Hannah raised her eyebrows. “What did we talk about earlier?”
I paused as a waiter swept away my mostly untouchedsteak and Hannah’s half-eaten and long-cold plate. Once he was gone, I continued. “Coming home with me.”
“I, uh, well—”
“I need you in Monaco with me, Hannah. This thing between us has the chance to go the distance, but the only way that works is if you come to me. I want you there. I need you there.”
“This is such a huge step, Luc.” Hannah looked around the table, then leaned closer to me.“I hate to be that girl, but what does this mean with us? We’ve only been together for a few days. I’m not expecting an oath of undying love or anything, but what does it mean? Are we still casual? Will I be a secret?”
I felt so exposed to talk about this in the noisy banquet hall, but it was a conversation we needed to have. I noted a few eyes on us, but for the most part everyone seemed tobe focused on their own meal or conversation. Ducking my head, I leaned closer to her. “I told you before, I’m falling for you, Hannah. I want you in my life. I don’t know how to put labels on this—I’ve never been here before. But I want you in my life, however you’re willing to let me in.”
“I…I just don’t know. It’s crazy. I mean, we’ve only known each other for a few days. And now you wantme to uproot my life and go to the other side of the world? It’s…it’s a lot to take in.”
“I know. And if the distance weren’t so huge, it’d be so much easier to take this slow. But here we are.”
“I…” Hannah bit her lip, then released it with a sigh. “Okay, how about we make a deal, then? Since family is so important to you, you’ve got to agree to come to one of my family dinners. If you cansurvive the grilling from my dad, mom, and brother,andtell them about our trip, I’ll come to Monaco with you.”
“Deal.” I leaned over and sealed our pact with another kiss. A few more flashes went off around us. “I must say you’re pretty soft on the bargaining front. You had me over a barrel. You could’ve asked for anything.”
Hannah laughed menacingly as the waiter placed a mini trio of chocolatedesserts in front of her. “You haven’t met my family yet.”
—
Hannah’s mom called bright and early at sevenA.M.to run through her choice of meal options with Hannah. After they agreed on beef Bourguignon, due to my French ancestry—the only detail she’d given her mother—Hannah ended the call and tossed her phone to the other side of the bed.
“I still think it’s a bad idea not to tell them.”
Hannah laughed as she rolled toward me, and I got a flash of naked breast before she tucked the sheet around herself. “Which part?”
“Either? Both? You have to tell them who I am before we leave.”
“I just…I don’t know. How do you tell your mom that you’re banging a prince and he wants to take you back to his palace? I mean, it’s ridiculous. We don’t even know if this is going to go anywhere. Ican’t wrap my head around it. How can I expect my parents to understand?”
“If you don’t tell your mom about it, there’s a very good chance that the media will do it for you. Do you really think you can get on that plane with me and not have it come out? Because that’s naïve, and I thought you were smarter than that.”
“Wow. How about you tell me how you really feel.”
Her tart reply had me backpedalinga bit. “Come on, Hannah, you know what I mean. You can’t get on that plane without telling your parents where you’re going, at the very least. I thought you said they’re the type who still care and are involved in your life.”
“Yes, that’s true, but—”
“And the longer you wait to tell them, the harder it’ll be to finally come clean. Trust me, I know.” I raised my eyebrows at her. “But fortunately,some people are more forgiving than most. Which camp are your parents likely to be in?”
“They will give me no end of crap about it.” Hannah collapsed back onto her pillow with a sigh. “I see your point. It’s just…It’s not the easiest thing to say. It sounds so fantastical. Heck, I can’t believe it half the time. To me you’re the slightly exotic ex-Lieutenant Luc Greiner who I met at karaoke night.I don’t look at you and think prince and palace and all that fairy-tale stuff. I just see a really hot guy who wants to spend time with me.”
Hannah rolled her eyes and made a funny face like she was embarrassed to admit that detail to me.
And that was why I had to keep her. She was the one woman who saw Luc the man, not the prince, not the title and the whole hoopla of my royal pedigree. Shewanted me. Just me.
Before Hannah could come up with another excuse, I kissed her. Hard at first, as the need to mark her as mine ran through me. But after a moment I gentled, as I tried to convey to her the emotions that consumed me. She threaded a hand through my hair and arched her body up toward my mouth.
“Ahem.”
I ignored the annoying person on the other side of the room clearing theirthroat and rolled toward Hannah, pushing her further into the mattress and shielding her from prying eyes. But it was one move too far; some of the sexual fog cleared from Hannah’s brain, and at the second “ahem” she stilled in my arms.
“Luc?” Hannah whispered.
“Oui?”
