with rotations, including the kitchen. I knew they’d expect me to be all thumbs at it. So I learned to cook the summer before I enlisted.”
“From who?” Elbows on the table, Mallory rested her chin in her hands and asked breathlessly, “Ludovico?”
“Hardly. The head palace chef is too busy to teach basics to a boy.”
“He makes us buns every time we ask.”
“My chef does favors for two beautiful women who constantly tell him how talented he is? Shocking!” Christian smirked. “My valet’s wife taught me. Elena was…patient. Inclined to laugh at my mistakes.”
“I think it’d be fun if we cooked together. Except that the size of your kitchen intimidates me. The first stove has eight burners!”
Mallory was adorable. Much like Kelsey, she still didn’t grasp all the resources at hand for the royals. No, he didn’t make toast in the main kitchen that could turn out a seven-course meal for a banquet of two hundred people.
“We have a small kitchen in our wing. You’re welcome to use it anytime.”
“Why haven’t I seen it?”
“The palace has over seven hundred rooms. You’ve been here for a grand total of what…six weeks, between June and now?”
“I’d like to cook with you. To bump hips and laugh as we drop noodles and taste from the same spoon.”
To make her wait, Christian sampled the beef. Melting perfection. Then he pursed his lips, as if considering. “That could be arranged. If you follow the rules for this date.”
“No more flirting? You can’t handle it?”
He reached over to yank up the opposite side of her dress, which was rapidly sliding down her arm. “No more taunting me with your untouchable beauty.”
“Hmmm. Sorry. I don’t make promises that I don’t intend to keep.” She grinned at him, shimmying a little bit. “So, my favorite Moncriano specialty? It’s that blueberry liqueur you had sent to my room the night we first arrived.” Her head dipped for a second. Looking up at him from beneath thick lashes, Mallory murmured, “Because it came from you.”
Holy hell, but her words were a punch to the gut. “We’ve both been fighting this since the start, haven’t we? Without even realizing it, or admitting it to ourselves. I’d say we, as a couple, are inevitable.”
“But no pressure…” she said, giggling.
He’d planned to lay his cards on the table later. Once he handed her the bouquet of tulips waiting back in his suite. With only candles and the moon as lighting while they sipped Lambrusco.
Waiting, however, would be stupid. It was clear he needed to state his case immediately. He’d worked so hard to twist her arm into dating him at all. She needed to realize this was more than just a lark for him. More than just an experiment. Feeling this way was a first, and he wanted to wallow in the glory of it—and her—for as long as possible.
Christian gave a quick look left, right, left, as if preparing to cross the street. He didn’t need big-eyed tourists trying to lip-read as he poured his heart out. For the first time all night, though, the nearby diners seemed engrossed in their food. The only people eyeing their table were Gregor and Sofia.
He took her hand. Carefully interlaced their fingers. Hers were long and tipped a deep, autumnal orange. And they curled into his, pressing back with intent that felt like it matched his own.
“Mallory. You enchant me. You soothe me. You delight me. You make me feel like a man, and not a figurehead. You’re fun. I don’t say that to pressure you. But know that I will take everything you’re willing to give me.”
“Your Highness. I’d say you are very much doing this first date the right way. Because you just took my breath away.”
Excellent. “All right then. In addition to having checked off the fantastic sex box, we’ve done amazingly well at sharing the heavy conversations about my father.”
“So what does that leave us for tonight?”
“The vast middle ground—sharing our ordinary life. Seeing if we’re both interested in those things.”
Mallory burst out laughing. “Ordinary life? There is nothing ordinary about your life.”
“My days are full of nonstop meetings, occasionally punctuated by a grip and grin at a hospital opening, bookended by dinners with people I barely know. Ordinary in their repetition.”
“You’re right. That sounds downright boring. I’m not sure I’m up for hearing tidbits from such an ordinary life. Except that your nonstop meetings help shape the course of not only your country, but others as well. The hospital openings save