Page 25 of A Girl and HER Prince
She gasped in dismay. “And what should I call you? Vinny?”
“Ha!” His own laughter surprised him with how genuine it felt. It had been far too long since he’d felt this lighthearted in someone else’s company, which made no sense since she was complicit in all of this. “Let’s do it!” he said. “I can get in touch with my Italian side. My father wouldlovethat.”
“I hate to be the one who breaks it to you,” she said, “but there’s already a city in Italy with your name on it. You don’t get more Italian than Venice.”
“Too bad that isn’t actually my real name,” he said.
She stilled in interest. “What is?”
“Don’t worry about it—it’s some long royal Tyndarian nameyoucould never pronounce.”
“Rude! Who says I can’t pronounce—?”
“Aeneas Mnon Tyndarian,” he cut in with a laugh. Let her try to say that!
“Are you kidding me? Aeneas?” She pronounced it beautifully, and he stilled. No one had ever done that before. “You’re named after uh…” she stumbled to a stop before she could finish her sentence.
Her blushes were driving him crazy. “What?” he urged.
“Just that’s the hero inThe Aeneid… a book my father gave me. He named me after…”
“Lavinia,” he finished for her. He’d never met anyone from America with that name. And now he knew the root of those delightful blushes. Those two characters had been the ones to get together in that mythological tale.
“He loved anything Greek,” she hurriedly explained, “and I see your family did too. Your parents must’ve been fans of theOdysseythemselves.”
“Ridiculously so,” he said. “Bris is short for Brisius.”
“I figured, and you’re Aeneas, the prince next in line to rule Troy after Paris got his brothers all killed off, and then you have an Achilles.” Her brow furrowed in confusion. “He’s not your… brother.”
“My father was best friends with his and so the Greek hero names caught on,” he hurriedly explained. “His sister is Iphigenia, but we call her Gena. Of course, nothing’s quite as regal as Lavinia.”
She laughed and set her fingers against her cheek. The charm he’d noticed earlier slid down her arm—a miniature silver dolphin that gleamed against her pale skin. He was mesmerized by everything about her. Her voice broke through his concentration: “Well, you should hear what my brothers’ names are.”
“I should,” he said, noticing how she tried to divert the attention from herself. None of the women he’d dated ever did such a thing. This girl was a mystery. “You are a princess then… meant for a prince.”
She drew up in mortification. “Just an American,” she said, “low blood and low born.”
“Never.” His father might think so, but never him. The kind of class she possessed came from the inside.
Her lashes swept down over her cheeks, and she smiled shyly, shaking her head. All that dark hair swept around her face in a cascade of tempting curls. “Well, you are a charmer,” she said. “I’ll give you that.”
His heart soared. She didn’t know half the tricks he had up his sleeve, but he was willing to try all of them on her at once. After what she’d done to his poor rushing heart, it only seemed fair. “And what other secrets can I discover from a girl who goes by Luvvy?” he asked.
She laughed in return. It sounded easier now that they were on a true first-name basis. “You don’t give up, do you?”
Venice never backed down from a challenge, and yet… maybe this time he should? The duties of his future calling to rule Tirreoy still loomed like an axe ready to fall against his neck. Any romance that bloomed on a vessel sailing for the Greek Islands was destined for failure, especially with Deedee aboard.
So, why did this maiden sacrifice his ex dragged aboard with her fascinate him so much?And why am I being so poetic?
He should really nip this in the bud. And yet? Why couldn’t Venice have his fun before he locked horns with his father again and eventually lost his freedom to be as carefree as he was now? This might be his last chance to truly explore love.
He dipped his toe into the silent Jacuzzi behind them, just wanting to forget it all. “What do you say to a swim?” he asked.
Her bubbly laughter was turning familiar to him. “In a Jacuzzi?” she asked.
The breathless sound in her voice gave him enough hope to return to her a mischievous nod. “Yes, and we can play hoops while we’re at it.”
“How?”
