Twice Upon a Time by Kate Forster Read Free Book Online

don’t look it,’ she said, laughing. She offered a hand but he shook his head and stood up, gingerly touching his back.
    Cinda looked at the tear on his shirt, the blood seeping through a nasty cut.
    ‘You’ll need to get that cleaned up.’
    ‘Thanks for that,’ he snapped.
    Cinda didn’t say anything, giving him the benefit of the doubt that he wasn’t always so horrible. He had just embarrassed himself by falling over, after all.
    She stood, her hands clasped in front of her, watching him try and turn to see the cut on his back, but he winced in pain.
    ‘Can I help?’
    ‘No,’ he said too quickly. She stepped back. His energy was forceful, almost too powerful. She wouldn’t want to get on this guy’s bad side – assuming he wasn’t all bad.
    No, she preferred guys like Ludo. Beautiful dreamers like she was.
    Her time with Ludo by the pool on the yacht had been flirtatious but he hadn’t made a move on her. She’d been both intrigued and disappointed by that.
    And later that night, he had again been the complete gentleman, walking her to her rooms and kissing her on each cheek before saying goodnight. But he had lingered near her afterward, and she had tilted her head a little, the way Jonas told her to, so she could look overwhelmed and turned on at the same time.
    It wasn’t an easy look to perfect. When she had tried it in the mirror before dinner she thought she had looked deranged, even though Jonas insisted it was spot-on.
    She watched as Ludo’s brother adjusted his shirt and his dignity and, with a slight nod, he turned and walked away, limping slightly.
    She started to laugh then. ‘Wait,’ she cried.
    He stopped as she ran towards him. ‘Your bum is covered in prickles,’ she chuckled and, before she really thought about what she was doing, she was picking them out of the back of his pants.
    ‘What are you doing?’ he spun around to face her, his face scarlet.
    ‘Taking the prickles out of your arse,’ she said, doing the prissy face that always made Jonas laugh.
    ‘You do not touch a member of the royal family without permission,’ he hissed at her.
    ‘Royal family?’ She looked at him in disbelief. ‘Jeez, you’re a bit in love with yourself.’
    ‘No, I am not. I am the heir to the Sardinian throne and it will serve you to remember that I cannot allow just anyone to remove the thorns from my bottom.’
    Cinda tried not to laugh but found she couldn’t help it. ‘So who does it, then?’ she asked.
    ‘Who does what?’ he demanded, his confused face turning a vibrant shade of puce.
    ‘Who removes the thorns from your butt? Because it seems like you have a massive one up there right now.’
    He turned and walked away with whatever shred of nobility he had left.
    Cinda watched him disappear back up the garden to the house, the reality of what he had told her sinking in.
    He was a prince. Which meant Ludo was a prince. Which meant she and Jonas were staying with royalty . Which meant . . . Cinda’s brain ran on as she climbed down the cliff again, grabbing her things and heading back up, not even pausing to dust the dirt from her shorts.
    She almost ran to the villa, where she saw Jonas still sitting by the pool, this time reading Italian Vogue .
    ‘Look at this,’ he said, seeing her approach. ‘I asked if there were any magazines I could read and they came back with French, American and Italian Vogue , all new issues.’
    ‘They’re royalty,’ Cinda whispered, perching on the end of the sunlounge.
    ‘I know. Some people prefer Elle or Harper’s Bazaar , but I agree Vogue is top of the heap.’
    ‘Not the magazines, Ludo and his brother,’ she hissed. ‘They’re the princes of Sardinia ,’ said Cinda, poking Jonas in the leg with her fingernail.
    ‘Oww, what?’
    Before Cinda could explain more, Ludo’s brother walked out onto the terrace. He had changed his clothes.
    ‘Hello,’ she said. How were you supposed to greet a prince? ‘Um, this is Jonas,’ she