Page 10 of Royal Rising

“Wanting and actually doing it are two very different things. I guess I’ve always been content here in my little slice of Laandia.”

Renaldo brings the wine but I have to wait for Mathias to do the smell and taste, commenting on the blackberry, which Renaldo loves and chimes in with a few other blackberry-like wines, before I can get a mouthful of the stuff.

And I really need a big mouthful.

“I would like to show you Italy,” Mathias says after we give our order. “I have a friend with a place on Lake Como—”

“Near George?” I interrupt because George Clooney will now always be synonymous with the lake in Italy.

Mathias smiles. “It is quite close.”

Taking a deep breath, I ask him where else he’s been, and the first part of the evening passes with Mathias telling me about his favourite places.

I don’t have a favourite place because Laandia, and Battle Harbour, is my favourite place. I know that even without leaving the country. It has everyone and everything I care about.

The only disadvantage is that, as a single thirty-two-year-old, I’ve pretty much depleted the dating pool.

The last date I had was three months ago with Angus Deeks. We went to Catch of the Day and he spent most of the time detailing his own catch, how much his fishing boat can hold, and what fish they catch.

To give Angus credit, he wooed me with tales of the pods of whales he’s seen over the years. I love whales. I just wish I knew theextent of his conversations consists of more than talk the sea and what’s in it.

The date I had a few weeks before Angus, had been a newly divorced friend of my sister’s husband, and he took me to Spots and Stripes pool hall on a Sunday. Every screen had an American football game playing and that was allhetalked about.

It was because of him that I agreed to go out with Angus.

So even if Mathias weren’t a prince, he would still be a better date than those guys.

It’s not until after our main course—penne pesto with chicken and a heaping spoon of parmesan for me, and beef ragu over tagliatelle for Mathias—that he realizes he’s said enough about himself. “Tell me about yourself,” he urges.

“You know the basics—born and raised in Battle Harbour,” I say, swallowing the first bite of heaven followed by a mouthful of wine. “My father was the groundskeeper at the castle, he and my mother are still happily married, and I have three sisters.”

“That’s a lot of females in one place. I do better with just my one sister.”

“Renee? I have to admit, I Googled you, so I know most of your basics. Father Dante, mother Emelia, you, younger brother Jonas, and Renee. You have a beautiful home in Peace River and a condo in Toronto, where Jonas and Renee spend most of their time.”

Am I supposed to know all that? Should I have admitted it? Do I seem like some sort of stalker now?

When we met for coffee, we talked mostly about the wedding. Of course I Googled him; my father wanted to do a background check but my mother told him he was over-reacting because Mathiaswas a member of the royal family and everything about them could be found on the tabloids or internet sites.

Mom would be so happy to see a picture of me there having dinner with a prince.

Thankfully, Mathias smiles as I give him the rundown of his own family. “I would hope for nothing less, but you’ve put the ball back in your court because I know almost nothing about you.”

“I know the basics but not the good stuff. Let’s play Three Questions: we ask anything and the other has to answer.”

Mathias does not look amused at my suggestion. “Is this something you do on all your dates?”

“Sometimes, but it’s usually what I do with Kalle when he’s had a bad day.”

Kalle’s name chimes between us, like a gong rung for dinner.

“I would think most would want to avoid my cousin when he’s had a bad day.” Mathias’s tone is cool and I want to gulp my words back like that last mouthful of wine. “Working together must make that difficult. Do you spend much time together outside the pub?”

“Is that one of your questions? Because they should be really probing questions, where you ask a lot in only a few words,” I offer. “Like,what do you do in your spare time and who do you do it with, which would cover interests and hobbies and friends in one shot.”

What I want to know isit’s obvious you and Kalle don’t get along, so what’s up with that?But I don’t think the time is right for that, even though Mathias will undoubtedly give me more information than notoriously close-mouthed Kalle.

Mathias quirks a smile. “Thank you for the clarification. That was definitely not a question, since I’m limited to three. All right,I need to make this a good one, so… What is your favourite thing about living in Battle Harbour?”

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