by Ella Brooke
Finally, Lorenzo dropped them off at the front of what looked to be a small café. People were already sitting at the tables outside, and there was a stand with a list attached where people could sign in.
“Do we need to put our name on the list?” Vanessa asked, just before James breezed past it toward the wide, glass doors.
“Oh, no. Don’t worry about that.”
James held the door for her, and Vanessa raised a brow and went inside. There was a long row of tables side by side, quite close together. The space was bigger than most little shops, but still not terribly large. On the other side was a full bar, with both drinks and an espresso machine. She scanned the décor with the eye of a prospective café owner. Upscale, with deep red drapes and warm, dark woods. Wrought-iron chandeliers. Not something she’d select, if she wanted to stand out among the hundreds of places to eat in New York.
“Hi! Welcome to Champigon!” a waiter half-sang, as he swung by carrying a tray of coffees and mimosas. “If you’ll sign up outside, we’ll be with you in a moment.”
“I made arrangements with your manager. Could you bring him around?” James asked.
The waiter gave him a skeptical look, but after delivering the drinks, headed to the bar to ask. The bartender waved them over.
“Good morning, sir,” she said. “We have your table ready for you. Take them to the table with the reservation card on it,” she told the waiter. “It’s in the group seating area.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The waiter grabbed two menus. “This way.”
He took them past the row of tables to a second room, then further toward the back where there was one large table empty. After taking the card off the middle of the table, he stepped back and gestured toward it.
“My name is Andy. I won’t be your waiter, but I’ll tell Dave you were seated, and I can go ahead and put in your drinks for you,” he offered.
James held out Vanessa’s chair. She took it as she looked up at him, then glanced down at the brunch menu. The big secret was a brunch reservation?
“I’ll have coffee,” James said. “And when our food comes, a Bellini.”
“That sounds good. I’ll have the same. Oh, and a glass of water,” Vanessa added.
“Excellent. We’ll have those right out!” Andy spirited off with undue excitement.
“He was energetic.” Vanessa leaned on her hand. “I suppose he’s had the coffee, too.”
“Maybe he enjoys his job,” James said.
“Hm. True. It seems like I have more energy than I do when I’m actually talking to customers. They always appreciate you seeming very awake and into what they’re saying.”
“Not something I’ve experienced, though I suppose heads of state do appreciate it if you don’t fall asleep while they’re talking.”
Andy came back almost immediately with the coffee and water, and Vanessa brought the cup to her mouth, breathing in deeply.
“Oh, yes,” she purred. James laughed, but she ignored him and closed her eyes for her first sip. “So, tell me more about what you actually do. Why are you in New York if you’re supposed to be helping your country?”
“Part of that has always been functioning as part of the Senate and helping my brother make major decisions. However, as the prince and a member of the Senate, I also perform some functions of diplomacy and…” He hesitated, looking less than proud. “Public relations.”
“Why do you make it sound so lurid? Did someone from your country break the law or something? Are you masterminding a prison break?”
“No! The opposite. We have a pair of twins, musical prodigies, and I’m here because my brother wanted a member of the royal family to be there during their opening concert. Normally, this sort of thing would go to his wife, Bianca, if the concert were in Europe, but she’s just had their third child, and Marcus wanted me to check in with our small consulate here as well.”
“Oh. Okay.” Vanessa rubbed her fingers along the sides of her mug. “What are you getting?”
“Is that it? Your whole response? ‘Okay.’”
Vanessa looked up. “I don’t know much about diplomacy or public relations. I wouldn’t know what to ask. Is it impressive? Should I be going ‘Oooo?’”
James laughed. “No, I just thought you might be upset.”
“Why would I be upset?” Vanessa folded her hands and prepared to hear this.
“Well, because my coming here was entirely by chance.”
“As opposed to?”
“Coming back to see you?” James suggested hesitantly.
“I gave up on that possibility a few years ago. Don’t worry, my standards are low on that account.”
“Oof.”
Vanessa sighed and gave him a wry smile. “Just… tell me more about these kids. Or… something I can understand about your diplomacy work.”
“All right. Let me think.” James rubbed his lips.
Vanessa listened as he recounted a story (interrupted a minute in by their waiter taking their orders) about a dispute with a family in Austria close to their border, and his role in going to their estate and smoothing things over until the Senate could be persuaded to change protocol for handling the crossover of fauna.
Their Bellinis and their breakfasts came, and Vanessa creased her brow as she picked up her fork, trying to think of something to say.
“It’s boring,” James said. “I’m not a national hero, or anything.”
“No, I was just going to say, that wasn’t what I thought it would be.”
“It has a lot to do with listening to what people on our borders want. At times, I intervene in arrangements for citizens who have emigrated elsewhere. Speak on their behalf.” James shrugged and picked up his silverware. He arranged his “truffle” eggs on top of the slice of ham and toasted English muffin on his plate and cut it into fourths. “Like I said, not terribly exciting. And we do have other diplomats who are paid to do the work on a more regular basis. But I’m essentially a symbol that my brother can wield, when it’s necessary.”
“Do you enjoy it at all?” Vanessa took a bite out of her bagel with lox and a thick layer of cream cheese. She blinked as the flavor exploded in her mouth. She’d expected it to be a fairly basic order, but there was some seasoning in the cream cheese, and the bagel had to have been baked this morning. She especially appreciated the little capers sprinkled over the lox.
“It means I can travel. I always liked that when I was young.”
