Chapter Two
Madison watched through the front window for Luis' return with markedly more enthusiasm than she had woken up with that morning. She'd assumed that any driver the palace would send for her would be either elderly, poker-faced, unable to communicate well in English or any combination of the three. But Luis had been as far from those things as possible. Her best guess was that he was her age, perhaps a few years older.
She certainly hadn't ever met a man as handsome as Luis before. His light brown hair was sun-streaked, and she wondered if the way his skin crinkled around his eyes was due to time spent out in the sun or due to laughing often. Perhaps both. Either way, she sensed that he knew the value of a good day's work. She respected that in a man.
His English was polished despite the accent she couldn't quite place. He didn't sound like the other Monterrans she'd met. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to speak a bit more slowly. He'd seemed to need a moment to compose a response each time he spoke. But since English wasn't his first language, that shouldn't have surprised her overly much. Probably the best plan was to let Luis do the talking. At least that way she could enjoy listening to his accent. There certainly were worse ways to spend a morning.
She reapplied her lip gloss and fluffed out her hair with her fingers. A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. Wouldn't Mackenzie love seeing her in such a state? She could hear her twin now, 'You know, Madi, men are good for more things than being either a client or supplier.'. Theoretically, Madison knew her sister was right. But she'd just never met a man who'd so quickly sparked her interest. Until today.
A knock on the front door set her heart racing. She rolled her eyes at her own wayward reaction and grabbed her handbag. With one deep fortifying breath, she pulled open the heavy wooden door. Her knees promptly went weak. "Hello, Luis."
"Buenos días, Señorita." He met her gaze and smiled.
"Madison, please." She found herself returning his smile. Little did he know that the sight of him dressed in a white polo shirt, black slacks, and black loafers, was one worth waiting for. Simply cut, his clothes bespoke an expensive elegance. Clearly the Monterra royal household didn't skimp on uniform allowances. "I'm glad you came back."
He gave her appearance an appreciative once over. "You look lovely. Shall we begin our day?" He stepped aside so that she could precede him down the brick pathway. A black Mercedes convertible sat parked in the circular drive, it's top down. Luis opened the passenger side door for her, a small frown marring his features when she didn't approach the car. "This isn't the vehicle you would like?"
Lest he think she was spoiled beyond reason, she shook her head. "Oh, no, it's not that."
He glanced between her and the Mercedes again. "Ah, it is the convertible top down that you don't like, am I correct? I can put it up."
Madison waved her hand to dismiss his suggestion as she moved to stand beside him. "Oh, no, please don't. It's a beautiful spring day, perfect for a convertible." She reached out and touched his arm. "I would love to take a tour of Monterra in this car. I was just expecting something bigger, something fancy-schmancy, you know?"
But his confused expression made it clear that he didn't understand what she meant by fancy-schmancy. "Forgive me, I'm afraid I'm not familiar with this American-ism."
"Stuffy. Or maybe presumptuous." Suddenly self-conscious that she was still touching him, Madison drew her arm back. "I'm just not used to all of this royal business."
"Business?"
"Well, you have to admit that it's a bit much." She glanced at the Royal Lodge behind her and then up in the direction of the palace. "Everything is so luxurious, so grandiose, so opulent, so...so..."
"So royal?" he supplied.
"Exactly." Madison smiled with relief. Of course, he understood. As an employee of the Fiorelli family, he probably understood better than anyone would. "There's reality and then there's royalty, right?"
Luis watched her for a long moment before he shrugged. "I suppose they are both very relative terms, no?" He motioned toward the open car door. "Shall we?"
"With pleasure." Madison settled into the passenger seat with a sigh of contentment. The tan leather seats were supple and one quick glance at the dashboard told her what she'd already guessed. Every single upgrade known to mankind had been added. This certainly wasn't her grandaddy's ride. He'd taught her how to drive his battered old Ford pick-up truck on the bumpy back roads of his ranch. If she hadn't completely understood it before, she did now. Monterra was a world away from North Texas.
A gentle breeze surrounded them as Luis smoothly guided the car down the narrow hairpin turns that led from the Royal Lodge into the village. It didn't take her long to appreciate that he was a skilled driver. She relaxed back against the seat.
Spring had not only arrived in Monterra, it had made itself fully at home. Trellises of fragrant roses graced the front of many homes. Many of the residences featured diamond cut window panes with quaint window boxes, each seemingly vying to spill forth the most colorful and profuse offerings of flowers. With no obtrusive satellite dishes or cars parked in the street, the surroundings seemed timeless. She sighed with pleasure.
Luis glanced over at her. "I take it that you are pleased with what you see?"
She grinned. "More than. Monterra is every bit as lovely as Kat assured me it was."
"You didn't attend their wedding." His words came out more as a statement than a question.
Madison shook her head. "Unfortunately not, and believe you me, it about tore my sister and me apart to have to miss it. But it was the grand opening of our new restaurant that same weekend. We'd pretty much poured our savings into the launch, and rescheduling it would have been a big financial hit, so it came down to choosing between attending the wedding or opening the restaurant."
Luis nodded. "A difficult position to be in."
It could have been. But Kat had been her usual understanding self. She'd also been gracious enough to keep both Madison and Mackenzie updated on all the wedding plans and fun through texts and emails. This way they'd felt as if they'd been able to vicariously experience just a bit of the royal wedding. But now that she was actually here in Monterra, she realized just how much she'd missed. "The wedding must have been fabulous."
"It was," Luis agreed. "Your friend radiated happiness and her groom was every bit as in love. I'm sorry you had to miss it."
