Page 45 of Royal Fling
“I don't.”
He guided me to the ticket booth and surprisingly, there was no line. When we stood in front of the ticket person, August showed a QR code on his cellphone, and they let us through.
“Did you pre-book it? We tried to get in on Monday, but it was super busy, so we just gave up,” I said to August as he led me to one of the booths.
We stepped in, and I realized this wasn’t a normal ride on the London Eye.
There was a table set with a red cloth, wine glasses, and silverware. Two silver domes were on either side of the plate, and several candles spread out on both the table and the floor.
“I booked us here for the evening,” August said and offered me a seat.
I looked behind him at the other booths, back at the entrance, seeing the lack of tourists.
“Wait a minute. You booked the entire London Eye for me?”
He only smiled and reached for a bottle of wine that was to his left.
Of course he had. He was a prince, why wouldn't he book an entire attraction for the evening?
“I didn't know you could do that,” I said.
He smirked, pouring into my wine glass.
“You can't. Not really,” he said.
I nodded, and the giant Ferris wheel etched closer to the London night sky.
“You shouldn't have gone through all the trouble,” I said.
“It's no trouble,” he answered. “I wanted to do something nice for you.”
“Something nice? Booking a nice steak dinner is something nice. Booking an entire London attraction is the nicest thing anyone has ever, orwill ever,do for me,” I said.
“Good. That's exactly how I like it.”
Something about the way he said that and the scene that I was immersed in, slowly being complimented by the London lights, made me feel like I was in a romantic film and not partaking in a vacation fling. And I didn't know if this was a dangerous realization or the sweetest memory I would have to save for when I returned back home.
I raised the wine glass in my hands and took a sip.
“Aren't you afraid people will recognize you?” I asked.
He looked around him and opened his hands to his sides.
“Who would recognize us all the way up here?”
“I don't know. People have crazy-good cameras nowadays. Aren't you afraid of stalking paparazzi or anything? Wouldn't it be bad for your image if you were photographed on a date with a guy?”
“Don't worry, Lucas. That's all taken care of,” he said with a confident smirk.
“You said that earlier in the car. Care to elaborate?”
August put his glass down and took my hand over the table.
“I have a double,” he said.
“A double?” I asked.
He nodded.
