He gave his cousin an awkward smile. "Lots, actually."
"You can tell me." She winked at him, all of the austere dignity disappearing from her face, and for a moment, she looked like a sly young woman instead of Her Royal Highness. "I'm good at keeping secrets."
Griffin considered for a moment. He didn't have anyone he could talk to except for Alex. Alex would understand. "How, exactly, does one woo a commoner?"
She laughed. "Well, for starters, you stop calling them 'commoners'. It's rude." She leaned in. "Is this about your little assistant? I saw her. She looks charming."
He shot Cousin Alex a frown. "Why would you assume it's her?"
"Because I've never seen you lose your temper so fast, Mr. Griffin," she teased, deliberately stressing Maylee's inappropriate naming convention for him.
He groaned. "I have tried so many times to correct her, but she doesn't seem to understand it."
"It's cute."
"It's not cute when she does it in front of my mother."
Alex laughed. "No, I can imagine not. Sybilla-Louise is a bit of a dragon, isn't she? I'd say she's more proper than our Grandmother, and I always thought she was a terrible stickler for decorum."
Griffin sighed as they continued walking. "So . . . how exactly did you let Luke know that you were interested in him? It's not something I find easy to do."
"Goodness, Griff. Have you not dated in the past?"
He had. But those girls had either been daughters of nobility in Bellissime he'd been tossed in with, or rich girls at an Ivy League college who were used to a very specific lifestyle-glamorous parties, polo events, and anything that involved society. "This is . . . different."
"Well," said Alex. "When I decided I wanted to meet Luke, I invited him to the palace for dinner. And then I made sure both my mother and my grandmother were unavailable, so it was just the two of us. And I feigned a great interest in the movie he was making, which was filming here in Bellissime last summer. He invited me onto the set and I showed up every day. After that, he got the hint."
He was impressed. "Grandmother didn't find that extremely forward?"
"I didn't ask her opinion," Alex said, her eyes shining. "I'd already turned down four proposals from suitable candidates in the last two years. I think she was suspecting that I was going to marry who I wanted and when I wanted to, not who she thought I should marry." Alex shook her head. "It's a good thing we're not as stuffy as other royal families, or they'd probably have a fit I was marrying an American."
"And a commoner to boot," Griffin added with a grimace.
Alex smacked his arm with a silk-gloved hand. "You really need to let go of the commoner thing, Griff. That's step one."
"Fine, fine."
"Step two is to let her know that you're interested. Did you?"
He thought of the kiss they'd shared that morning. "I think she has an idea."
"Then let her know that you are serious," Alex advised. "That you're not interested in pursuing anyone else. You're not, are you?"
"I don't know."
"What do you mean, you don't know?"
"I mean, I don't know," Griffin bit out. "She's . . . different."
"How?"
"She's very . . . American. Southern American."
"I'm not following."
"They would refer to her as a 'redneck' at home," Griffin said. At Alex's confused look, he added, "Very backward country people. For example, Maylee believes she is a burn talker."
"A what?"
He explained it to his cousin, who looked more intrigued than amused. "And you said she used this on your hand?"
Griffin showed her his knuckles, which, surprisingly, weren't even bruised. Huh. "I must not have hit it as hard as I thought."
"Or maybe there's something to it," Alex said. "Stranger things have happened. Very curious. Luke's superstitious, you know." She got a soft smile on her face at the mention of her fiancé.
"Oh?"
"Yes. I originally set the wedding date for the thirteenth but he refused. We had to wait until the seventh of the following month, because he believes seven is lucky. And I've caught him throwing salt over his shoulder before heading on the set. It's rather amusing."
"Have you ever caught him trying to heal someone with a touch?"
"Well, no."
"Then I rest my case," Griffin said. "My American is more peculiar than yours."
"Your American?" She gave him a shrewd look. "It sounds as if you've claimed her."
Griffin sighed. "I don't know what I think when it comes to her." He still wasn't entirely sure he wanted to pursue Maylee, but he found he was obsessed with her lately. Thought about her in his dreams, jerked off to her in the shower . . . He had it bad, whatever it was. "I suppose I should clarify my intentions."