The Royal’s Pretend Wife (15 page)

She had been expecting some kind of sharp remark or perhaps some teasing. The quiet observation about the water surprised her, and because of that, she ventured an honest answer.

“When I look at the ocean, I think of mysteries,” she offered. “There’s so much life and so much to learn from its depths. I think that humans could look at a ten-square-mile patch of ocean for a decade and not see everything that it has to offer.”

He glanced at her, a slight smile on his lips. When he wasn’t scowling at her, he really was very handsome.

“So your interest is academic? That surprises me a little.”

She grinned.

“Oh, were you interested in the spiritual end of things?”

He shrugged, a slight smile on his face. “Let’s just say that Trinity implied that we could have a lot to say to each other if I weren’t being such a curmudgeon.”

“All right, I’ll take that,” she said. She thought for a moment, and then when she began to speak, her tone was hushed. “I almost drowned when I was four. My parents had taken me down to Florida for a convention of some sort, and on our last day there, we went to the beach. It was a gorgeous day, sunny, bright, and brilliant. I had never seen so much water before, and I was…I was thrilled, I guess. It was just amazing. I kept running towards the water, and my nanny had to keep bringing me back. One time, I guess I managed to get away from her, because I ended up in the water.

“I ran out until I was nearly in over my head, and then the tide rolled out, taking me with it. It was terrifying. Suddenly, this wonderful thing had turned on me, dragging me out and away from shore. I was terrified, and I started screaming and crying. I’m very lucky, because a lifeguard saw me and went in after me.”

Augustine raised an eyebrow. “That sounds traumatic. Most people would think that would make you even less inclined to love the water.”

“You know, you would think that, but I never blamed the water. Instead I somehow knew that it was me being reckless and downright dumb. I mean, I was four. I really didn’t know any better. What I realized, I think, was that it was so powerful and overwhelming. I wanted to know all about it. And that’s where it started for me.”

He nodded slowly, and Anastasia laughed a little.

“It’s a weird little story. I have better ones about snorkeling off the Great Barrier Reef and swimming with dolphins if you want to hear those.”

“I like the story about the childhood drowning,” he said with a wry grin.

“What’s your relationship to the water? I think this is your ship, isn’t it?”

Augustine’s smile turned proud.

“Yes. The
Wild Waves
is my darling. After I got out of school, my father offered me my choice of graduation presents. It is a tradition in our family. I could have had land, houses, nearly anything I could think of, but what I wanted most was to construct the
Wild Waves
.”

Anastasia blinked.

“You designed the
Wild Waves
?”

“Yes, and built a great deal of her as well. Some of the work of course went to the contractors, but wherever I could get in to do the work, I wanted to. She is mine, from stem to stern. She’s luxurious, but I would wager that you could not find a safer or sturdier ship in the water today.”

“You love her.” Anastasia had not meant to say that at all. She bit her lip, thinking that of course Augustine would laugh at her, but he only nodded slowly.

“I do,” he said with a slight smile. “She is the best part of me, and throughout my life, in times of trouble, she has always been there.”

A comfortable silence fell over them. There was something delicate between them, a peace that had been hard-won from the quarreling they had done earlier.

Finally, Anastasia had to break it.

“I wish I could stay here longer, but I need to get some food. I’ve not eaten for hours, and now my stomach is making sure that I know it.

Augustine shook his head, chagrined.

“And I took your shrimp cocktail. I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intent.”

She laughed a little, waving it away.

“Well, I know where to get another one if I want it,” she said. “But regardless, I need to stuff some kind of food in my face. Maybe I’ll see you again?”

“Count on it,” he said.

Almost hesitantly, he reached for her hand, and this time, she had no convenient shrimp cocktail to thrust at him. She allowed him to take it and watched as he raised it to his mouth. The kiss was gentle and chaste, just a dry brush of his lips over her knuckles, but when he did it, a spark of electricity flickered to life between them.

That spark lit something bright inside her, and when he pulled back, from the speculative look in his eyes, she could see that he felt it too.

“Um, I really need to go,” she muttered, backing away. “Need to…catch up with Trinity, see some of my other friends…”

He laughed a little. “I know how it is. Go. Get fed.”

She turned, walking away quickly. Her cheeks were burning, but she wished she could say that it was just embarrassment. There was something else there, though, and she was afraid to look at it too long.

Augustine watched her go, a slight smile on his lips. She might have been a little awkward and a little shy, but the truth was he couldn’t remember having been as engaged as he was with Anastasia for a long time. There was something captivating about her, and when she had spoken of her love for the ocean, she had simply glowed.

He had been wary about this trip that his brother and sister-in-law had proposed. Right up until the last moment, he had nearly told them that they should take his yacht and simply sail themselves. Now that he was here, however, now that he had been introduced to Anastasia, he found that he was glad he had come after all. He was especially glad that Trinity had invited her.

He turned his gaze back to the sea. Perhaps the next time he saw her, they would simply nod and pass by. Perhaps…well, perhaps something else would happen. He was ready for every possibility.

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