“Is everything all right?”
At the soft question, she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “I’ve just been lying here thinking about how mortifying yesterday was.”
He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Falling off a rock isn’t mortifying. People do it every day.”
She groaned. “The whole thing interrupted your...meeting.”
Artur laughed. “That’s the only truly embarrassing thing you’ve done since we started the tour.”
Amy scrunched up her nose. “What’s that?”
“Pretending that they’re meetings.” Amy opened her mouth to reply, but he went on before she could. “They’re dates. You know it. I know it. I was there when you initially laid out your plan for them at the big strategy meeting.” He put a laughing emphasis on the word. “I’m not so oblivious that I don’t know how you’ve planned all of them.”
“It’s such a good strategy,” Amy said with a sigh. “It would’ve work, if I could’ve just kept my footing on the rocks and...” Her voice trailed off.
“No.” He reached over and brushed a lock of hair from her face. She looked so beautiful like this, with her dark hair spilling over the pillow and her eyes bright and blue. “It was not going to work at all. There was never any chance that Veronica would have ended up here beside me this morn
ing.”
“Artur...”
“No. It’s over.”
“But you can’t—” Amy protested, but he ran his fingers down the side of her face. She leaned her cheek into his palm and pressed her lips together.
“It didn’t work with Veronica or Dina and it’s not going to work with anyone else, Amy, because I don’t want to go on any more blind dates.”
Her lips looked so kissable. He knew that they were. “I only want you to meet interesting people from your country.”
Artur snorted. “I have no idea why you’re so invested in this lie,” he said. “Though I do see the merit in this kind of plan. I really do. Interesting women would make far better princesses than most of the women I’ve dated in my life.”
“See? We should just—”
“I’ll make a deal with you.” He lowered his head and kissed her shoulder, letting his lips linger there for a long moment before he spoke again. “I’m going to take the day off of dating.”
Amy bit her lip. “That’s...not much of a deal.”
“I want you to come with me.”
She shook her head. “If you’re not going on the date, then where are you going to go?”
“Our next destination is a town on the edge of Stolvenia’s finest national forest, if your itinerary is to be trusted.” He was still brushing light kisses over her skin. “I’ll still go on the tour, but no dates. We’ll just relax and see the sights together.”
“Well,” Amy said, and he could see she was searching for a way to keep him locked into her plan. “How will you know where to go? Our tour guide—”
“I’ll be the tour guide.” He kissed the line of her jaw. “I know the area very well. It was one of my favorite places to visit as a child, before I put all my energy into partying.”
“There’s someone waiting for us, Artur.” She put her hands playfully on his shoulders but didn’t push him away. “We—I—scheduled a tour.”
“You scheduled a date. If it makes you feel better, I’ll agree to go on the tour. But only if you come with me.”
A little smile crept across Amy’s face.
“I want to experience this with you by my side.”
“I’ve been here the whole time.”
“I mean really by my side. Not hovering in the background, hoping I’ll fall in love with another women.”