Page 10 of Royally Arranged

Nova seemed pleased. The waiter arrived with her soup, and she plucked a piece of bread out of the basket, then dipped and chewed patiently.

I stared at my sandwich as it was set down. How unfair it was that I couldn’t will it to transform into an entire bottle of whiskey, then I’d be drunk and not answering deep questions about morality.Life would be simpler if you could wish away your problems.Furrowing my brow, I lifted my eyes. “It would depend on why he stole the purse.”

“How do you mean?”

Hefting the sandwich in my hands, I said, “If he had a family to feed. If he himself was starving. A man who steals for greed should be punished, but ... a man stealing to help others shouldn’t be thrown in a cell to rot.”

Nova was half smiling. “How noble of you. You’d be the Robin Hood of kings if you made the laws here.”

Heat rocketed up my neck. “Well, I don’t. And I wouldn’t want to. Someone else can handle all that work.”

She made a small, soft sound. The kind I wanted to hear in private ... and over and over again. Her hands crossed under her chin. In her tight white top, she melded with the clouds behind her. She could have been a figurehead on a ship, inspiring men to adventure, or leading them home to their warm beds.

We stayed like that for a while. I ate quietly, enjoying the fresh air, and perhaps the first silence in my life that didn’t feel uncomfortable. Nova made this too easy. I didn’t mind, it was refreshing ... different.

“See that?” she said, pointing at one of the boats. “That’s theSandpiper, one of the oldest ships around. It doesn’t go out anymore, but it’s full of really great artifacts, maps, preserved history. You’ll have to check it out.”

I chuckled. “I’ve seen boats. I live by the ocean back home.”

“Yes,” she said defensively. “But notthatboat. So you will.”

My chuckle became a helpless laugh. “And what else will I see while I’m here?”

Nova cupped her own cheeks. “The castle rose gardens are famous! Oh, and then there’s this set of statues on the far side of town, been there for a hundred years!”

There were stars in her eyes. Her energy was contagious. “You really do love this place,” I whispered. “Well, I hope you’ll show me everything you can before we part ways.”

She froze, like she realized where we were and who we were: people who’d only met an hour ago. People who knew nothing of each other; I didn’t even know where she lived. Just that it wasn’t here.

Nova considered me long and hard. The stars in her eyes had been replaced by something that burned hotter, brighter—impossibly so—as she said, “Come with me.”

We slid carefully along a rough path that curled around the cliffs on the far edge of the city. The sharp wall of the cliff on our right rose, then lowered. I could glimpse the purple crest of the waves where they brushed the lowering sun. Every minute with Nova blew by faster than seemed fair.

She’d clearly been this way many times; her glittering flats dodged holes and patches of sand. In her confidence she moved too fast. “Watch it!” I said, catching her by her elbow when her heel went out from under her.

Bracing herself in my arms, Nova gaped up at me. “Sorry. I lost my balance.”

Gently, lingering with my fingers wrapped around her upper arms, I steadied her. The narrow path pushed our bodies ever closer. “Don’t be sorry. I’ll take any chance to catch a pretty girl that I can get.”

Her laugh echoed, bouncing off the rocks. “Come on, we’re almost there.”

“You still haven’t said wherethereis, or what it ...” Trailing off, I rounded the last corner. The path spilled out onto a flat section of beach that was white as bleached bone. It was surrounded by glassy, polished rocks that curved up in layered pieces—like a giant hand was cupping us. “What’s this?” I asked, marveling at the beauty of the land. It had been eroded by the waves over what must have been millennia.

“I wanted you to see my favorite spot. I thought maybe you’d understand my feelings about Torino if you did.”

She reached for my hand. Smiling, I let her take it, enjoying the tight warmth of her grip. Nova guided me down to the soft sand, then farther, until we were perched on the rock edge and able to see the waves foaming only a few feet below. We were sheltered, but the salty spray sometimes flicked up into our faces when a particularly huge wave rolled into place.

“It’s beautiful,” I said, and though we’d stopped moving, I kept hold of her hand.

“Earlier,” she whispered, “I asked you what you imagined this country would be like. You never answered me.”

We were standing shoulder to shoulder. The setting sun had fallen low enough that it looked like a giant egg yolk sinking into the water. Crimson light cast Nova in a halo that made her auburn hair into bright embers.

My hand unlinked from hers; she ran her fingertips across my palm as it did. Gently I captured her chin with two of my fingers, turning her toward me. “I thought it would be terrifying here.” Her skin was warm. Pulling her closer made it a furnace. “I thought I’d hate it.”

Her tongue glided over her plump bottom lip. “And you don’t?”

“How could I? This place allowed me to meet you.”

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