Madison shifted in her seat so that she could better see him. "You were at the wedding? I mean, actually in the cathedral itself?"
Luis shot her a quick glance but didn't say anything. She started to ask another question but stopped herself. Maybe his comment had been an inadvertent slip. If he'd snuck into the cathedral to witness the Monterran wedding of the decade, she wasn't one to judge.
"Have you lived in Monterra long?" she asked.
"I haven't been here long at all," he said. "Has Nico told you much about his family's kingdom?"
Nico? How odd that he'd address the prince on a first name basis. But Madison knew she was hardly an expert on the etiquette of addressing nobility. Just yesterday, she'd had to ask the prince what she should call him. Still, she doubted that palace staff directly addressed the royal family by their first names. However, maybe they referred to them that way below stairs.
Below stairs? Good grief. Listen to her. Clearly she'd been watching too much BBC.
"Did I say something wrong?" Luis asked.
"Oh, no. I was just wondering if it was normal for everyone at the palace to call the prince 'Nico'?"
He looked over at her, his expression puzzled. "Why do you ask?"
She opened her mouth to tell him that he'd just done so but the sound of a woman's scream filled the air. Luis slammed on the brakes.
A tiny white dog stood in the middle of the road. It looked up at them, it's expression dazed. An elderly woman rushed over and scooped the dog up, tears of relief running down her cheeks.
Luis twisted to place his arm along the back of her seat. He touched her shoulder lightly and he leaned toward her. "Forgive me, Madison. Are you hurt?" His voice was solicitous, his eyes concerned.
To save her life, Madison couldn't force herself to speak. She'd been startled, not hurt. She stared into the concerned warmth of Luis' brown eyes, unable to find her voice.
"Madison?" His hand dropped to her arm, he gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'm so sorry. Can you tell me if you're hurt?"
She shook her head. "I'm fine, really." She forced herself to look away. "And the dog wasn't hit, so if you're okay, we can call it no harm, no foul."
"Would you like me to take you home? Back to the lodge, I mean?"
Again, she shook her head. This was ridiculous. She was acting like a love-struck teenage girl out with the coolest guy on the football team instead of the twenty-five-year-old woman she was. Fortune had conspired to bring her to a charming European principality. She needed to make the most of it. "No need, I'm fine. I swear." She glanced at the woman holding the dog. She still stood in the middle of the narrow street. "But don't you think we should check on her?"
"Sí, of course, you are right. I'll be right back." With one last concerned glance at her, Luis slid out of the convertible and approached the woman.
Although she wasn't able to understand their conversation because she didn't speak Italian, Madison watched with interest as Luis reached out to stroke the dog's head. He appeared to listen attentively and nod his head as the woman spoke rapidly. After a few moments, he shook her hand and returned to the car.
"Are you certain that you're not hurt?" Luis asked as he rejoined her.
"Positively sure," she assured him.
He shifted the Mercedes into drive and continued through the village.
Madison watched her surroundings with great interest as they entered the village. Several dozen people wandered along the sidewalks at a leisurely pace, many carrying handheld baskets for their shopping. The architecture couldn't be described as anything other than quaint. It reminded her of a movie set in the Swiss Alps that she and Mackenzie had loved watching as little girls. What she loved most were the brightly colored flowers everywhere. She sighed.
Luis slid the car into an open spot and came around to open her door, a luxury she certainly wasn't used to. She smiled up at him as he helped her alight.
"What do you think of Monterra thus far?"
Much to her surprise, she felt extremely comfortable considering that Monterra couldn't be more different than the plains of Texas that she called home. "I think it's utterly charming."
Luis' gaze trailed slowly over her features, leaving her feeling slightly breathless. But she didn't move. Didn't say anything. She couldn't. It was as if she was mesmerized. Heaven help her, she'd made fun of girlfriends for acting star struck around attractive men. No such thing as chemistry, she'd said over and over. Oh, how wrong she'd been.
***
Prince Luis watched the lovely American closely. She'd gone suddenly quiet, and he struggled to think of what he could have said that might have offended her. Or what he might have said that had given away his true identity. His wisest move would be to do what he had set out to do, show her the sights. "Would you like to visit the cathedral where your friend was married?"
"I'd love to. It looked so beautiful in all the photos." She looked around before turning back to him. "It's a lovely day and I'd enjoy a walk. Is it close enough that we can?"
He offered her his arm. "This is the beauty of living in such a small principality. We can walk anywhere."
As they walked along the street, Madison's arm tucked in the crook of his elbow, Luis shared with her everything he knew about Nico's homeland. Like many royals, he'd been carefully schooled in the history of neighboring countries so he knew enough to sound somewhat knowledgeable. He enjoyed the wonder and delight on Madison's face as they stopped in front of Monterra's grand cathedral.
"Oh, Luis," Madison put a hand to her throat and turned to look up at him. "It's breathtaking."
"Sí, it is." The fact that she appreciated Monterra's architectural gem pleased him. When she turned her attention back to the centuries-old architecture, he took the opportunity to study her features. Her manner was confident, her voice strong and self-assured, but her facial features were delicate. She was a contradiction, a most beautiful one. "Shall we go inside?"
To Luis' relief, the cathedral was virtually empty when they entered. A few tourists glanced their way but he saw no flash of recognition when their eyes passed over him. As incomprehensible as it might be to anyone else, he was relishing spending time with Madison without her knowing his true identity. Rare was the chance for him to simply be Luis. Eventually, he might have to tell Madison his true identity, but not now. Not until he had to.