Page 30 of Royal Caleva: Luis

A not unpleasant shiver ran down her spine. “Why don’t you sit there?” She indicated the chair between hers and Grace’s at the round table.

“Permit me.” He pulled out the chair Eve stood beside and waited.

“Oh.” He wanted her to sit first. “Thank you.” She plunked down with speed rather than grace.

Luis strode around to hold Grace’s chair for her as well. For a moment, their faces were almost side by side, and the family resemblance was striking.

Her Grace was really the child of a king.

Eve shook her head as though that could ward off the gut-wrenching truth of it.

Dinner passed in a blur of candlelight and conversation. Eve tasted nothing that she ate as she fell under the spell Luis wove around the three of them. He asked questions about their lives in Iowa, listened to their answers with focused interest, and offered his own anecdotes of Caleva, painting a tantalizing picture of his home. He downplayed the fact that he lived in a castle and ruled a country so that Eve could almost relax and talk with him like any other dinner guest.

Grace was enthralled by her father. As the evening progressed, she teased him a few times and threw some occasional snark. In fact, she treated him the same way she did her friends’ fathers, respectfully but with ease. Relief washed through Eve.

After Luis polished off his second Scotcheroo, he turned to Eve. “That was one of the best meals I have ever eaten.”

Not for a moment did she believe him. “I suspect your pleasure had more to do with the company than the food.” She glanced at Grace, whose fascinated gaze was locked on her father.

“A truly excellent meal is always more than the food.” He swept his hand around. “It includes the beautiful table, the excellent wine, and most especially, the warmth and brilliance of my two lovely companions.”

Eve shifted on her chair at his continued flattery. “Shall we move to the living room for coffee and brandy?”

“Por supuesto.” He rose with a fluid motion and pulled out Eve’s chair as she stood. When he bent close to her, she caught his faint, exotic scent that evoked fresh air and the sea. Her bare arm brushed against the soft cotton of his shirt, sending a flicker of delight across her skin.

She had to get a grip.

“Grace, will you pour the brandy while I prepare the coffee?” Eve asked, nearly bolting into the kitchen.

As she turned on the coffeemaker, Eve decided that her reaction was not so surprising. This whole evening had been a kind of seduction. Luis had exerted all his considerable charm to win over both Grace and her. He had made Caleva sound like an earthly paradise and his family seem close-knit and interesting. There had been no further mentions of kidnapping, mutilation, security teams, or DNA tests.

Eve sighed. As a ruler, Luis would be adept at manipulating people. She needed to keep that in mind.

But, gosh, the man was hard to resist. The spell that he wove threatened to swamp her Iowan common sense.

A few minutes later, she carried the coffee tray into the living room. Luis leaped up to take it from her, their fingers brushing with a delicious friction. She looked up to find his face alight with what looked like happiness. Being with Grace gave him pleasure, and she couldn’t begrudge him that.

She smiled at him as she released the tray into his grasp. His gaze sharpened and heated in a way that sent a sensual flame licking through her. Thank goodness he was holding the tray because she would have dropped it.

He bent to carefully place the tray on the coffee table, and she watched the play of muscles under the fine cotton of his perfectly fitted shirt. She wanted to run her fingers over the swells and valleys of his shoulders. She averted her eyes and sat.

After she poured coffee for all of them, she decided it was her turn to ask the questions. It might keep her mind off his body. “Where are you staying while you’re here in Ames?”

“At a house to the west of town,” he said. “I would like to invite you to dinner there tomorrow night.”

“We’d love to come,” Grace said, her face bright with enthusiasm.

“Muy bien.” Luis nodded. “I will send a car to pick you up. Would cocktails at five thirty be agreeable? I would like to spend as much time with you as possible before I have to return to Caleva.”

Grace’s glow dimmed. “When do you have to leave?”

Luis frowned. “In two days. I wish I could stretch my visit a little longer.” He leaned forward. “But you must come to Caleva! We will organize that as soon as possible.”

“I’m on rotations at school, and I don’t have scheduled time off for another two months,” Grace said. “We can video chat, though, can’t we?”

“Most definitely,” Luis said, but he looked dissatisfied.

Eve relaxed a little. A couple of months of video chats would give her adequate time to talk with Grace about the more complex implications of her new identity.

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