Page 21 of Princess Bride Swap

“I suppose it is a good thing you ended up married to me then.”

Her smile was small, shy. It made warmth bloom in his chest like it was some great feat to make that happen.

So he moved out of the way. So she could go get her books. And he could...figure out what the hell he was feeling.

CHAPTER SEVEN

BEAUWASSURPRISEDwhen Lyon led her to a heavy-duty Jeep vehicle, and thenhegot into the driver’s side himself. She stood there for a moment, simply staring. Until he looked over at her and raised a brow.

“Do princes not drive in Lille?”

“My father said it was beneath us.”

Lyon shook his head. “Your father does not improve no matter what more I know about him.”

“No, I cannot imagine he ever will.”

“Well, we shall get you some lessons when it’s appropriate. As for today, I will drive us up to the chalet. We still have some security measures in place, so no worries there. Come now. Let us be off.”

With halting steps, Beau made her way to the passenger side where one of Lyon’s attendants waited with the door open. He helped her up and in, then closed the door. Once she was buckled in, Lyon started the engine and began to drive.

Drive. “I don’t think I’ve ever been in the front seat of a car before,” Beau said. It was a strange feeling, and stranger still realizing just how odd her life was that she was almost twenty-five and had never ridden in the front of a car.

“It is a day of firsts then,” Lyon said. He seemed relaxed behind the wheel, driving this industrial-sized monster.

Beau felt tense. She was determinednotto be, and thought she’d been handling herself quite well. She had let him be her guide. He had not mentioned last night, so she hadn’t. He had mentioned the complete privacy at the chalet, so she had brought upstepsto indicate she understood what was still expected of her. Even if she didn’t understand him or his actions.

She had let his staff pack for her, and she’d only grabbed a few books hoping to have some reading time.

She was being the exact thing she’d promised him she’d be. Easy. Respectable. Flexible.

But she found she really,reallydidn’t like riding in the front seat as the roads narrowed and began to twist—up and around the mountains that had been so pretty from a distance, and now looked more and more menacing.

“As I said, we will have almost no staff,” Lyon said casually, like he wasn’t navigating a giant hunk of metal around roads certainly not meant for something of its size. “I typically like to use a trip to the chalet as a kind of...reset. A reminder I can and will do things on my own when it serves. Do you know how to cook?”

Beau hung onto every word, because it helped her not think about hurtling off the side of the mountain. “In theory.”

“How does one know how to cook in theory?”

“I’ve read a lot about it, but I wasn’t allowed in the kitchens. I should definitely like to try to put what I’ve learned into practice though.” She frowned at his large, capable hands on the wheel. “I have less interest in driving.”

“Why?”

“Don’t you feel...out of control?”

“On the contrary. I feel very in control. I am the one driving the vehicle.”

He certainly looked and sounded it. “But the weather, other people, traffic laws and etiquette.” She felt a little band of anxiety around her lungs at just the thought.

He spared her a quick glance, with a bemused expression. “Perhaps we will stick to cooking.”

She nodded emphatically. “I think that is good.” When silence settled again, and looming mountains threatened to cause her to venture into the kind of panic she could not let Lyon see, she scrambled to talk. About anything.

“While I don’t have many day-to-day skills, I’m happy to learn them. I pick things up very easily.” She kept her eyes on his face instead of the world around them. “I’m very good at math. Exceptional with computers. You wouldn’t believe the things I got around my father’s IT team’s pathetic excuse for internet security.”

His mouth curved. “You are a constant surprise, Beau.”

“I have heard that before. It’s never a compliment.”

---