CHAPTER 10
That evening, Eve and Grace sat in the back of a black SUV piloted by Ivan, waiting for two starkly modern stainless-steel gates to swing open.
“Oh my God, did you know this place was here?” Grace asked.
Eve peered out the car window to see a long, curving drive ending in front of a mansion built of sheets of glass framed by steel girders. The late-day sun painted peach and gold reflections on the building’s fa?ade. “Nope. I’m pretty sure whoever lives here doesn’t bring their pets into the clinic themselves.”
As they cruised up the drive, she caught a glimpse of movement and saw a guard moving into position at the gates. How many more guards were concealed as they had been at her house? Since this was Luis’s home away from home at the moment, probably a lot.
As they rolled onto the circular courtyard in the front of the house, she saw two more SUVs parked at odd angles. Then she realized they were positioned to make the fastest getaway possible in two different directions.
Ivan drove up directly under the steel-and-glass portico. He and Bridget jumped out to open the car doors and help Eve and Grace out of the SUV. Which was useful because Eve’s sheath dress—a black one this evening that zipped up the front to end in a V-neckline—made it tough to maneuver gracefully out of a high vehicle. Grace’s moss-green silk dress had a fuller skirt, so she had less difficulty climbing out.
Two guards in black clothing stood on either side of the double doors. As she and Grace climbed the stone steps, one guard pulled a door open. “Welcome,” he said with a brief smile.
They passed into a double-height entrance hall that showcased a huge kinetic sculpture hanging from a girder and a floating staircase rising from the slate floor.
“Not too shabby,” Grace murmured.
“Bienvenido!” Luis strode toward them, his face aglow with pleasure. He wore tailored trousers in silver-gray and a flawlessly pressed black dress shirt. The muted palette somehow made his blue eyes more vivid while his hair glinted with silver highlights.
A familiar shimmer of attraction rippled through Eve. And then he took her hands in his, the warm, strong fingers closing around hers as he leaned in for an air-kiss. The press of his palms against hers, the barest brush of his beard against her cheek, the swirl of his sea-and-air scent around her, all seemed to glide down to ignite deep in her belly.
She practically yanked her hands out of his so she could back away. He gave her a questioning look before he turned to Grace, who skipped past his outstretched hands to give him a hug. The delight on his face as he hugged his daughter in return touched Eve’s heart and helped her squelch her unwelcome reaction.
“Come!” Luis kept his arm around Grace’s shoulders as he took them into a vaulted living room furnished with a mix of square modern sofas and chairs combined with antique rugs and accent pieces. A massive stone fireplace centered one wall with uniformly cut firewood stored in niches around it. It looked like the photos in a fancy home decorating magazine.
Luis handed Grace onto one of the sofas and waited as Eve sat next to her before he took a chair across from them. The coffee table between them was made of polished stone and held an array of tapas arranged like works of art.
“What would you like to drink?” Luis asked, gesturing to a young woman in a server’s uniform who stood nearby.
Eve wanted an ice-cold beer to quench the internal flames Luis had lit—and she was sure his staff would conjure one up—but she thought that would be crass. “Red wine would be lovely,” she said.
“The same for me,” Grace said.
Luis nodded to the server, who vanished silently.
He turned back to them. “Since you treated me to Iowan specialties, I am offering you Calevan cuisine. We are surrounded by the ocean, so seafood features prominently.” He waved an elegant hand at the coffee table.
The server appeared with a silver platter and handed them each an exquisitely thin wide-bowled crystal glass filled with deep-red wine.
Luis lifted his in a toast. “To finding new family! It brings me great happiness.”
His voice rang with the truth of his words, and Grace looked as though she wanted to hug him again.
Eve wished she could hug him, too, but for entirely different reasons. Instead, she smiled and took a sip of the delicious wine.
“To the father I always hoped I had,” Grace said, lifting her glass in return.
Eve looked at her daughter with respect. That was a graceful toast to come up with on the fly. She touched her glass to Grace’s with an approving smile before she took a sip. Having her daughter living with her as a vet student sometimes made her forget that Grace was an adult with a mature confidence and sense of self.
Not that it stopped Eve from wanting to protect Grace and help her navigate this crazy new future.
“I have some unfortunate news, but it is balanced by what I hope you will agree is good news,” Luis said. “I must leave for Caleva right after our dinner tonight. A political matter needs my personal attention.”
The beaming pleasure on Grace’s face dimmed.
“On the other hand, my executive assistant, Bruno, has found a way to free you from your rotation schedule beginning next week.” Luis shifted his gaze to Eve. “We have invited the top five fourth-year students to come to Caleva so we may get their input on what they would like to see in the new veterinary school we are building there.” His smile held fatherly pride in Grace. “Your stellar academic record made it easy to manage this.”
