Page 55 of The Problem with Princes
I drop my hands from my chest and feel his hand wrap around mine. For a moment I see visions of this happening time and again, as if we aretogether. I shake my head. The fairytale element of this whole thing makes me want to believe that things like this can last. But they don’t. We’re just too different.
The breeze blows harder, and the boat starts to rock. Tyrone sits up and looks around. “We had better head in. It looks like a storm may be coming.”
I stare at the sky above me. It is still blue and cloudless. “But there aren’t even any clouds.”
He motions to the horizon. “There are over there, and they don’t look friendly. We wouldn’t want to get stuck out here in rough seas. This boat isn’t meant for those kinds of waves.
I sit up and pull my sweater tighter. He is right; there is something brewing farther out in the Mediterranean and it’s coming in fast.
Ty deftly raises the anchor, but he keeps the sails down, instead lowering the motor and starting the engine.
“Why not use the sails?” I ask as I sit in the seat next to him.
“The wind is coming from the wrong direction. We can get back, but it will be a lot harder. The motor will get us there faster.”
The wind whips at my hair, pulling tendrils free and blowing them into my face. I try to block them as best I can. Thankfully, after only about twenty minutes, the boat is back at the dock and Ty is helping me out.
My foot barely touches the grass butting up to the dock, when the rain starts. It pelts down in huge, wet drops. I cover my head with my hands, but it does little good.
Ty reaches for my hand, and we run as fast as we can for the shelter of the palace.
“It’s times like these I wish the grounds were smaller,” Ty yells back to me, his voice carrying quickly away on the wind.
By the time we reach the nearest portico, we are both soaking wet. A servant emerges from the sliding glass door with two large towels in his hands. He hands one to each of us. I wrap it around me, wringing water from the end of my braid. “H-h-how did h-h-he know we were here?” I stammer from the cold.
“Sander must have radioed ahead and told them.” Ty dries his hair and runs the towel down his arms.
“But how did Sander know?” I’m getting colder as the wind picks up and the shade of the upper balcony casts us in shadow.
Tyrone laughs. “Have you not learned by now that Sander is always watching? He and his men are keeping a lookout on the cliffs and if I know Sander, which I do, he probably had several drones in the air as well.”
I frown. Drones? Why had I thought we were alone? Sander hasn’t let Tyrone out of his sight for as long as I have known him. Why had I thought this time was different? My frown deepens. I don’t like the thought of being watched by a drone.
Ty drapes his arm across my shoulder. “Let’s get you inside and out of those wet clothes.”
“That’s what she said,” I blurt before I even think about it.
Ty squints down at me. “I beg your pardon?”
I give a half-nervous, half-freezing-to-death laugh. “Sorry. Inside joke between Texie and me. I forgot who I was with for a minute.”
His mouth twitches. “I see. I guess I should be flattered you feel as comfortable with me as you do with Texie.”
I don’t really feel that comfortable with him, but he looks so pleased at the prospect, I can’t bring myself to correct him. I mean, I do feel comfortable with him when I’m not stressing and over analyzing everything.
He guides me to the door of my room. “Why don’t you get warm and then maybe we can start on my Seinfeld homework.”
I smile. “That sounds like a great plan.”
“I’ll come and pick you up in an hour?”
I shiver. “I’ll be ready.”
ChapterEighteen
I holdthe phone to my ear as the other end rings, careful not to drop it in the steaming, hot bath water. Just as I’m about to hang up, the ringing stops.
“Grace. I’m so glad you called me from the airport. I don’t think I can wait to hear everything until I see you tomorrow after work.”
