Romantic Acquisition Page 0,37

men at the other end of the room which was incredibly large for a ship. She walked forward, not wanting to intrude on their good time. The three men were laughing and enjoying beers, one of them was smoking a cigar that smelled nice.

As soon as Carlo saw her he stood up and met her in the middle of the room. “Thanks for bringing these. Want to have a drink?” he offered, taking the heavy documents and putting them on a table beside a luxurious looking sofa.

“No, thank you. I don’t want to interrupt. I’ll just drop off your papers and I’ll head back to the office,” she said and started backing away.

Carlos stopped her by taking her hand in his. He then wrapped his arm around her waist in an intimately casual way that threw her mind into confusion. “Don’t you want a tour?” he asked and led her through another door, raising a hand to the other two men who just waved back and went back to their discussion.

Kate liked his arm around her too much. She tried to slip out of his embrace but he wouldn’t let her. “Carlo, really. I need to head back. Matthew is having another fit and Sara is has taken on all the responsibility of helping out Jeff and Peter which isn’t fair to her,” she explained, hoping he would understand how much she needed to get back. But the excuses sounded lame even to her ears.

“They can handle themselves for a while. Come on, I’ll show you around the ship. It’s a really nice boat. I like your hair down, by the way. I like feeling it against my arm like this,” he said, the arm around her waist moved slightly for emphasis. “It’s very soft. Why don’t you wear it down like this more often?”

“It doesn’t look professional,” she said absently, immediately curious about the rooms they were passing. Her neck craned to see what was through each of the doors, her curiosity overcoming her nervousness.

He led her through to a dining room that could seat twelve people easily. There was also a lounge or family room, whatever it was called on a ship this size, a breakfast area that could be opened up to the breeze on the deck. Carlo led her from one amazing room to another, and Kate was stunned by the size and opulence of the ship.

“Please tell me this isn’t your ship, is it?” she said when they walked through the galley and she saw five different cooks working diligently on what looked to be very elaborate dinner preparations.

Carlo laughed. “No. A friend of mine owns it,” he said. “I went to college with him.”

“Oh, well that’s better,” she said sarcastically. “What does your friend do?”

Carlo led her out of the galley before answering, “He runs a country,” he said casually.

Kate laughed, thinking he was joking but the expression on his face told her he wasn’t. “You’re serious? You’re friends with someone who runs a country?”

“Sure. Even princes need to go college. How else would they know how to run a country?” he said and pushed her gently ahead of him since the hallway they were entering was too small for two people to walk side by side. He kept his hands on her shoulders though and guided her through the maze of hallways.

“Good grief! He’s royalty?” she sputtered, completely in awe of the ship now that she knew it was owned by a real-life prince.

“Here’s your room,” Carlo said and opened another door to a lovely room decorated lavishly in varying shades of white. It was larger than her bedroom in her house, she thought as her feet sank into the thick, white carpeting.

Kate stood in the doorway, not sure she’d heard him correctly. “My room?”

“Unless you’d like to stay in mine,” he smiled wolfishly. “I’m right next door,” he said, close to her ear. His word instantly sent shivers throughout her body.

Kate immediately noticed the small vibrating under her feet. “Is that the engine?” she demanded. At his nod, she raced to the window and pulled back the curtains. “No!” she said as she noticed that the shoreline was already a small dot on the horizon. “What have you done?” she asked, turning back to face him, her eyes wide with apprehension.

Carlo leaned against the doorjamb and crossed his arms over his chest. “I believe the romantic term is shanghai but kidnapping will also work, if you’re looking for a more technical way