recognize the wall between them, he wasn’t going to waste his time repeating the obvious. “We must go down to breakfast. Are you ready?”
At first, he thought she was going to push it, perhaps resort to tears or begging, but instead she simply nodded. He peeked out through the blinds and saw with relief that the men were gone. They had probably been checking out the sky to get a handle on the weather. Clouds had begun to roll in. He almost groaned. If it were to start raining, he’d be trapped inside with the princess all day.
She would always be
the princess
to him. How could she not? They had both grown up in the palace. She was the adored Princess Angelina, her every desire indulged by her parents, her brothers, the palace staff. He’d been the son of a cook and a gardener. He’d never doubted his parents loved him, but he had never been spoiled. He’d helped his parents in the kitchen or the garden when he wasn’t in school. He remembered digging holes in the dirt for plantings, the sun beating down on his head, the sweat running into his eyes, while the princess had strolled the grounds in a white dress, carrying a parasol to block the sun.
He was tall, broad, hulking. She was slender, lovely, and graceful. She was young, naïve, romantic. He was nearly ten years older than her and a realist. She might think that an illicit liaison would be romantic, but he knew it would only cause trouble in the long run.
It was up to him to be the strong one.
Sitting next to Rico was a torture like Angelina had never experienced before. The five of them were crowded around a table meant for four. His thigh was pressed against hers. Their shoulders brushed as they ate. He seemed to take all the oxygen out of the room and she could barely breathe for the want of him.
They had just started eating the delicious frittata when Rosa asked, “Was the princess injured before you left the palace?”
Angelina felt Rico freeze, just as she did.
“Excuse me?” Rico replied
“The news report this morning. The princess is said to be recuperating in the palace after being injured in an automobile accident. I wondered how seriously she was injured.” Rosa looked at the two of them. They must have looked as shocked as Angelina felt. “I take it you didn’t know.”
Angelina shook her head. Evidently the palace decided to put out their own cover story to explain why she would be out of the public eye and confined to the palace.
“I’ll see what I can find out after breakfast,” Rico promised. “If she’s not in the hospital, I think we can hope she’s not too badly injured.”
As the meal went on, they told the first-meet story and the proposal story. Then, hoping to forestall requests for any other stories for which they had not planned, Angelina asked, “Rosa? Will you tell us how Giuseppe asked you to marry him?”
“Bah! It was so long ago, I don’t remember.” She stabbed her fork into the food on her plate.
Maria rolled her eyes. “Mama, you remember. Tell Rico and Lucia about the picnic. And the olive trees.”
Rosa’s face had turned bright pink. She shook her head and frowned at her husband who was grinning like a fool.
Angelina turned to Rico’s uncle. “Giuseppe, I bet you remember.”
He spread his arms wide. “Of course, I remember. It was a beautiful day. I asked Rosa to have lunch with me. I packed us some sandwiches and fruit, and took her up to the top of the hill overlooking her father’s olive grove.”
“It was such a hot day,” Rosa chimed in. She narrowed her eyes and frowned at Giuseppe. “And he didn’t tell me we would be walking that far and I wore some pretty little sandals that were not good for hiking up a hill.”
“Men never understand things like that, do they?” Angelina said.
“She liked it once we got up to the top.” Giuseppe raised his bushy eyebrows and grinned.
“I wonder why
Tia
is blushing,” Rico said. He flashed an unguarded smile at Angelina and she yearned to see him smile like that more often.