Virgin Bride(125)

“Nothing,” I said. “I’m not repeating it. But it was inappropriate.”

“Maybe that’s how they greet people here?” he asked.

I looked at my stepmother. “Did he mention anything about panties to you?”

She paused. “No,” she admitted.

“Then I suspect it wasn’t that.”

Dad shook his head. “Maybe this was a mistake.”

“No. The only mistake was when Bryce slapped the King in front of cameras,” Lucy said.

“He deserved it,” I said.

She shot me a look.

“We can leave,” Dad offered. “Right now. It’s not too late. We can turn back around and leave.”

I bit my lip and could feel Lucy’s stare boring into me. I knew that if I said the word, we really would get the hell out of Starkland as fast as we could. But the truth was, I didn’t want to leave.

Starkland was beautiful. Even just having been in the country for less than an hour, I was already starting to fall in love with it. The whole place looked like it came right from that famous mountain meadow scene in The Sound of Music. It was picturesque, with rolling hills and majestic mountains and deep, dark forests. It was like a fantasy novel come to life or something.

And besides, I’d always wanted to know about my heritage. As far as I had heard, the Koch family had come to America with some of the original settlers. We were as American as possible, which meant we didn’t have a deep history. I wanted to know more about my bloodline, about the people I was descended from. As far as I could tell, this was my best chance to really understand my own history.

Finally, I wasn’t doing much back at home in Philadelphia. I was home on break from college, where I was studying to become a nurse, and I was bored as hell. I went to school at Temple University, which was right in the heart of Philadelphia. The suburbs were boring me to tears, and a trip to some tiny European country that I’d never heard of sounded like a lot more fun than working at Rite Aid for three months.

“It’s only two weeks,” I said finally. “Let’s just stay and see what happens. We can always leave later.”

Lucy nodded, looking smug. “See, Robert? She’s fine. She’ll apologize to the King and things will be fine.”

Dad frowned. “Are you sure?” he asked me.

“I’m sure. I won’t apologize, but we should stay.”

Lucy shot me another look, but I ignored her.

We were in a beautiful country, foreign and exotic. I was getting a chance to finally see where I came from, and all for free. Sure, I’d slapped the King in the face, but that would be smoothed over eventually. Besides, I doubted we’d even be seeing much of him again.

Not like I’d want to anyway. He was crude and totally out of line. So what if he was also incredibly handsome and had a grin that could melt glass? The man was a royal asshole, and that was all I needed to know.

As the car wound its way through the capital city of Stehen, I was already trying to put that cocky king out of my mind.





2





Trip





“Your highness, shall we have that impudent American arrested?”

I could still feel the slight sting on my cheek from where Bryce Koch had slapped me in front of the media. I smiled to myself again at the angry look in her eyes.

That was going to piss off the cabinet. I didn’t much care, though. They were a bunch of stuffed coats playing political games with each other. I was the king now, and I didn’t have to stoop down to their shitty level.

That American girl was the first person since I took the crown who had actually stood up to me. That meant she actually had a spine, and there was nothing I wanted more in a woman than fire and strength.

Bryce Koch seemed to have both in spades.

“No,” I said to the Foreign Affairs Minister Richter Johansson. “Leave the girl alone. I deserved it, actually.”

“What did you say to her?”

I shrugged. “Just mentioned my desire to get to know her better.”

“I’m sure.” Richter’s pursed lips screamed disapproval, but that was fine. I was used to disappointing the members of the royal cabinet, the powerful lords and ladies who helped run the government of Starkland.

Lynette Muller, the public affairs minister, shook her head. “This is going to look bad, Your Highness.”

I winced. “Stop calling me that. My name is Trip.”

She shrugged. “Very well, Trip. With the separatists in the south gaining ground since your father passed, we can’t afford for you to look weak.”

“Then do something about that.” I shrugged. “Leave the girl alone. She’s a guest here.”