Luke“Justine is very observant.” I wasn’t about to tell her that I was the one who guessed Sophia’s size based on the time I’d spent with her. She might think I had thought about her body way more than I should have. It was the honest truth, but sharing that might turn her off completely.“Hm,” Sophia said and followed Katherine into the next room.The room was the size of my walk-in closet. A plush gray love seat sat in the middle of the room in front of a trifold mirror. On one side of the room was a door that I guessed was the changing room.“Mr. Walters, if you wouldn’t mind taking a seat,” Katherine said, opening her hand in the direction of the chair. “Ms. Holmes—”“Sophia,” Sophia said. “You can call me Sophia.”Katherine smiled tightly. “Sophia. Please come through here with me so I can point out some of my choices for you.”Sophia gave me a look and then followed Katherine.Unbuttoning my jacket, I sat down on the couch. I slung my arm over the top, then thought better of it
SophiaThe next two days went by in a flash. I’d locked myself in my room at the hotel and researched everything I could about Luke’s home country. I checked out blogs and articles written by women who had visited the country as well. But after a while, all of the words started to blur into incomprehensible blobs.The articles were helpful, but they didn’t mimic the experience that I was about to embark on with Luke. I was about to visit a palace! I didn’t doubt that I would be stared at, but it wouldn’t be for my clothing. I would be the girlfriend of a prince. There would be those—his parents and family—who wouldn’t be happy with him for choosing a woman like me. And others would be curious about how I captured the eye of a prince.I thought of Kate Middleton—the only princess I knew of—and how she must have felt to be in my position. Though our situations were totally different, as I was sure she loved her husband, it was probably a strange thing for her and the royal family alike
SophiaOnce we were in the air—after the smoothest takeoff I’d ever experienced—there was no going back. As if Luke realized that, he took off his suit jacket and tossed it over his chair.Within seconds, a flight attendant grabbed it and whisked it away.I had the urge to throw something on the floor and see how quickly it got picked up, but I quelled it. My giddiness about this whole experience was bordering on immaturity.I had two glasses of delicious champagne, much better than the one at the New Year’s party at work. Soon after, we were given a three-course dinner. Probably the best meal of my life.“How did you get into journalism?” Luke asked after a little while.He’d been on his phone for most of the time since takeoff, and I didn’t want to disturb him.“My mom got me a notebook when I was about six. There wasn’t much to do in our small neighborhood, so I started to spy on our neighbors and write down their daily activities.”“I could see a little Sophia doing that,” he said
LukeWith Sophia’s hand in mine, I felt like I could take over the world. Her small hand offered me the reassurance that I wasn’t going into this weekend alone. From the window, I saw Mother already had her passive expression on, the one that silently judged. She never thought I could make a decision when it came to my personal life. Yet none of her setups in the past had panned out.“Do I need a headscarf?” Sophia asked when we were near the door.I hesitated. It would give Mother a good impression.I opened my mouth to say something when one of the flight attendants, a woman, came forward holding two scarves in her hands. “These are mine. Pick one.”She wasn’t from my country, but she probably visited quite often if she was a frequent flier on Father’s private jet.I picked the light blue one and thanked her as I quickly wrapped it around Sophia’s head. “There.”“How do I look?” Sophia asked, raising one eyebrow.“Perfect,” I said, tracing my thumb down her cheek.Her eyes fluttered
Luke“You didn’t tell me how beautiful it was,” she said, nudging my arm.She kept her cool, though I could feel her practically vibrating on the inside with excitement. The truth was, I had the same feeling. Coming to the palace with Sophia made it that much more exciting, and for the first time in a long time, I didn’t mind being home.Father and Mother were the first out of the car, followed by Abir, Sophia, and myself. Mother went off into the palace on her own while Father and Abir stood by the car.Father watched Mother enter the palace before he turned to Sophia. “Abir will get you acquainted with the palace. Son, please come with me.”Sophia and I detached, and I felt like a piece of me went missing at that moment. Abir offered his arm, and Sophia took it without hesitation.“I want to show you the gardens,” Abir said, tugging Sophia along with him. She didn’t appear helpless with my brother, but I wanted to get back to her as soon as possible.“Let’s talk in my study,” Father
SophiaIt took all my willpower to hold back my amazement at everything I saw at the palace. Having Abir take me around to the gardens was the best choice. My bones started to thaw from the frigid temperatures I’d been dealing with in the UK.Even though it was warm, Luke had been right about my clothes not being too heavy when it came to the heat. The sun’s warmth pressed against my cheek, and I knew if I stayed out long enough, I’d have a little bit of a burn. I tugged the scarf around my cheeks to prevent that.“If you are too hot, we can go into the greenhouse for a little shade.”“I’d love to go wherever you want to take me. This place is so beautiful.”The flowers were so colorful, and I loved watching the butterflies and bees jumping from one to another. It gave the garden life that I’d never seen before.I had a brown-thumb, though I doubted Luke’s mother, Gia, tended to the garden. Several gardeners moved throughout the paths, checking on the brilliantly colored plants.Up ah
SophiaThe decorations down each hallway were gorgeous. I guessed the paintings depicted previous kings or other royalty, but since I lost my guide and his mother was no help, I wandered down the hallway with no direction in mind.I recalled passing a main staircase at some point, but the hallways were long, and at any given corner, another one spread out in front of me with no end in sight.Taking the opportunity to snoop, I peeked into several rooms, knowing that if anyone caught me, I would use the excuse that I was lost.Instead, the one person I wanted to see appeared in the hallway. Thankfully, I wasn’t snooping when I saw him.“Luke,” I said, unable to hide the smile on my face.He strode down the hallway as if he owned the place. While he did that everywhere, in this context, I saw an entirely new person walking toward me. He belonged here, no matter what he thought.“Where’s Abir?” he asked, his thick eyebrows mashed together.“Your mother told him to get ready for dinner,” I
LukeI didn’t need to give Sophia a half hour to get ready. As it was, we were already going to be late, but I needed the time to get myself composed. In our time together, we hadn’t been alone much. We had either been in a public place or on a plane with several staff members.Standing in her doorway when she was on the cusp of stripping down to change had shifted something inside of me. Of course, I found her attractive. But we were playing our parts as boyfriend and girlfriend. If I had asked her to, I knew she would have kissed me right then and there. I saw the desire in her eyes, and I’d done a terrible job of hiding it myself.Taking a cold shower was in order, but that only took ten minutes. I’d dragged it out longer than usual. I spent extra time picking through my clothes to find the perfect outfit.While I knew I’d have to dress more traditionally for the banquet, I grabbed a suit that I had brought from home. It had faint gray stripes that were only noticeable if you were