Page 23 of Trapped with the Undercover Prince

“Oh, well, something casual? I’m sightseeing.”

None of the salespeople looked happy with that answer.

Zar spoke up then, the women nodded, then they all dashed off in different directions into the store.

Anna had the feeling she wasn’t going to get casual.

Someone came and led them to one corner that had a dressing room with a loveseat positioned in front of it. Someone else arrived with coffee in tiny cups. She almost refused it, then decided she probably needed the caffeine and drank it black.

One of the girls arrived with an armful of clothing and indicated the dressing room.

“Well,” Anna said to Zar, “it’s off to the salt mines.”

His answer was a satisfied smile.

Anna was ordered to try on several outfits, all of which she had to show Zar. She actually liked the two sets of pants with silk tops she tried on, but it was a firm no to the high-heeled shoes they kept bringing her. She needed shoes she could walk in.

She ended up wearing out a designer pair of jeans that had hand-stitched embroidery and beads in varying shades of teal and peach all over them. Her matching silk teal tank top was paired with a denim jacket that matched the jeans.

“Now this is Bohemian,” she said to Zar as the staff wrapped up the three other outfits, the two pant and top sets and one dress Zar insisted on getting.

“Whimsy suits you,” he said, dropping a quick kiss on her lips.

The shop staff whispered to each other and hid smiles behind their hands.

He escorted her out to the car, where Zar’s guys were holding a posse of photographers back. They shouted questions in French and English, asking how long they’d been dating and what Zar’s family thought of him pursuing an American.

They got into the car and left the crowd behind.

Zar looked smug and satisfied.

“You sneak. You did that on purpose,” she said to him.

“Distraction, remember? It worked perfectly.”

“An expensive distraction. How much did those clothes cost?”

“They’re a gift, Anna, and not just from me. My family has been kept up to date on everything that happened yesterday, and they’ve seen the news articles about you and me. At least one of the pictures showed you covered in blood and soot. As a result, my mother ordered me to replace your wardrobe. The fact that this detour has resulted in the press inferring a different reason for my being at the train station than is accurate is an added bonus.”

“Wait a second.” She blinked. “Your mother? The Queen of Lerasia, ordered you to buy me some new clothes?”

“She did.”

A horrible thought ran through her head. “She’s not interested in meeting me, is she?”

“Very interested, if for no other reason than for your heroism. You saved two lives on that train.”

Meeting a queen? The whole idea sounded incredibly uncomfortable.

She blurted out the only excuse she could think of, “But, I don’t even know how to curtsy.”

Zar patted her hand. “Don’t worry, I’ll show you.”

“You know how to curtsy?”

“My sisters taught me when I was very young. We used to have tea parties.”

“With real tea?”

---