Honeymoon With a Prince (Royal Scandals) by Nicole Burnham Read Free Book Online

of his skin.
    He’d been ready to jump the line and claim a bathroom emergency when a uniformed agent came through the room and called for the military personnel to move to a separate line.   Disregarding his friends, he snagged his duffel and bolted after the agent.   Once free of the immigration hall’s confines, he’d waited on a bench for his buddies while he calmed his breathing.   When they emerged into the terminal, he told them to go ahead to baggage claim while he made a restroom stop.   After splashing his face with cold water, he’d stared at himself in the mirror, wondering what would’ve happened if that agent hadn’t pulled him from the crowd.
    By the time he’d reached baggage claim, he’d felt like himself again.   The car ride home relaxed him, leaving him convinced he’d merely eaten something that disagreed with him or needed sleep more desperately than he thought.
    He took a long sip of his wine and smiled at Kelly across the table.
    More worrisome than the idea that one of his buddies might’ve taken note of his odd behavior was the thought that what occurred at the airport wasn’t a fluke.   One occurrence he could explain away.   But multiple occurrences…not likely.   Especially if the sensation came over him in public, say, at a palace function or media event where there’d be multiple witnesses and cameras.  
    Such a scenario was too disturbing to contemplate.   He could not—would not—allow it to happen.  
    “I’m glad you decided to trust me,” Massimo said, forcing his thoughts in a more pleasant direction.   “Otherwise I’d have missed Guillermo’s sea bass.”
    “Oh, I didn’t say I trusted you.”   At his raised eyebrow, she said, “I trusted Gaspare.”
    “I’ll keep that in mind as I’m driving you back down the mountain in the dark and he’s snoring in the back.”
    That drew a refreshing bubble of laughter from her.   It gladdened him to see her at ease rather than guarded, as when she’d first climbed into his Jeep.   A bit of unspoken tension with a woman was always good for the libido, but laughter was better.   Hers could light a room.
    He topped off her wine glass, but didn’t add any to his own.   As he’d said, he eventually needed to drive down the mountain and Kelly could prove enough of a distraction.
    “Tell you what,” she said as she speared a piece of ravioli on her fork and held it aloft, “as a peace offering, I’ll let you try my ravioli.   And I’m not sacrificing this bite easily.”
    She leaned closer, extending the fork in such a way that it’d be equally easy to take it from her or to lower his head and simply allow her to feed him.   It was cliché, sharing one’s food as flirtation, but effective.   He shifted forward in his seat and took the bite into his mouth.   The texture was heaven to his taste buds, but not as heavenly as the fire he could see banked in her soft brown eyes.   As he slid his lips from the tines of her fork, he knew she was imagining what it’d be like to share a kiss.
    Good.  
    “Fantastic, isn’t it?” she asked.
    “That’s why I love this place.”   He’d never brought a woman to Giulia’s—not one outside his family—but he’d known the atmosphere would work magic.   Carefully, he lifted a bite of sea bass toward her.   “Care to compare?”
    “Thought you’d never ask.”   She wrapped her long, lean fingers around his hand to keep from spilling the fish onto the table, then murmured in pleasure as she sampled the bite.   Once she released his hand and sat back, she said, “I love fish, but I’ve never tasted one that light and flavorful.   I wonder if Giulia would share her secret?”
    “Not on her life.   Believe me, I’ve tried to convince her.   I’ve been coming here since I was little and all I’ve managed to learn is her tiramisu, and then only because she was about to publish the recipe in a local paper as part of an interview.”
    Kelly’s