23. Alejandro
ALEJANDRO
THE FIRST TIME Gabriel hit the bull’s-eye, he shouted so loud that I wouldn’t have been surprised if the neighboring kingdom heard.
I lowered my bow. “Really, Gabriel?”
He glanced over his shoulder, still holding his bow, his blue eyes bright and the sunlight catching all the different shades of his hair. “Is there a problem, Your Highness? Is my incredible aim affecting your ability to hit your own target?”
Such a smartass. “One bull’s-eye and you act like we should build a monument in your honor.”
“I mean, someone should. Look at me.”
That was the problem—I had been looking at him.
Far too much for far too many days now. Since the truce dinner between our families, there was really no reason for Gabriel to still be in Solterra, but he didn’t seem in a hurry to leave…
and if I were honest with myself, I really didn’t want him to go. Not yet.
Something I refused to examine too closely for fear of what I might see.
So instead, I’d decided to challenge him to an archery showdown.
It was another perfect day outside, and this was an activity that would take my mind off how much I was enjoying his company and instead have me vying to kick his ass.
At least, I’d thought it was. I hadn’t expected him to be so competent at it, considering archery required stillness, discipline, focus, all qualities I didn’t expect him to possess—but then again, he’d surprised me in the fencing salle too.
He reached for another arrow and glanced over his shoulder at me, probably to make sure I was watching. “You know, it’s a good thing the press isn’t here, or I’d be tempted to shoot one of these at you after this morning’s headline just to throw them off.”
I didn’t need to ask which one. Gabriel had read several out loud over breakfast this morning, each one progressively more ridiculous.
His favorite—MENDING FENCES: VALORIA AND SOLTERRA REBUILD OLD FRIENDSHIP AFTER ROYAL CAFé OUTING
Old friendship? Like we were buddies who grew up spending summers together making friendship bracelets or some shit instead of standing on opposite sides of a future that had already been decided for us.
All that article had done was talk about my forgiving the Valemonts after I’d been “snubbed,” which of course was what we’d all expected would happen. That was the selfish half of the reason I’d brought up a joint arts initiative. Get all the focus off me and onto something more important.
Gabriel nocked the arrow but didn’t draw. “For the record, I object to ‘old friendship.’ First of all, we were never friends. You fed me tiny sea monsters and humiliated me at polo, so I don’t know where they got that. Second of all, ‘old’? How rude. I’m the picture of male virility.”
Jesus, his mouth never stopped…even when he wasn’t wrong. I wasn’t not sure when I’d started to enjoy that, but I found myself chuckling.
“No one could accuse you of being humble, that’s for sure.” I focused back on the target, drew back the bowstring, and let the arrow fly. When it hit the outer ring, I cursed.
“Uh oh. Not losing your edge, are you, kitten?” Gabriel smirked as he lifted his bow again, and when he unleashed his arrow, it hit just off the center, but still closer than mine.
Okay, so I was having an off day. Or maybe it was that Gabriel was distracting in a way I didn’t know what to do with.
Getting to know him was hazardous to my health, because the more I learned, the more I found myself wanting to be around him—and for a playboy like Gabriel, that was dangerous.
He was here for a good time, not a long time, which was how I’d always preferred it with the men I was with.
So why did the thought of not seeing him feel like a boulder had been dropped on my stomach? I’d been wrestling with thoughts similar to this on and off for several days now. But after the weekend on the yacht, they’d been more persistent.
“I’m not losing anything, including this game,” I said.
“Uh huh, I’ll believe that when I see it.”
I moved into position, raised my bow, and sent the arrow sailing through the air.
It wasn’t a bull’s-eye, but it was pretty damn close.
I turned to see Gabriel’s smile had flattened a little. Good.
“Not so confident now, are we?”
He shrugged. “Lucky shot.”
“Please, I was Solterra’s archery champion five years in a row. I was just giving you a fighting chance. It’s the polite thing to do as host.”
Gabriel thought that through. “You’re lying.”
“Am I?” I was, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. I wanted to get in his head the way he was in mine, and if there was one thing Gabriel enjoyed, it was a challenge.
“Archery champion,” he said, moving back into position, where he brought his bow up and nocked the arrow. Then he muttered, “Letting me win,” right before the arrow whistled through the air toward the target and…flew right over the top of it.
I snorted, and Gabriel pinned me with an accusatory glare.
“Oops. Are you suffering from a little bit of performance anxiety?” I said. “Don’t worry, it happens to everybody.”
“Come here, and I’ll prove that’s not the case.”
“Uh uh,” I said, chuckling, then pointed to the targets. “No time for that. You need to go and find your arrow.”
Gabriel looked across the field and shook his head, then headed that way. “Don’t think you won’t pay for that,” he called out, but I was too busy watching him to respond.
The sun was shining down on his hair, and I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it but it seemed to have gotten lighter since he arrived in Solterra. His light blue shirt was billowing in the warm breeze, and those tan pants he wore hugged his ass to utter perfection.
