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flavors. Despite the crappy service, the Parallel’s food had lived up to the hype. “I’ve been a few times, but don’t have a bird of my own.”
    “ I’d be happy to lend you one of my birds. I’ve been away for a while, so it would be good to have help exercising them.” The corners of my mouth pulled up a little. He was being nice. There was no way he didn’t have a gamekeeper to help him take care of the birds while he was away.
    “ What do you have?” I pulled apart some of the bread I had asked the waitress to butter.
    “ Three Harris hawks.”
    “ Alex and his father are very large bird advocates in our country.” Rose tilted her glass toward her nephew. “He presented his first bill to the Lilarian council when he was twelve. He called for stricter punishments for the purposeful deaths of raptors and endangered birds.”
    I looked over at Alex and felt my first true smile of the night. “That’s a pretty big proposal. Good for you.”
    “ Didn’t do it for me.” Alex sipped from his glass and smiled.

Playboy Prince on the Prowl
    — L.A. Chatter

    When I asked for the bill, Rose waved it off. “You’re our guest. We will take care of the bill.”
    “ Thank you.” I didn’t want to offend her by insisting, even though it made me uncomfortable.
    “ I hope to hear from you soon, Samantha.” Rose looked over her shoulder and Duvall appeared from the shadows of the room. I tried to keep my face from registering my shock. The man gave me the willies. He handed Rose a card and a pen. She wrote something on the back and handed it to me. “Call me if you have any questions. That’s my direct line.”
    “ Thank you.” I tucked the card into the small purse I was carrying. I was sure Rose didn’t give out that number very often, so didn’t want to risk losing it.
    “ Off to bed then, for me. I’m not as young as I used to be. But don’t let that stop you and Alex. I’ve heard there are many interesting places in town for young people.” Rose held her hand out to me and pulled me close once. Softly she kissed my cheek and smiled. “It’s been a pleasure, my dear. A pleasure.”
    “ Very much so.” I bussed her cheek and tried to suppress the queasy feeling that surfaced when she suggested I spend more time with Alex. What the hell was I going to do with a prince? Good grief, even the voice in my head squeaked when I thought the word prince .
    I watched quietly as Alex kissed his aunt good-bye before Duvall ushered her through the restaurant. I looked up into Alex’s amused eyes when he cleared his throat.
    “ Would you like to get a drink? The bartender seems rather knowledgeable.” His eyes slid over my body in a lazy perusal. “Or if you’d prefer, we could try somewhere else.”
    “ I probably shouldn’t.” The most attractive man I had ever met just asked me for a drink and I tell him no? I’m insane. I’m sure he was just trying to be polite. “I drove, so no more drinks for me tonight.”
    “ Ah.” He looked down at me and I felt small. Not in the personal sense, but literally small. The man was tall. “Well then, let me walk you to your car.”
    “ Thank you.” As we moved toward the entrance, he placed a hand on the small of my back. The warmth from his palm seeped through the thin material of my dress and made me shiver.
    “ I thought you weren’t cold.” He dipped his head so his breath tickled my ear.
    “ I’m not.” My voice sounded a little breathy and I swallowed to wet my throat. “I mean, it’s cooler closer to the door.”
    “ Hm.” As we neared the door, he dropped his hand from my back and smiled at the hostess. “Our coats, please.”
    “ Of course.” She batted her eyes and I had to fight to not roll mine. When she brought our coats back, she practically threw mine at me and I had to scramble to not drop it. Alex swooped down and grabbed the coat before it could touch the floor and held it open for me. Carefully I shrugged into the ugly