Page 71 of Daniil
“I feel like I’m underdressed,” she whispers.
I lean back in my chair with a smile.“I paid a small fortune for us to have the place to ourselves.I don’t give a shit what you’re wearing.”
“But there are other people here.”
“The family in the back room is also royalty, and they won’t bother us.And Willow St.Claire and her husband are here on their honeymoon, so they won’t be paying any attention to us either.”
“Like I said, a force of nature.”
“You ain’t seen nothin’ yet,” I tease.
A waiter brings us a bottle of champagne and pours two glasses.
“What are we toasting?”she asks as I raise my glass.
“To new relationships and new adventures.”
“I’ll drink to that.”
As the sun disappears behind the horizon, we enjoy a fabulous gourmet meal, too much champagne—another reason I brought our pilot along—and interesting conversation.Courtney opens up about her military career, how she and Lennox met, and some of the mischief they got into when they were stationed in Iraq together.
“Sounds like a good time,” I joke.
She chuckles.“Well, we made the best of it.There was a lot of ugliness too, but we tried to focus on the good we could do.And having a little fun.”
“Do you miss that part of the military?”
“No.”She shakes her head.“It was exciting the first time.Less so the second time.I didn’t want there to be a third time.My pregnancy gave me the kick in the ass I needed to get out.”
“I was never officially in the military,” I admit.“I was in exile in my early twenties, which is when you’re supposed to go, and by the time Erik took over, he waived it for me because we were too busy putting the country back together.I did two rounds of boot camps—one here and another in the U.S.—as part of my Royal Protector training but there just wasn’t any way for me to officially be in the military.”
“I think you have a very special set of extenuating circumstances.You know, exile and all that.”
“Yeah.But it sometimes feels like cheating.”
“Did Sandor serve?”
“Oh, yes.He and Erik served together, before everything went to hell.I was still a little young.My plan was to go in as soon as I graduated from university but then all hell broke loose.”
“That must have been a very difficult time for you,” she says softly, reaching across the table for my hand.
“It was.But it forced me to grow up.And I suppose it made me the man I am today.”
“You’re a wonderful man.”
“Am I?”I stare into her eyes.“Because I still feel like you don’t trust me.I saw the wariness when we arrived at the military base.”
“Complete trust takes time,” she says patiently.“I’m beginning to trust you.But you can’t expect blind trust after a month.”
That’s fair, I suppose.I still don’t like hearing it, but I need to give her a chance—the way she’s been giving me a chance.I understand how hard it was for her to agree to come to Limaj, so I have to continue being patient.Even if it’s killing me.
“I’m a patient man,” I say after a moment.“Especially when it comes to something important.”
“Am I important to you?”she whispers, cocking her head.
“Is that a serious question?”
“It’s only been a week or so.”
