The Duke's Runaway Princess Page 0,10

more comfortable, showing Zarah how to do it since she’d only been on private jets with more luxury. “So tell me about the guy you picture in your mind when you think of the kind of man you want to marry.”

Zarah’s mind instantly pictured the man from her dreams. Or nightmare? She wasn’t sure what it was, but she’d been having that dream almost every night for the past few weeks. The dream always ended the same way, with the wave starting to crash down over the top of her, but just as she was about to panic, the faceless stranger’s strong arm reached down and she was able to grab his hand, holding onto him for safety. It was such a strange dream and it scared her that it was so consistent. The ship and the storm were always the same. The man came out of the same door each time and as soon as she saw him, she knew that she was going to be okay.

It frustrated her that she was waiting for the man to save her in her dreams. Did that mean she wasn’t capable of saving herself? Wasn’t that what this whole adventure was about? She wanted to prove that she could make it in the world without a man’s protection but subconsciously, was she telling herself that she needed a man in her life to protect her?

Ridiculous, she told herself firmly. That was just what she was used to. Her father or Rashid had protected her all her life so she was simply afraid of what was to come. Her mind was merely telling her that she needed to break free from those protections and find her own way in the storm. Which was exactly what she was doing now as the plane traveled over the Atlantic, taking her to a strange and very different life.

“Strong,” she finally said in response to Suzanne’s question, because there was no getting around the fact that she probably wouldn’t be attracted to a man who wasn’t physically fit. “And intelligent. Probably ambitious as well. I can’t abide a stupid or lazy man.”

“Well, those three go without saying,” Suzanne scoffed. “There’s a guy in the village who is a super hunk. He’s the only aristocrat I’ve ever known and he’s very sophisticated, if you like that kind of thing in a man.”

Zarah turned to face her friend with a curious expression. “Why do you say it like that?” she asked.

“Like what?” Suzanne asked as she pulled her magazine out of her extra large purse.

“I don’t know….Like aristocrats are a different type of human being. Or are you saying you’d never date him for some reason?”

Suzanne snorted and shook her head. “I’m not in that league,” she rolled her eyes as if to say she wouldn’t even try for this mystery man. “Besides, he has so many women coming through his bedroom and I’d rather not share.”

“Oh, he’s one of those men, huh?”

“Yep,” Suzanne confirmed. “Definitely a ‘player’.” She looked up from her magazine, staring off into space for a moment. “There’s some secret about him though. I’ve never been able to find out what it was.”

“Why do you think there’s a dark secret?”

Suzanne thought about that for a moment, not exactly sure how to respond. It was just a gut feeling she’d had for several years. “Because the older villagers protect him, treat him like he’s….I don’t know really. I can’t explain it exactly, but you’ll understand once you meet him and see the older people in action around him.”

“He sounds like a spoiled brat.” Zarah had seen too many aristocrats who thought they were still feudal lords who could treat people like dirt.

Suzanne instantly shook her head. “It isn’t anything like that,” she countered. “In fact, just the opposite. The villagers protect him in some sort of odd way, but he also looks out for them. I’ve heard it rumored that he owns most of the town but none of the shop owners pay rent. Or if they do, the rent is so ridiculously low that it doesn’t make any sense.”

“Because this guy owns everything he gives them a break on their rent?” She laughed and looked at Suzanne with knowing eyes. “He’s making up the difference somewhere else. I would put money on that!”

Suzanne considered that for a moment. “I don’t think so. Wait until you meet him. You’ll understand. Once you see them all in action, you’ll have to agree that there’s a deep, dark