“I’m not an only. I can’t recommend parts of that, either.”
“Your sister seems nice.”
“Crown Princess Ana the Nefarious would have you drawn and quartered for saying that.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
“Ana is sweet, but don’t tell her I said that.”
“What does she call you?”
“Casimir.”
“You mean she doesn’t have a pet name for you, like Ana the Nefarious?”
He sighed. “Casimir the Notorious.”
“I like that a lot better than Prince Monster.”
Beside her, he stiffened. “Where did you hear that?”
Oops. Crap. “I asked Maxence about some things.”
“Why didn’t you ask me?”
“I didn’t want to dredge anything up. I just needed to know some things, and I didn’t want to upset you by asking.”
“I’m not so easily upset as that. You can ask me things.”
She trailed a finger over the ribbon that lay across his chest, now crushed and wrinkled. “Okay, how many kids do you want to have?”
He chuckled. “See? I’m not so easily upset. Perhaps seven.”
Terror gripped her, and she leaned away from him to run the hell away. “Are you serious?”
“I think Ana is going for six, so we could beat her by one. Or two. Maybe we should have eight.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“I might be teasing you, but wouldn’t you like to have all those little counts and countesses running about?”
Rox paused. “Counts and countesses? Not princes and princesses?”
“Assuming that everything stays in place, they would be counts and countesses. Otherwise everyone in the Netherlands would be a prince or princess by now.”
“I don’t know, man. Sounds like a deal-breaker to me.”
He laughed and jostled her with his arm. “I think this evening has completely changed my impression of this gazebo.”
She watched the light and shadows flutter among the leaves, and when she held her hand up, the spray of light from his cell phone behind him on the bench caught in the huge emerald on her engagement ring.
“I really like the ring,” she said, admiring it on her finger and turning her hand to catch the light better. “It was a good choice.”
“Everybody does sapphires these days, ever since Wills and Kate, and really ever since Diana.”
“It’s weird that you’re on a first name basis with those guys. Those guys William and Kate. My good buddies Barack and Michelle. My dudes Beyoncé and Jay Z.” Wait a minute. Casimir was a freakin’ prince. “Have you met them?”
“Well, yes, if you mean Wills and Kate. Not the other people. I see them at most social events. I think Wills is my seventh cousin, if I remember correctly. Maybe eighth.”
“I know that all you royals are as inbred as a hoarder’s housecat, but seriously? You’re related to them?”
He shrugged, obviously uncomfortable. “Through William the Fourth of the Netherlands, a common ancestor, and Anna of Hannover who was the daughter of George II of Great Britain.”
“So you actually know them. Duchess Kate and Prince William, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. You know, those guys. You know them.”
Casimir looked down at their hands, still clasped on his knees. “I was at their wedding.”
“I would have seen you on television!”
“It was before we met.”
“Oh, my God. I have to find my disk and see if I can spot you.”
“I was in the middle of the crowd, but the cameras caught me and Ana a few times. You can meet them when they come to our wedding.”
Her hands flew up in the air, fingers splayed wide. “Really? Oh, my God.” She fanned herself. “No. Really? No. You’re messing with me. You are teasing me again!”
He laughed. “If they’re free, they probably will.”
“Oh, wow.” Yeah, all his family would have to be invited. “Does Willem have to come?”
“My brother must be invited. Protocol.”
“Can the invitation be addressed wrong? That works sometimes.”
Casimir laughed. “We’ll plan it tomorrow. Arthur and Maxence will stand up with me, of course. You?”
“Brandy, if she can get away. She has a lot going on.”
Beside her cheek, Casimir’s chest shook with laughter.
She knew exactly what he was chuckling at. “Oh, stop.”
“Who else? Your father? People from the office? Other friends?”
“All that. I’ll put together a list.” She let her head rest against his chest.
Beyond the leaves shingling the gazebo, pale pink strands of light glimmered in the air.