“I’ll take the chicken, please.” There were no prices on the menu, but I was certain that had to be the cheapest thing on there. Chicken would certainly fall under lamb or duck. I hoped.
“Got it.” If the waitress had been chewing gum she would have popped it in her mouth at me. I was torn between amusement and being offended. She smiled at Rose, though. A disgustingly sweet expression that made her look sick. Or maybe it just made me nauseated. “And for you, Duchess?”
“I’ll have the same thing Lady Rousseau is having.” Rose pushed her menu toward the waitress, but the girl didn’t notice. She was looking at me with a worried expression. I shrugged, not sure what to say. A deep chuckle made me sit up straighter in my seat and look at Alex. He was watching me, an amused glint in his eyes as if he was in on a secret.#p#分页标题#e#
“I’d like the rib eye, please. Rare.” He handed his menu to the waitress without looking at her and leaned forward, his hands clasped in front of him, and smiled at me. “Samantha. Are you from here?”
“I’m a transplant. My family moved here ten years ago for a job. Thankfully, the college I wanted was nearby.”
“Is that so?” Alex leaned forward and looked at me intently. “I would think most people going off to college would want to get as far away from home as possible.”
“My mother passed away and I didn’t want to leave my father.” I didn’t like where this conversation was going. I felt like I was giving away secrets. Secrets that could be important for some reason.
“How is your stepfather? I understand he’s been sick.” Rose’s eyebrows drew together. “I can’t say I care very much for the way that healthcare is handled in the States.”
“He’s handling everything very well, thank you.” I guess my outburst with her lackey earlier hadn’t gone unreported. “But we’re not here to discuss my family. What kind of questions do you have about the center and our program?”
Rose leaned forward. “Actually, your family is exactly why I am here.”
How to Lose a Royal
—Perry Talks
“My family?” I felt my eyebrows rise and tried to control my expression. What the hell was going on?
“Why did you decide to keep your mother’s maiden name when she married your father?” Rose folded her hands in front of her and her eyes bored into mine.
“I’m not sure why that would be any of your business.” I looked at Alex, but his face gave nothing away. “I thought I was here to discuss the raptor program for Dr. Geller.”
“Yes, I realized that earlier. However, I was hoping to discuss something else.” Rose leaned back as the waitress and several helpers delivered their food to the table. “I was hoping to discuss you.”
“I can’t imagine why.” Shaking my head, I leaned back so the waitress could set my plate in front of me. “Thank you.”
“Do you know much about Lilaria?” Rose took a sip from her glass before picking up her fork and knife. “We’re a small but proud country.”
“No, I can’t say I know much about your homeland.”
“Let me tell you a bit about it. We control a rather large portion of Europe’s oil resources, which brings a great deal of wealth to our citizens, but it also brings trouble. In the late eighteen hundreds, a royal family of the name Malatar felt it was time for a change; however, they didn’t want an outright war. You see, they didn’t have many supporters. The country was flourishing and the people were happy.” Rose looked at the waitress, who seemed to be taking longer than needed to deliver Alex’s plate. With annoyance, I realized she was buttering his roll while pushing her cleavage into his face. I don’t know why I cared, but it bothered me. Here we were trying to have an important conversation and this chick was acting like a dog in heat. He didn’t look exactly happy about it, but also looked like he wasn’t sure how to stop it without a fuss.
When the waitress stood up with a smile on her face, I pushed my dinner roll in her direction. “What exceptional service the Parallel offers. Thank you.” The waitress’s eyebrows pulled together, but there wasn’t much she could do. Taking the butter knife off my dish, she slathered the roll with butter and set it back on the plate.
“I haven’t seen bread buttered that well in a long time.” I smiled at her sweetly and heard Alex chuckle. The waitress turned around and stormed away. I narrowed my eyes at Alex. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but maybe you should practice telling people to leave you alone. I thought she was going to maul you.”#p#分页标题#e#