The Royal's American Love Read Online Free PDF Page A

become
familiar and important to everyone.”
    “What story are you a part of right now, Marianna?” he
asked quietly.
    There was a resonance to his voice that made her shiver,
and she thought about the question. Her first impulse was to answer flippantly,
to joke about being part of a sitcom or some other comedy show. Then Marianna
realized his question was a serious one, and that he deserved a serious answer.
One of the first things she had learned from her time as a journalist was that
you must always treat people the way you want to be treated.
    “I think…I think I’m in one of those stories about a woman
finding herself. She leaves home, she is in a strange place, and there is
nothing around her to stop her from doing…doing what she wants. The freedom is
exhilarating at the same time it’s frightening, but at the end, she grows and
comes out of it the person she was always meant to be.”
    “And love?”
    Marianna laughed a little. “She definitely finds love. She
might not know she’s looking for it, or that it’s looking for her, but she
finds it.”
    “And are you looking for love?” There was definitely a
teasing note in his voice, and she smiled in return.
    “I don’t know,” she said. “I haven’t decided yet.”
    It looked like he was going to say something else, but then
the door opened and a waiter came in bearing a deep dish filled with a savory
meat.
    Despite her urge to play it cool, Marianna found herself
delighted by the meal. It was exactly what she had been craving when she got
off the plane, and when she ate, it felt as if she had come home in a strange
way.
    “This is delicious,” she said happily, nibbling on a final
bite. She was too full to keep on eating, but she couldn’t stop herself from sampling
just a little bit more.
    “As I said, my family has come to this restaurant for a
very long time. It was always one of my favorites.”
    They talked of a few things here and there, learning more
about each other as the food disappeared. Though Marianna got the idea he liked
playing the part of the dissolute rake, there was something deeper to him,
something that tantalized her writer’s brain.
    Just your writer’s brain?
    The jeering thought made her flinch, and she realized with
some discomfort that she was treating this more as a date than she was an
interview process.
    Oh be careful, be oh so careful ,she thought
to herself, biting her lip. This is how writers go down in infamy.
    She tried to pull back a little, but to her shock, it was
already a difficult thing to do. She couldn’t stop herself from wanting to
smile at Nikolos, from wanting to reach across the table to touch his hand, to
laugh at his jokes.
    Her unease culminated when they finished their meal and
wound up at the trattoria’s door. Night had fallen, and there was a lovely light
breeze sweeping through the street. She trembled a little, and Nikolos turned
to her.
    “You know the night doesn’t have to end here,” he said, and
she knew she was not mistaken when she heard a bit of invitation in his voice.
She knew if she said yes, they would fall forward into something that she didn’t
understand and certainly could not control. She would find herself deeply
wrapped in something that could not be considered professional in any way,
shape, or form, and that was something that alarmed her.
    “I think it should,” she said quietly but firmly.
    She knew he had heard the stiffness in her tone because he
tilted his head to one side, looking at her cautiously.
    “Now you must tell me,” he said, a note of caution in his
voice. “What exactly have I done to offend you? You were warm from the
beginning, then you heated up when we spoke, and now you are as chill as ice.”
    She had to laugh a little at his exaggeration. That was
good. If she could distance herself from him, that would be for the best.
    “You’ve done nothing wrong, I promise you,” she said. “It
is only that at the end of the day, I’m