Page 38 of Raul
“I once ate a live termite in Africa,” he said. “And a couple of squirming ants in China. Not my favorite dishes, but I couldn’t politely turn them down.”
“Do you think your hosts did it on purpose, knowing you couldn’t refuse? ‘Let’s see what we can force the prince to do in the name of protocol?’”
“It’s possible.” He grimaced. “No, it’s probable, but I’ve endured worse.” He picked up his fork and caught her in his gaze again. “Tell me about you. Why did you decide to become a pilot?”
He went straight to the tough questions, didn’t he? She had a pat answer, but she wanted to give him more than that.
“My father was the unquestioned master of the sea, which meant that I rebelled against him and chose the air. But I truly love the speed and the height of it. Looking down from thirty thousand feet to see how all the places you’ve traveled between on the ground relate to each other. How small everything man-made is when compared to the massive curve of Earth. To our planet, we’re less than ants on the back of an elephant. It shifts your perspective.”
“Sometimes I feel that way when I visit the palace archives,” he said. “So many princes went before me, and so many will come after me. I’m just a cog in the machinery of Caleva’s ruling family. Whether I’m competent or not doesn’t matter. I will stillbeel Principe de los Liriosby the chance of my birth. It keeps you humble.”
“Number one, you’re a pretty important cog,” Erica said. “And you’re more than competent. You’re right up there with your father as one of the best.”
“Ah, yes, fathers.” Again, she heard that odd note. “You said you chose differently from yours?”
She twirled her knife between her fingers, watching it flash as it moved. “I disappointed my father from the day I was born because I wasn’t a boy.”
Raul made a sound. She lifted her gaze to see his brows drawn down in a scowl.
“I know. It wasn’t fair to me,” she said. “But that didn’t keep me from doing everything I could to win his approval. I didn’t stop trying until, well, we had a big fight when I was about to graduate from high school.”
Her father had announced that they were moving to the United States because the Navy had offered him a job there. Her mother had begged him not to take it because her family and friends were in Caleva. He spent all his time at the naval base, so she needed her support network. Her father had dismissed her concerns and, in his harshest tone, informed her that his decision was final.
Erica watched her mother collapse into hopeless sobs, shoulders shaking as she hunched over on the sofa. Something inside Erica broke open, and anger erupted out of it. She shoved up from the armchair where she’d been watching the scene unfold and stalked over to her father in his ugly recliner, standing so that she could look down on him.
“All you think about is yourself,” she hissed. “You go. Mama and I are staying here.” And she walked out of the room, shaking with fear of how he would react to her disrespect.
Her father had been furious and punished her by taking away her phone and grounding her for a week, but she’d heaved a sigh of relief because it could have been much worse. Even more surprising, he had never said another word about the job offer.
“After the fight, I realized that I could make my own decisions about my life,” she told Raul. “It was healthier not to follow in his footsteps, so I took to the skies.”
Not to mention the tiny problem that she was terrified of the ocean, a fear that still filled her with shame.
“Butyoudon’t get to choose, do you?” she asked as the realization struck her.
“Maybe it’s bred into the genes, but I’m lucky. I like my work…most of the time,” Raul said. “That’s why I hate sitting around here, doing nothing useful.”
“Just because you enjoy your work doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take a break,” she said, thinking about the queen’s worries. “You’ll come back to it refreshed and excited.”
“Assuming I don’t die of boredom in the meantime.” He made a face before he took a bite of lobster. A sheen of melted butter on his bottom lip made her want to lick it off.
She focused on cutting the filet mignon, which was so tender she didn’t need the knife at all.
“I am not bored right now.” His voice held a purr of flirtation.
She switched to dealing with the lobster tail so she wouldn’t have to look up. Of course, it had already been cut away from the shell. She popped a morsel in her mouth and closed her eyes as she savored the fresh, perfectly cooked white meat. “So good.”
When she opened her eyes, he was sitting back in his chair, watching her. The reflected candle flames seemed to dance in his pupils.
“Will you go climbing with me again after Gabri and Quinn’s wedding?” he asked.
“Wheneverel duquedoesn’t need me, sure. It would be an honor.” Even if he hadn’t been the prince, she would have jumped at the chance.
He huffed out a sigh of irritation. “You can say no. It’s not a royal command.”
“I love to climb, and you’re an excellent student. Next time, maybe we can do a traditional climb where we set our own anchors.” This was safe conversational territory.
His smile lit up the room. “Genial!That would be great.”
