To Kiss a King - NIcole Burnham Page 0,61
fresh bread dipped in herbed olive oil, they talked about work, then family. Eduardo’s grandsons had recovered from strep and had been running around the palace garden that afternoon.
“Tomorrow night, we can have an early dinner at La Rocca,” Eduardo said. “If it’s all right with you, Amanda and Marco could join us. I know you met them at the credentials ceremony, but I want them to get to know you. They wouldn’t stay late, so we could watch the movie afterward.”
Claire took a long, tantalizing sip of her wine and eyed him over the rim of her glass. When she finally set it down, she said, “Spending time with Amanda and Marco would be wonderful, but I have to warn you: I won’t want popcorn after dinner. Movies require popcorn.”
“Are you canceling already? Over popcorn?” He gave her a withering look, but she laughed it off.
“No. But don’t expect me to eat a lot at dinner, even with Samuel doing the cooking. Not eating one of his meals is going to take an enormous amount of willpower. I want that sacrifice recognized and rewarded.”
“So noted.” He made a face. “But I won’t do it in front of Samuel.”
“You don’t know how good you have it with him.”
“I do know. But if I admit it to him, he’ll double down on the oatmeal. I’m not sure I can survive that.”
She grinned and told him to enjoy his ravioli.
The next evening, Fabiano dropped Claire at La Rocca just as Marco and Amanda passed the rear entrance. Though she’d met Amanda the night she’d presented her credentials and had the chance to greet Prince Marco briefly that night, she hadn’t seen the couple since. Claire wasn’t sure what to expect, particularly from Prince Marco, but both greeted her warmly. Together, they climbed the stairs to King Eduardo’s apartment. Marco tapped in the code at the keypad. As they entered the vestibule, they heard voices coming from the great room.
They entered to see Samuel Barden standing beside the king at the table. Both men had their backs to the door. Samuel had one hand on his hip as he gestured toward a low floral centerpiece and said something about using an arrangement from the family dining room instead.
“Not romantic enough,” Eduardo replied. “Not if it’s the orange and yellow arrangement that was there during breakfast this morning.”
Amanda, Marco, and Claire exchanged looks.
“Do you have anything pink? I think Claire likes pink.”
“I do like pink,” she said as she moved toward them, surprising both Eduardo and Samuel. “But what’s on the table already is beautiful. Let’s leave it.” To Samuel, she said, “Thank you. This is lovely, as always.”
Eduardo gave the table a long look, but his disappointment was apparent.
Samuel said, “Dinner will be ready in a half hour, if that’s suitable. I’ve left wine and sparkling water on the bar.”
Once he was gone, Marco and Amanda went for drinks and Claire gave Eduardo a gentle kiss on the cheek. Near his ear, she murmured, “Not romantic enough? That’s very sweet.”
“We’ve tried to have movie night for weeks now. I wanted to get it right.”
“We’re both here. That’s all we need.”
For the next two hours, they enjoyed a delicious dinner and conversation. At one point, Eduardo crossed the room to retrieve a bowl from the bar. When he set it in front of Claire, she laughed so hard she could hardly speak.
“Banduzzi olives,” Eduardo announced.
“And this is funny…how?” Amanda asked.
“At our first dinner here in the residence—a business dinner, I must add—I had Samuel leave some on the bar so Claire could try them. I’d sent a Banduzzi olive tree to the embassy as a welcome gift with the dinner invitation and promised to serve them.”
Marco eyed his father. “What happened?”
“It was all I could do not to stare at her once she entered the residence. I managed to mix decent Negronis and talk to Claire somewhat intelligently about policy initiatives, but I completely forgot the olives.”
“You distracted him,” Amanda said. “That’s rare.”
The smile Marco gave his father made Claire feel welcomed all over again.
They’d just finished dessert when Amanda mentioned to Claire that her father, a former ambassador to Italy, had followed Claire’s career. “He teaches a course each spring at American University, so he keeps up on a lot of the initiatives at embassies around the world. He told me he was very impressed with some of the programs you worked on during your time in Uganda.”
Claire expected Amanda to mention the