Page 18 of Royal Shark
He rubs the back of his neck, smiling. “I always knew you were smart.”
I smile. “That’s a huge compliment coming from you.”
“Why is that?”
“Because you graduated with honors from Cambridge.”
He cocks his head. “I didn’t tell you I graduated with honors. Sara Travers, have you been cyberstalking me?”
I fight back a blush and work for my perfect poker face. “Silvia mentioned it.”
“Ah. Did you go to university?”
I rub my finger back and forth on the edge of the table. “No. I needed to work. Money was tight.” I lift my chin, pasting on a smile. “My goal was always to get Chloe through college, and she’s doing fantastic. She got into Columbia.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Do you ever think of going back?”
“What’s the point? I’m doing great. Besides, I still have to get Chloe through medical school too. I’m not letting her graduate with heavy debt.”
The waitress arrives with the check.
“My treat,” I tell him, wanting him to know I’m doing great now and not trying to mooch a meal. I pick up the check, and he snatches it out of my hands.
“You can get the next dinner,” he says, pulling out his wallet.
Next dinner?“But you’re leaving on Thursday,” I blurt.
“It’s Monday. Maybe you’ll need to eat again between now and then.” He winks and—
Imelt.
There’s no other word for it. Warmth floods me and I soften, all of my muscles relaxing. Adrian is something special—smart, warm, a really good person. I knew it when I was a kid, and I’m beginning to know it again. Throw in his sexy good looks, and he is temptation personified. I can’t let myself get sucked in, can’t let myself risk the pain of getting close to someone who lives an ocean away.
He walks me home, and the conversation is easy as he tells me about the latest with his family. There’s been some crazy stuff going on up there at the palace. I knew about some of it, like the furry wedding (people in stuffed-animal suits) that was hilariously covered in detail in two bridal magazines and all over the internet, as well as his sister Emma running away from her own wedding. The bridal competition for his oldest brother Gabriel’s hand was news though.
“So that’s how he ended up marrying a commoner,” I say. “That made headlines.”
He nods. “It was a big deal with Gabriel being the heir to the throne, but my parents agreed to it because they didn’t want another replay of what happened with my uncle. Did I ever tell you that story? How my father’s older brother fell in love with a girl from Brooklyn and abdicated the throne to marry her?”
I shake my head.
He looks around. “I should look them up too while I’m here. That was the first time a royal married a commoner in our kingdom’s history. It was ahugescandal. My uncle was exiled from Villroy forever, as well as his family. Silvia got in touch with my cousins here in Brooklyn since she’s been in the US so long. I have six cousins I’ve never met.”
“Wow. Who knew commoners were such a big deal.”
“Only for the heirs to the throne. Us lower-down royals can marry as we please. My brother Phillip married an American too, a friend of Gabriel’s wife. Emma married a British rock star, Jackson Walker.”
“Go, Emma! Jackson isfi-i-ne.” I clear my throat at his hard look. “I mean, if you’re into that whole British bad-boy thing. Barf, right? Give me a straitlaced goody-goody any day.”
“Goody-goody,” he echoes.
“Math nerds preferred,” I quip and then slap a hand over my mouth. “I didnotmean you.”
“Uh-huh.”
“You’re the exception to the rule. The one math guy whoisn’ta nerd.”
He lifts a palm. “Moving on.”
