“No.”
“Do you remember boarding the tour boat? Watching the scenery as you cruised down the Danube, perhaps?”
“No.”
He shrugged and closed his notebook. “Well, that’s all I have for you, I’m afraid. You’ll have to make arrangements to return the rental car.”
Dom nodded. “We’ll take care of it. In the meantime, we’d like a copy of your report.”
“Of course.”
When they walked out into the afternoon sunshine, Natalie couldn’t wait to ask. “Was Győr part of the duchy of Karlenburgh?”
“At one time.”
“Is Karlenburgh Castle anywhere in that vicinity?”
“It’s farther west, guarding a mountain pass. Or was. It’s just a pile of ruins now.”
“I need to retrace my steps, Dominic. Maybe if I see the ruins or the towns or the countryside I drove through, I’ll remember why I was there.”
“We’ll go tomorrow.”
A part of her cringed a bit at being so dependent on this man, who was still almost a stranger to her. Yet she couldn’t help feeling relieved he would accompany her.
“We can have someone from Europcar meet us in Győr with a set of master keys,” he advised. “That way you can retrieve any luggage you might have left locked in the trunk.”
“Assuming it’s still there. Rental cars are always such targets.”
“True. Now we’d better see about getting you a replacement passport.”
He pulled up the necessary information from the US Embassy’s consular services on his iPhone. “As I thought. You’ll need proof of US citizenship. A birth certificate, driver’s license or previous passport.”
“None of which I have.”
“I can help there. I’ll have one my contacts obtain a copy of your driver’s license.”
“You can do that?”
When he just smiled, she slapped the heel of her hand against her forehead. “Of course you can. You’re 007.”
They walked to the car and he opened the passenger door for her. Before she slid into the seat, Natalie turned. “You’re a man of many different personas, Dominic St. Sebastian. Grand Duke. Secret agent. Rescuer of damsels in distress.”
His mouth curved. “Of the three, I enjoy the last most.”
“Hmm.” He was so close, almost caging her in, that she had to tip her chin to look up at him. “That comes naturally to you, doesn’t it?”
“Rescuing damsels in distress?”
“No, that slow, sexy, let’s-get-naked grin.”
“Is that the message it sends?”
“Yes.”
“Is it working?”
She pursed her lips. “No.”
“Ah, drágám,” he said, laughter springing into his eyes, “every time you do that, I want to do this.”
She sensed what was coming. Knew she should duck under his arm, drop into her seat and slam the door. Instead she stood there like an idiot while he stooped, placed his mouth over hers and kissed the disapproval off her lips.
Six
It was just a kiss. Nothing to get all jittery about. And certainly no reason for a purr to start deep in Natalie’s throat and heat to ball in her belly. She could feel both, though, right along with the sensual movement of Dominic’s lips over hers.
She’d thought it would end there. One touch. One pass of his mouth over hers. It should have ended there. Traffic was coursing along the busy street, for pity’s sake. A streetcar clanged by. Yet Natalie didn’t move as his arm went around her waist, drawing her closer, while her pulse pounded in her veins.
She was breathing hard when Dominic raised his head. He was, too, but recovered much quicker than she did.
“There,” he teased. “That’s better. You don’t want to walk around with your mouth all pruned up.”
She couldn’t think of an appropriate response, so she merely sniffed and ducked into the car.
* * *
She struggled to regain her equilibrium as the car negotiated the narrow, winding streets of Castle Hill. Yet with every turn of the wheels she could feel Dominic’s mouth on hers, still taste him.
She snuck a sideways glance, wondering if he was experiencing any aftershocks. No, of course not. He was supercool Mr. Secret Agent. Sexy Mr. Grand Duke, who had women slipping outrageously expensive panties into his carryall. The thought of him cuddling with Kissy Face Arabella struck a sour note in Natalie’s mind. Not that it was any of her business who he cuddled with, she reminded herself sternly. She certainly had no claim on the man, other than being dropped on his doorstep like an abandoned baby.
That thought, in turn, triggered alternating ripples of worry and fear. She had to battle both emotions as Dom pulled into his parking space in the underground garage and they climbed the five flights of stairs. The enclosed stairwell blocked any glimpse of the river but it did afford a backside view of the uniformed delivery man trudging up ahead of them.