by Lara Hunter
“My mother’s American and they don’t hate her,” Kasper murmured in my ear.
We passed a windmill, then, but I couldn’t even muster up enough excitement to plaster myself to the window.
“Miss Flowers,” Lucas called back. “Let me talk to the police escort. I’ll see if there’s another route we can take that might be a bit faster. Okay?”
“Thank you, Lucas!” I said. “You’re my savior.”
Kasper raised an incredulous eyebrow. “If I’d known you would be this worried, I’d have had us stop off in Amsterdam first.”
I elbowed him. He goosed me.
We were wrestling with each other in the backseat by the time Lucas spoke next. “There’s a back road coming up that one of the officers thinks we can cut across. You want to do it?”
“Yes!” I cried. “Please.”
“Okie dokie.”
I stuck my tongue out at Kasper. “I’d make such a better prince than you,” I said. “I’m much more concerned with being on time.”
“I think the word you’re looking for is ‘neurotic,’” he said, smiling devilishly.
“What?” I asked, cupping my hand to my ear. “You’ll have to repeat that. I couldn’t hear because your accent was too thick. I’ll assume you weren’t insulting me, though, because that would be crazy.”
Kasper pulled my hand away from my ear and brought me into his arms, pressing kisses all over my face. “You drive me crazy, woman,” he said between kisses. “But I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Butcher the English language, no doubt,” I giggled.
We turned down a rough gravel road, bumping along like hot popcorn.
“This is fun,” I said with a grin. “See—you wanted to stick to doing things the boring way.”
“I never said that,” Kasper defended. “I just said you worry too much.”
Twenty minutes down the stretch, we stopped without warning.
I sat bolt upright. “Why have we stopped?”
“Probably just highwaymen,” Kasper said offhandedly. “They hang out on these back roads from time to time.”
I turned to stare at him. He was looking out the window, his jaw tight, trying not to laugh.
“Laugh all you want,” I sniffed. “But I’ll make sure your people know that out of the two of us, I’m the only one who cared whether we showed up or not.”
Kasper glanced over at me, a wry smile on his lips. “You mean the people you begged me not to make you speak in front of because you were worried about messing up?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Touché.”
Lucas had his hand to his ear, listening to something from the car in front of us. Then he turned to look at me, grinning. “Cows.”
I blinked. “Pardon me?”
“There are cows on the road, miss.”
“Cows,” I repeated.
“Indeed.”
I looked over at Kasper. “Can we…make them not be on the road? Are cows allowed to be on the road?”
“You can take the girl out of the Bronx…” he murmured, and I gave him a flat look.
“The farmers use these roads to walk cows between pastures,” Lucas filled in. “The cows more or less walk themselves after a time. We won’t be able to move them off the road if that’s where they want to be.”
My heart plummeted. “You mean we have to wait?”
Lucas nodded. “Sorry. They’re walking straight down the road, so we can follow behind at a slow pace. But…”
“But we can’t get them to move,” I filled in. “I get it.” I looked over at Kasper. “What do we do?”
“How about a walk?” he asked brightly.
The next thing I knew, Kasper had swung open the door of the car and was angling his long legs out of it. Since he had hold of my hand, I followed.
Outside, the air was balmy and bright. The midmorning sun had burned off the mist from the endless fields of green, and the warmth of it was comforting on my back. I spotted the issue right away. A herd of about twenty cows was ambling up the narrow road. Their guttural moos mixed in with birdsong and, of course, the sound of running water.
“We can only go as fast as the cows,” Kasper explained. “I don’t think they’ll be walking for much longer. Why not enjoy the meander?”
I furrowed my brow. “Can we not turn back? Should we not turn back?”
Kasper shrugged. “I don’t think we’d be any better off.” He pulled me close to him, locking his arms around my waist. “Nobody is going to hate you if we’re late,” he said reassuringly. “Life happens. People know that.”
I sighed. “I guess.” I stared mournfully at the cows. “Could we be stuck behind a less hurried creature though? I mean, really.”
“Try being stuck behind sheep!” a male voice piped up from ahead.
Startled, I turned from Kasper to see an elderly man with a walking stick coming through the crowd of cattle. His brown pants and green sweater would have looked well-to-do if he hadn’t paired them with muddy, black galoshes.
Kasper said something in Dutch. I presumed it was a greeting, and likely an introduction, because the man’s smile brightened into a full-on grin. They chatted in Dutch for a few moments, but I couldn’t pick up any of the words; I’d only recently started learning.
“Laurie,” Kasper said once they switched back to English. “This is Abe.”
I waved. “Hi Abe. I presume these are your cows?”