Grace met his smile with a grin. “I’m glad my GPA was useful.”
And as he had promised, Grace wouldn’t be singled out since she was among the top students in her class.
“You are invited to add your perspective as a veterinary technician,” Luis said to Eve, his smile turning smug at his assistant’s cleverness. “If you both are willing to travel at such short notice, of course.”
He didn’t fool her into thinking she had a choice. He knew damn well that Grace would jump at this and that Eve would never let her daughter go alone. The man had gotten exactly what he wanted. She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment to show she wasn’t taken in. He raised his eyebrows in acknowledgment, but his smile remained.
“Are you actually building a veterinary school?” Eve asked.
“It is an important institution Caleva lacks.” He took a sip of wine. “Perhaps Grace can head up the project.”
Grace looked stunned and then eager. “That would be great, but I don’t think I’m qualified.”
“Perhaps not yet, but you will be soon,” her father said. “You can also hire experts to assist you.”
Shit! It was happening already. Grace was finding out how different her life could be if she lived in Caleva. Eve finished her wine in one gulp and wished she could go somewhere to cry. Yet she also felt a thrill for her daughter at the possibilities opening up for her.
Being a parent often meant suffering a severe case of emotional whiplash.
“Mom should be on the school start-up team too,” Grace said. “She knows more about vet med than half my professors.”
“I only have practical experience. The high-level stuff is beyond me,” Eve said, although she felt a surge of gratification.
“Your diagnoses are never wrong,” Grace said. “Half the time, you don’t even need to look at a blood test or X-ray.”
“I’ve been a vet tech for a long time, so I’ve seen it all,” Eve demurred. “Although I do have some ideas about how to structure a clinic that makes the experience for the patients fear-free.”
“Fear-free?” Luis asked.
“It’s a concept of practicing vet med in a way that reduces the patients’ anxiety and stress, which often improves the outcome of our treatments,” Grace said. “We do a pretty good job of it at the school clinic, but to succeed fully, you need to start with the building itself. We could do that in Caleva, build it from the ground up and train all the students to do the same in their future practices.” Grace’s voice vibrated with enthusiasm.
Luis nodded, and Eve could see the satisfaction lurking in his eyes. He had hooked his daughter well and good with this bait.
More than that, Grace seemed to grow and change right before Eve’s eyes, from a book-toting graduate student grinding through her studies to a visionary with the means to turn a dream into reality. Maybe having the blood of kings running in your veins gave you that kind of conviction that you could—and possibly should—make big things happen.
Eve had never felt that way. It had been all she could do to raise one child. Another thought pinched at her heart. Grace might never have reached her full potential if Luis hadn’t found her.
“Mom?” Grace’s voice pulled her out of her depressing thoughts.
“Sorry. Visions of fear-free waiting rooms were dancing in my head,” Eve said.
“We will give your visions substance,” Luis said. It was striking how much Luis and Grace sounded alike when they spoke about the imaginary vet school. “We have gotten ahead of ourselves, though,” Luis said, smiling. “We must get you to Caleva first. Bruno will contact you about travel arrangements. Caleva is sponsoring the trip, so there will be no expense to anyone from the school.”
Eve gave an internal sigh of relief, even though she had figured that Luis would underwrite the cost. With all of Grace’s expenses for vet school, Eve didn’t have extra money lying around for foreign travel.
“Who are the other people in the group?” Grace asked.
Luis picked up a tablet that was sitting on the coffee table and swiped a couple of times before handing it to Grace. She held it so Eve could read the list too.
Two of the students were friends of Grace’s. The other two often joined them for exam prep. Two professors were listed as well, both of whom Eve had worked with and found bland but unobjectionable. The school must have chosen them because they weren’t currently teaching any rotations.
Eve looked up. Luis lounged in his chair, long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles, clearly waiting for their comments. Even his stillness held a coiled energy waiting to be unleashed.
“We know them all,” Eve said.
“And you’ve included a reptile lover,” Grace said. “He’ll go crazy over your Calevan dragons.”
“Excelente! Now let us enjoy dinner.” Luis rose from his chair and gestured toward a wide archway. As they stood, he stepped forward to offer a crooked elbow to each of them. “If you will allow me?”
Grace stepped to one side of Luis and placed her hand on her father’s arm with a smiling glance up at his face. Eve once again felt the solidity of the king’s muscles as she followed suit. The cotton of his shirt was soft and warm against her palm and wrist. There was no point in pretending she didn’t want to touch more of him and even feel his hands on her skin in return, but that was just a primitive response of her body. She could ignore it most of the time.
But, dear Lord, he smelled so good. Even better than the delicious aromas emanating from the door into the kitchen.
