Page 5 of Royal Valentine

Oh. Definitely not his girlfriend, then. Which meant ...

“I’m single,” he said, as if reading my mind.

I found myself grinning and immediately tried to rearrange my lips into a flat line.

The gleam in his eye let me know that he’d seen my response, though.

“Me too,” I couldn’t help but say, and he nodded like this pleased him. That frisson of awareness and attraction burned through me, making me feel a bit like I’d swallowed a match.

It had been a very long time since I’d felt this way.

We were walking past the block where the Trevi Fountain was located when it occurred to me that I couldn’t let him walk me back to my hotel. Rooms there started at five figures a night. He would quickly realize that I wasn’t some poor American college student. If he found out that I was HRH, Princess Ilaria of Monterra, his feelings would change and everything would be ruined.

I’d had far too much experience in this area to expect any other outcome.

I came to a sudden stop. Someone cursed at me in Italian as they nearly crashed into me, and I stepped closer to the nearest building to get out of the way. “Are you all right?” Callum asked, looking concerned.

“Yes. I ... just realized that we were close to the Trevi Fountain and wanted to see it. You don’t have to come with me,” I hurriedly added. “I don’t want you to feel obligated.”

I really didn’t want him to be with me because Lucia had told him to. I wasn’t feeling any kind of side effects. Yes, I was a bit breathless and slightly dizzy, but I suspected that was due to Callum and not any medication that I’d taken last night. I would be fine on my own. I would rather have the memory of our very odd meeting than see the look on his face when he realized who I was and how it would destroy his entire life to be seen with me.

His expression was serious when he said, “I ken that I’m not obligated. But I would like to spend the day with you, if you’ll have me.”

CHAPTER THREE

If I’d have him? I could feel my face turning red as I thought of all the ways I would like to have this extremely sexy man.

“Yes, please. Er, I mean ...” I was falling over myself. “Sure. Okay.” Being flustered was making it difficult to hold on to my American accent and slang.

Another amazing grin from him and my heart butterflied around my chest. This had the potential to be disastrous, but I wanted this time with him. I wasn’t going to admit to anything that might cause our day to come to a premature end.

This would be my version of a fairy tale. Other girls wanted to be princesses, but all I wanted was this—to be a regular girl touring a beautiful city with a handsome man.

“Good,” he said with a smile. “The fountain is this way.”

We walked together and he seemed to radiate warmth. I found myself wanting to lean into him and soak it up, especially given the chill in the February air.

“Are you still at university?” he asked.

“No, I graduated a while ago,” I said, forgetting the fact that I was supposed to be Anne. I hoped he hadn’t looked too closely at her age.

He didn’t seem to notice my slipup, though. “What did you study?”

“Art history.”

Callum nodded. “Then you must love Rome.”

“In a way that’s hard to explain,” I said. “The entire city is like an outdoor museum filled with history, architecture, and art everywhere you look.”

“It’s why I moved here eight months ago,” he said.

“You majored in art history, too?”

“No. I’m a photographer.” He gestured at the bag he’d strapped on earlier.

Pieces started to fall into place. “Were you taking photos at the Spanish Steps yesterday evening?”

“Aye, that’s how I found you.”

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