Abe nodded excitedly, hobbling toward us until he was close enough to shake our hands. He did so with so much gusto that I wondered what exactly Kasper had said to him. Surely he hadn’t told Abe who we were?
“I heard the Prince was coming to visit,” Abe said. “I didn’t realize he’d be bringing his girlfriend, too. It’s lovely to meet you.”
Ah. So he had told him.
“It’s so nice to meet you, too,” I said, smiling. “You have a beautiful country.”
Abe nodded. “We do, but we try to stay humble.” He laughed. “Running into Prince Kasper and his girlfriend while taking my cows to pasture. My wife won’t believe it!”
Kasper smiled. “Imagine—running into Abe on my way to the Keukenhof.” His eyes crinkled at the corners. “It must have been fate.”
Abe turned to me, dipping his head a little. “My apologies for the delay, miss. They don’t have much longer to go before they turn off the road.”
“No worries, Abe,” I said. “We’re in no rush.”
Kasper glanced over at me with a secret smile, then clapped his hand on Abe’s back. “Will you join us while we walk?” he asked. “We thought it was too beautiful a day to be cooped up in the car.”
“I can’t argue with that!” declared Abe. “I’d be happy to walk with you.”
We began to amble along after the cows, making small talk about the weather and how the crops were doing this year. I got the sense that Abe was this friendly to everybody, and I think Kasper got it too, because he was positively beaming. He loved when people didn’t treat him like the member of royalty he was.
I threaded my fingers through Kasper’s and tried to keep up with his and Abe’s long strides. Before long, we fell into a steady rhythm together. Cows ahead. Cars behind. Sky above.
I wondered if Kasper would feel like spending more time in Holland if I told him how much I liked it. I’d never been outside of the US before, and I was definitely enjoying my stay.
“There they go!” said Abe.
I peered ahead through the herd to see the cows at the front had begun to head down the right embankment. The others followed, and soon only a couple stragglers remained on the road.
As much as I’d enjoyed the fresh air, I was anxious to get on my way.
“It was so lovely to meet you, Abe,” I said, shaking the man’s hand again. “Thank you for keeping us company.”
“Yes, thank you, Abe,” Kasper added, also shaking the older man’s hand. “I think you helped calm down Laurie. She’s a bit nervous
about her first public appearance, you see.”
Abe clicked his tongue. “You have nothing to be nervous about. If you’re a good enough match for Kasper, you’re a good enough match for the country.”
My heart warmed at that.
Moments later, we waved to Abe and his cows, then clambered back into the town car.
Lucas turned to look at me, smirking. “Did you have a nice walk?” he asked.
“So nice that I think I’m ready for you to drive twice as fast,” I said.
Lucas and Kasper chuckled. The driver turned back to the front and began driving, the Prince held my hand.
I checked our location on my map against the time. We were so late.
TWENTY
“I still don’t understand how you can be so calm!” I said to Kasper. “We’re late. There’s a big crowd. And everyone’s going to blame me.”
We were in the backstage tent that had been set up to accommodate the speakers at the opening of the Keukenhof. Since we’d missed our slot, they had reshuffled us to last.
“Won’t your mother be upset?” I asked.
Kasper gave me an incredulous look. “Upset? She’s late to almost everything she ever goes to.”
“Oh.” I sighed, trying to relax. “I wish you’d told me that earlier.”
Kasper flashed me a dazzling grin. “I thought if I did, you might insist we be late on purpose in keeping with tradition.”
I poked him in the stomach. As usual, it hurt me more than him. “What the heck is your torso made out of?” I asked, poking him again. “Granite?”
“If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t be able to put up with so much abuse.” He grabbed my wrists, pulling me closer to him. I tried to pull away, but Kasper was too strong. And besides, I didn’t really want to go anywhere.
“What am I going to do with you, woman?” he murmured, his lips mere centimeters from my own.
“I’m sure you can think of something, Hercules,” I said. “But it should probably wait until after your speech.”
He got a twinkle in his eye that I did not trust, so I tried to wriggle out of his grip again, but he held on tight.
“I think I’ll do it right now,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.
I continued to struggle, but only somewhat in earnest. I was definitely curious what he had up his sleeve, but not so sure this was the right venue for it.
In one quick motion, Kasper transferred both of my wrists to one of his large hands.
“Hey! Not fair!” I whined.
“That’s what you get for being so small,” he lectured.
And then his intent became clear.
“No!” I squeaked, trying to pull away from the approaching hand. But it was no use.
Kasper began tickling my sides mercilessly. I giggled and squirmed, tears of laughter gathering in my eyes.
“You’re the worst!” I grunted.