The rest of the evening passed with Luis weaving his spell of royal Calevan magic around them. Grace was ensnared by it, leaning toward her father as she drank in his every word. Eve fought the pull of his charisma, succeeding only because she recognized that he was glossing over the less pleasant aspects of royal life.
Sometime soon she would have to point that out to Grace, but for now, she let her daughter revel in her newfound father’s warmth and charm.
They lingered over dessert and coffee because no one wanted to give up the cocoon of candlelight, excellent food, and one another’s relaxed company. Finally, though, Eve said, “I’m sorry to be the party pooper, but it’s getting late.”
It was uncanny how identical the expressions of disappointment were from both Grace and Luis. Those Dragón genes were powerful.
They all stood, and Luis once again offered his elbows to his guests. Eve savored the last few moments of contact with his warmth and scent as they strolled to the front door.
“I hate to part,” Luis said, “but we will be reunited very soon, and I will have the pleasure of showing you all the glories of Caleva.”
Tears glittered in Grace’s eyes, and she threw her arms around her father’s neck. “I can’t wait to see you again.”
Luis’s face blazed with jubilation as he returned the embrace. “Hija mía, I will be counting the minutes.”
They released each other with obvious reluctance before Luis turned to Eve. He, too, had a liquid glint of emotion in his eyes. Taking both her hands in his strong grip, he did the double air-kiss, the brush of his beard sending another delicious flicker of sensation dancing over her skin. “Until we meet again,” he said, his blue eyes locked on her in a way that made her feel like the only woman in the world. An illusion.
They were escorted to the car by Ivan and closed into the dark interior. As Ivan set the car in motion, Grace pulled her new cell phone out of her handbag and began to type madly.
“What are you doing?” Eve asked.
“Texting Luis to tell him how much I loved dinner,” Grace said, her voice a little gruff.
“That will make him happy.”
Grace’s thumbs stilled, and she rested the phone on her thigh. “Did you have fun, Mom?”
“I sure did.” Maybe too much fun.
Grace’s phone dinged with an incoming text, and she checked it instantly. “He answered me!” She didn’t read the message aloud, but in the dim moonlight, Eve could see the smile softening her face.
“Mom, we’re going to Caleva!” Grace’s voice vibrated with excitement. “Can you believe it?”
“I believe Luis can make almost anything happen,” Eve said, a touch of dryness in her tone.
Luis looked up from his phone as Mikel came down the stairs to the front hallway. “Grace texted me”—he was unable to stop the upward curl of his lips—“about how much she enjoyed dinner.”
Mikel surprised him by smiling in return. “You will receive many texts going forward. It is the preferred method of communication for that generation.”
“Raul and Gabriel rarely text me,” Luis pointed out.
“They were raised differently, they are male”—Mikel’s expression turned enigmatic—“and you are their king.”
“I like getting texts from my daughter.” Luis slipped his phone into his shirt pocket.
“As do I,” Mikel said. “Excuse me, Se?or, I must complete our preparations for departure.”
Luis waved a hand to indicate Mikel should do what he needed to, then wandered into the dining room. The table was already cleared, and the clink and water rush of dishes being washed emanated from the kitchen.
His mind roamed back to the pleasures of the evening. Grace leaning toward him, her face alive with interest and laughter as she asked a question about Caleva. Eve watching her daughter with pride and love glowing in her eyes more brightly than the candlelight.
He had not wanted the evening to end. Although he looked forward to showing Grace and Eve the beauties of Caleva, he knew their view of him would change once they arrived in his country. Here in the cornfields of Iowa, he could almost be an average person, particularly since he had instructed Mikel to keep the security measures as low-key as possible.
In Caleva, it would be impossible to hide the singularity of his position. He viewed the palace as simply home. A centuries-old suit of armor was no more extraordinary than a potted plant. Few people, though, shared his perspective.
Grace would take it in her stride because she had the delicious arrogance of a young Midwesterner who wasn’t overawed by royalty or history. Not to mention that she had royal blood in her veins, so she would feel that she had a right to be there.
Eve was another matter. She had recognized that he was painting a deliberately rosy picture of being royal, describing his family through the lens of his love for them, downplaying or ignoring the less relatable aspects of their lives. Eve had not called him on it, despite the skepticism that had flitted across her features.
Most of the time, though, Eve had listened and laughed along with Grace. Even she sometimes seemed to forget he was a king, treating him to the occasional blunt observation that was softened by her warmth. He could imagine her handling difficult pets and their even more difficult owners with her distinctive combination of compassion and no-nonsense good humor.
He would lose sight of that side of her in Caleva amid the bodyguards and staff and vast castle.
He could perhaps watch the candlelight play over the satin of her auburn hair and hear the throaty laugh that sent a tightening of arousal to his groin. But it would happen at a table filled with other people, not aimed just at him.
He wanted more of Eve, and that was a dangerous craving.