Page 7 of Royal Valentine

No need for subterfuge.

Except you’re lying to him about who you are,a cranky internal voice said.

A necessary lie,I reminded myself.

“We should make a wish,” he said as we made our way through the crowd, managing to find a place right next to the basin after a couple of people left. He dug into his pocket and handed me a euro. “You’re supposed to toss it over your left shoulder with your right hand so that your wish can come true.”

I turned my back to the fountain and closed my eyes. I wished that every day could be like today. Free from scrutiny and public opinion. Full of possibilities.

Maybe even romance.

“What happens if I don’t make a wish?” I asked him.

“Then I will abandon you here and you’ll be forced to spend the rest of your days telling uninterested tourists about the various features of the fountain,” he said with a wink.

“Which both they and I would enjoy,” I insisted. “That’s not a real punishment.”

“I’m sure I could come up with something,” he said. “There should be a punishment for anyone who isnae caught up and swayed by the beauty of Rome.”

I shook my head. “I’m very swayed by the beauty of Rome.” More like the beauty of him.

His eyes heated. “Aye, as am I.”

There was a movement off to my right, and I had to wrench my gaze away. I made eye contact with a middle-aged woman. I saw the moment when she recognized me. My heart started to pound hard in my chest as she lifted her phone. I turned my head away.

“We should go.”

“Already? We only just fought our way through the masses for a prime spot.”

Now I had my back completely to the woman. “Yes, please.”

“I see what you’re about. You just want to tell me the complete history of another monument.”

My pulse raced. We had to go. Now. He finally seemed to notice my strong desire to leave.

“You didnae eat this morning. Are you hungry?” he asked, and my stomach growled loudly enough that he could hear it.

Callum laughed and I could feel my cheeks flaming in response.

“I’ll take that as a yes. I ken the best bakery a few blocks from here.”

I nodded and we waded through the crowd in the direction he’d pointed. There wasn’t any shouting, and no one was trying to reach me. Maybe the woman hadn’t known who I was and I’d freaked out over nothing. To distract myself I asked, “How long have you been a photographer?”

A strange expression rippled across his face, gone so quickly that I couldn’t see what it had been. “I’ve only been trying my hand at it since I moved to Rome. I did study it at university.”

“What did you do before that?”

Another grimace. “I worked at the family business.”

“I’m guessing they’re not happy that you’ve changed careers.”

“That would be putting it lightly,” he said. “What about you?”

“I work at a nonprofit. It’s kind of a family business, too. They’re happy that I’m back in the fold. When I turned eighteen I made the horrible mistake of moving to California and trying to become an actress.”

I still remembered what my father had said, how angry and disappointed he’d been.“Actresses become princesses. Princesses don’t become actresses.”

“And it didnae work out the way you’d hoped?”

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