Page 76 of Trapped with the Undercover Prince

She put her hand on his arm.

“Right now, I’m focused on you.”

“How will you know which one of them it is?”

“We look for them, but we may have to wait to see if either of them try again.”

“Okay.” She pulled her hand away. “Please tell me if there’s anything I can do to help.”

“You can eat the dinner I’m about to cook for you.”

“You’re going to cook?” At his nod, she asked, “Where are we going?” The landscape out the windows didn’t tell her much, only that they were in the countryside, driving on a winding mountain road that seemed to climb out of the valley in a different direction than the castle was in.

He glanced at her, heat in his gaze. “Somewhere private.” His voice had a smoky note that stoked a fire in her middle.

She should have shut that down, but she wanted him too much, wanted to spend all the time she could with him before she had to go home. As much fun as it had been to contemplate a real proposal, a real life with him, it could never be.

The car turned a sharp corner and entered a cobblestone driveway that wound through dense trees. At the end of the driveway was a large stone and log house. The windows were dark, and no other vehicles were parked outside the house. Zar drove on around the building and into a second stone building large enough to house a car.

The interior of the house had a large open room with a vaulted ceiling. Heavy log beams crossed the ceiling, supporting the roof. The area directly in front of the door contained couches and chairs arranged in conversational groups with low tables. There were bookcases along the walls filled with books and a huge fireplace.

Beyond that was a kitchen with an enormous stove and an oval table with six chairs around it.

Zar led the way to the kitchen and put his bags on the table.

“What is this place?”

“This is our hunting cabin.”

She stared at him, the bottom falling out of her stomach. “Hunting cabin?”

He nodded. “Grandmother asked me to bring you here.”

“I’ll bet she did,” Anna muttered. She looked around again and thought back to the description her grandmother had given her of this place and where she’d hidden the Blue Ice diamond ring.

She looked up at the wooden beams running along the ceiling. How had her grandmother even gotten up there? Zar was going to think she was crazy.

Her stomach growled again.

Zar laughed. “Yes, yes, I promise to feed you.” He began pulling vegetables out of the bags and laying them out on the table.

“What are you making?”

“A salad with chicken, cashews, strawberries, and goat cheese.”

She hid a smile and said tentatively, “No pancakes?”

He shook his head and grinned. “Not tonight.”

She watched him prepare the salad, his hands moving with the easy confidence this man had with everything he did. She loved that about him, his self-awareness and trust in what he could do and what he couldn’t. When he trusted you, he was all in.

And yet, with her, he still didn’t have all the information. She hadn’t thought keeping some of her most intimate secrets to herself would be a problem, but now...a lie of omission was still a lie.

“Zar, why did you bring me here?”

“Grandmother told me to.” He met her gaze. “Something to do with your grandmother and answers you need to find.”

“Everyone seems very excited about the identity of my grandmother.”

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