“That might be true,” he said, “but I still managed to win you.”
The tickling stopped abruptly, and Kasper’s hands fell to encircle my waist. He pulled me close for a deep kiss, though I giggled against his mouth due to the sudden change. We entwined together, just the two of us, like the blooming flowers that surrounded our little tent. The fragrant air and perfect pressure of his lips against mine made me wonder if I was in a dream.
Maybe I was. If that was the case, I never wanted to wake up.
Kasper parted from me. He looked down through hooded eyes and smiled. “Are you feeling a little less nervous now?”
“I am,” I said. “But just give me a minute.”
“I can keep this up all day if it’s what you need,” Kasper replied. “It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make for you.”
“A prince and a philanthropist,” I laughed. “I really got the whole package with you, didn’t I?”
“I aim to please,” he said, then leaned down and kissed me again. His lips were the sweetest candy I’d ever tasted. His hands on my waist were the only things keeping me anchored to the ground.
Someone cleared their throat, then, and Kasper straightened.
I turned to see a woman with a headset and a clipboard. She looked unfazed by the awkward nature of the situation; I imagined it would take a lot to surprise her.
“Prince Kasper, you’re on in two minutes,” she said in English.
“Thanks,” Kasper replied, then returned his gaze to mine. “If you really don’t want to do this, Laurie, you don’t have to.”
I gnawed on my bottom lip. “Do you want me to do this?”
Kasper sighed and ran a gentle hand over the top of my hair, presumably patting down the pieces that had run wild while we were kissing.
“It’s not that I want you to do anything,” he said. “It’s just that I want to introduce you to the world. I want to show everyone how serious I am about you.”
“I thought you didn’t care what anyone else thought?”
Kasper’s tender gaze met mine. “It’s not about anyone else,” he replied. “It’s about you and me. I want you to know how serious I am about you. And if introducing you to the public as my girlfriend isn’t serious, I’m not really sure what is.”
I chuckled. “I guess you’re right there.”
“So?”
I grazed my fingers along his chin, feeling at the stubble that was already poking through from when he’d shaved on the flight. I hoped I never got used to the butterflies I got in my stomach every time he looked at me like that—like I was the only other person in the world.
“So let’s get out there and charm some Dutch people,” I said finally. “They’re going to be dancing in their clogs by the time we’re done with them.”
He raised a brow. “Seriously?”
“What?” I whined. “I’ve been here for hours and haven’t made a single clog or windmill joke. You knew it was coming!”
“Okay, Miss America,” he purred. “I’ll be sure to get you home in time to watch your Kardashians.”
“If that’s the best you can do, we really need to work on your pop culture knowledge.”
“Okay, you guys are on!”
Kasper grabbed my hand. “Onward, to our destiny.”
I laughed. I knew he was talking like that just to make me laugh, but I still laughed anyway. I always laughed with Kasper.
The crowd cheered as soon as we walked onto the stage, which was certainly an encouraging start. Kasper went up to the podium, leaving me standing off to the side, a few feet behind him, while he made his speech. He spoke in Dutch, though he’d used it to introduce me to his native tongue so I knew what he was saying.
I tuned out everything. If being the Prince’s girlfriend meant standing behind him and watching him make speeches, I could do that. Easily. Because the sun was shining off his flaxen hair, making it glow. The crowd truly did look adoring. And I didn’t have a care in the world.
“The Keukenhof is one of the largest flower gardens in the world—the Garden of Europe, they call it elsewhere,” Kasper said, switching to English. “And I must say—it is looking absolutely splendid this year. The tulips have even bloomed early.”
The crowd cheered. What an odd thing to cheer for.
“I’m not usually one for gushing sentiment,” Kasper continued. “But part of me thinks the buds must have pushed through early this year because they knew they’d be receiving a special visitor. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome my beautiful girlfriend, medical student, Laurie Flowers.”
The crowd cheered loudly, and I was just glad I got more of a cheer than early blooming tulips.
I stepped forward to Kasper’s side, and he put an arm around me, as if knowing that I might need the steadying. Somebody from the side of the stage passed him a bouquet of tulips, which he pressed into my arms.
“What do I do now?” I whispered.
Kasper grinned. “Smile and wave, darling. They love you.”
I did as he said. At first, I had to force the smile. I was so nervous that I felt like I might
fall over. After a moment, though, it came naturally. Looking down at so many beaming faces has a way of making you happy.
“Thank you,” I said to Kasper.
He gazed down at me. “For what?”
“For everything.”
Kasper smiled, lowered his face to mine, and pressed a kiss more heavenly than a sky full of angels to my lips.