He was as gorgeous going as he was coming, and I was so caught up in staring at him that I completely forgot about—
“Well, what do we have here?” Gabriel’s voice off in the distance had me blinking him back into focus. “Alejandro?”
He stepped out from behind the target, arrow in hand and a grin on his face, and regret instantly washed over me. What had I been thinking?
“Did you have a picnic set up for us?” When I didn’t say anything, Gabriel pointed one of his arrows at me, circling it in the air. “A romantic one on a blanket with grapes, wine, and a basket full of goodies?”
“It’s not romantic.” And he was enjoying this way too much.
“It’s not?” Gabriel looked back to where I’d asked the staff to set up some food. It was a beautiful day, I knew we’d be out here—was it so bad that I wanted to enjoy it?
The problem was, it wasn’t just the food I wanted to enjoy, and that was where things were starting to get problematic.
“No.” I screwed my nose up and ordered myself to get it together as I crossed over to him. “I just didn’t want to walk back to the palace for lunch.”
“There you go again,” he said. “Lying.”
“I’m not lying.”
“Then why didn’t you just have one of the footmen set up a table for lunch?” Gabriel arched a brow, and his smug grin was as irritating as it was irresistible.
I was about to respond, but he quickly held a finger up to my mouth.
“No more lies from these lips. Only the truth.”
I glanced past his shoulder to where my staff had indeed set up a picnic, per my request, and just like Gabriel said, it did look romantic.
The large maroon blanket with the Solterran sun crest was sprawled under one of the grapevine trellises.
At one end was an open basket full of the very grapes growing on the vine, along with other fruits harvested from the palace grounds.
Next to that, three bottles of wine and two glasses, and beside that a large, closed wicker basket full of food.
At the other end was a mountain of pillows the same color as the blanket and golden sun scattered about, inviting us closer.
“I asked for a picnic,” I said, and reached for his wrist, pulling his hand away from me. “I said nothing about romance. I didn’t realize you needed to be wooed.”
“I don’t need it,” he said, and looked down at the spread. “But I can appreciate when someone put in an effort for little old me.”
Oh for the love of God. I was never going to hear the end of this. “Calm down there, Romeo—”
“Prince Handsomelot, actually,” he said, turning back to me, and damn if he wasn’t living up to his name in that moment, his blue eyes sparkling in the midday sun.
“The staff put in the effort.”
“Yes, but you put in the request.”
He was like a dog with a bone. I wasn’t going to win this argument, no matter how much I argued, so why was I even bothering?
Plus, I couldn’t be sure he wasn’t right.
“So,” he said as he picked up a bunch of grapes and moved down to the blanket, “is this a date? Because that would go against rule number—”
“One. I know. I made up the rules. But this isn’t a date.”
“I don’t know,” he said, popping a grape into his mouth. “It’s pretty nice. All that’s missing is flowers. But that would’ve gone against rule number—”
“It’s. Not. A. Date.”
Gabriel gave a wide grin as he chuckled and reached for my hand, tugging me down onto the blanket beside him. “Methinks you protest too much.”
“Methinks I’m insane for trying to do something nice.”
“Ha, so you do admit it?”
“I’m not admitting anything. I thought you might want to eat, so I had food brought down here.” I eyed him and then the grapes. “But I’m also seeing it’s a good way to shut you up.”
“Well then,” he said, and moved in to brush his lips over the top of mine. “Thank you, kitten.”
I growled and nipped at his lip, and Gabriel hooked an arm around my waist and tumbled us down onto the blanket, my head landing on the soft pillows. With his body half over the top of mine, he held the grapes above my mouth and said, “Wanna taste?”
The invitation was innocent enough, but the glint in his eyes was what I imagined Eve’s must’ve had when she offered up that juicy red apple.
I leaned up and bit one of the grapes off the bunch, then chewed and swallowed before licking my lips.
“Jesus,” Gabriel whispered, and tossed the grapes aside to trace his thumb over my mouth. “You’re so damn beautiful.”
That boulder in my stomach from earlier turned to butterflies as he looked down at me like he was seeing me for the first time—really seeing me.
Gone were the games, the challenges, all the damn rules we’d set up to keep a wall between us, as he lowered his head and replaced his thumb with his mouth. Ever so gently, he teased my lips apart.
I closed my eyes and turned my brain off then, pushing aside all of the reasons this was a bad idea and instead falling into it.
The soft touch. The gentle kiss. The feel of his heart beating against mine.
They were all things I didn’t need to notice. Things I shouldn’t care about.
But as we made out under the Solterran sun like a couple of teenagers for the rest of the afternoon, I couldn’t help but think Gabriel was right.
I’d broken my number one rule: no dates.
Because this perfect day, this perfect afternoon, had been one of the best dates of my life.
And damn Gabriel Valemont for that.