Page 14 of Royally Knocked Up
Hailey laughed. “No, you’re right, we do,” she said. “But the good mountains, the really big ones, are out west, and I’ve lived my whole life on the East Coast. We have mountains too, but they don’t compare to what you have here.”
Enzo nodded as if that made sense to him.
“And the city,” Hailey went on. “Luria, it’s called?”
“That’s right.”
“I didn’t get to see much of it. My plane landed there and I came straight here. But I did get a glimpse. The architecture seemed so beautiful. I really hope I have the chance to spend some more time there before I leave the country, so I can see a bit more of it.”
“How long are you planning on staying in Monteverde?” Enzo asked her as the two of them started down the path that led around the perimeter of the resort.
“I’m not sure,” Hailey admitted. “I don’t have a firm plan.” She certainly couldn’t tell him she would be here for the next two months — that was a span of time that would carry significance for him. “I thought I would see how much I enjoyed this job anddecide as I go whether I want to stick around a little longer or not.”
“So you might just get on a plane and fly off any day now?”
Hailey laughed. “Well, nothing that dramatic,” she said. “I’d want to give Isla fair warning before I just bailed. But I don’t know. If another opportunity came up, or if I felt like I’d done everything I wanted to do here, I might make new plans and speak to her about leaving.”
Enzo hummed noncommittally.
“What about you?” she asked him. “How long do you plan on being here?” Even though she knew the answer, she was interested to hear how he would respond — would he be honest with her, or would he come up with a story?
“Oh, well, you know,” Enzo said. “My father likes to know that things at the resort are being handled according to his standards. That’s why he sent me down here in the first place.”
That made Hailey feel better about the fact that she wasn’t being honest with him. “So you’ll be here until you’re satisfied that your family’s standards are being met?”
“Something like that, yes.”
She nodded. “It must be hard.”
“What must?”
“Being royalty. Having to think about things like that.”
He looked at her. “I think you might be the first person who’s ever said something like that to me.”
“Really?”
“Well, people tend to think about the perks of being royal more than they do about the hardships. And I’m not saying there aren’t any perks,” he added quickly. “But even my closest friends act like the only thing they see about my life is how much fun I must be having.”
“Oh.” That actually did surprise Hailey. “Are they jealous of you?”
“Some of them are, I think.” He looked at her. “But you aren’t.”
“God, no.” Then she realized how that would have sounded. “I’m sorry. I’m really not trying to be rude.”
But to her relief, he was smiling. “You weren’t rude that time,” he said. “I don’t expect everyone I meet to be jealous of me. I think it’s odd when people are.”
“I think I would hate to be royal,” Hailey admitted. “It seems like so much pressure.”
“You wouldn’t like to be a princess? I thought all little American girls had that dream.”
“Is that supposed to be an American thing?”
“I don’t know. I’ve seen it in the movies, that’s why I thought it was.”
She laughed. “I guess I wanted to be the heroes who fought the baddies,” she said. “I wanted to be Wonder Woman, not Cinderella.”
“I like that,” he said.