“You’re not old now,” she scoffed.
“I’m older than I’ve ever been.”
“That’s true of everyone.” Vanessa picked up a home fry and popped it in her mouth. “I enjoy my job.”
“You work yourself nearly to death.”
“I wouldn’t put so much effort into it if I didn’t enjoy the business. You have to like what you do. If I didn’t like it, I’d just… try to get a job as a personal chef, or in a restaurant somewhere. The hours might be easier.”
“So do you ever think about doing that instead? You could spend more time with Jonah.”
Vanessa pressed her lips into a line.
“I don’t mean that you should, necessarily,” James corrected quickly.
“No, you’re right. It is pretty selfish, insisting on having a job I like when I could have one that paid the bills and gave my son more time with me.”
“It’s not that at all. We’ve talked about this. Sometimes you have to choose to do something for yourself, so you can be better for him.” James pointed at her with his fork. “When Marcus is miserable, we are all miserable. Don’t think that having a job that sucked you dry wouldn’t affect Jonah as well. It’s just… difficult choices.”
“Maybe.” Vanessa took a drink of her Bellini. “Sorry. I’m just defensive about that, I guess. There’s not a choice you can make as a mother that wouldn’t bring a torrent of criticism on your head.”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way. It’s true, though. Bianca is criticized by the press n
o matter what she does.”
“That’s life. I’m sure she was expecting it, marrying the king.”
“Well, he was just the crown prince, back then. But… it’s true.” James reached across the table and brushed his fingers against hers. “There are already people taking pictures of us. Just so you know. It wouldn’t be much different for you than it was for her. Maybe a little less intense, for a prince and diplomat, but I doubt it would be pleasant.”
“I think you’ll find that I’m a tough cookie,” Vanessa drawled.
“Oh, I know it.”
He pressed his lips to her fingers and gave her a slight bow. Vanessa tried to keep a straight face, but it was difficult not to laugh, and impossible not to blush.
Chapter Six
James
After their leisurely brunch, James could tell that Vanessa thought this was the entirety of his plans, and so he avoided giving Lorenzo explicit directions when they headed to their next location. She would get more out of this than a fancy bagel. Though, she had enjoyed the bagel.
“Tell me about your business,” he urged her, partially to keep her distracted from their surroundings, and partially because he knew how important it was to her.
It took a bit of prodding, but soon, she was explaining how she and Anisa had met at a different job, started a home catering company to help pay their bills, and then gotten funding from Anisa’s family to start their business. She explained her dreams of expanding their business, but only when it was wise, financially.
“So, end goal,” James said, “expanding the business? Do you ever want to own a restaurant? Maybe several different ones? Maybe like Gordon Ramsey, but more attractive and intimidating.”
“More?” Vanesa laughed. “Maybe not. I don’t think customers find me all that intimidating. I’m an average-sized woman. It would be nice to have the bakery turn into more. And it would definitely be nice to have more time to experiment with more than the same cakes and pastries that everyone orders. I just don’t have the time to, say, explore the culinary expanse of the world, or even get out and do things the way I would like.”
That got her talking about all the risks involved in having a business and keeping in the black and balancing growth and resources. She was so incredibly smart. And he’d always known she would be a powerhouse in her field, whatever she chose to do. James had just sort of assumed that Vanessa would be a famous New York chef by now, or have her face on magazines. He didn’t want to verbalize that comment, though, because as good as his intentions were, it could only come across as criticism.
“Hey, are we near Staten Island?” Vanessa turned to the window.
“I had another little thing planned.”
“The ferry?” She raised a brow.
James just smiled. When they arrived, he opened the door for her, and together they stepped out onto a large, open lot overlooking the East River. Vanessa’s mouth opened as she stared at the helicopter, and she gave a quick look back at him before gluing her eyes to the chopper again.
“You’ve lived in this city all your life. I wondered if you’d ever wanted to see a different side of it,” James said.
“From above, I uh…” Vanessa shook her head, then admitted, “I’ve actually never even been on a plane.”
He put his hand on her shoulder. “Are you frightened?”
“I don’t know…” Vanessa suddenly looked up at him with a carefree grin. “Let’s try it and see.”
He took her hand and walked up to the pilot waiting for them. After a quick rundown of the safety equipment, James took a pair of noise-cancelling headphones and settled them over Vanessa’s ears. Her eyes sparkled, and she wrinkled her nose as she laughed. In this brief moment, James finally recognized her again. That sense of joy and adventure that James remembered her teaching him.
If he had to remind her of the lesson, that was okay with him. She’d never lost her joy, after all. She’d just gotten caught in a pattern of having to fight to protect it.
Vanessa climbed into the cockpit, firmly holding his hand as she lifted herself up. He followed behind her, and they settled into their seats.
“Oh!” Vanessa jumped when the helicopter blades started up, and she grabbed onto his arm. She did look a little frightened, but there was also an excitement in her eyes. It grew as they began to lift off the ground. Higher and higher, and James could only watch her. The way the headphones pressed over her hair, causing it to sit out at odd angles. The way she arched her back in anticipation. The way she pressed one hand to the window as her lips bowed and gaped.
“I take it you don’t have acrophobia after all,” James joked, making sure he spoke into the microphone so she could hear him.
“This is…”
Vanessa couldn’t look away from the window. He placed his hand on the middle of her back, contenting himself vicariously with the look on her face. How could someone who had lived so hard look so soft?
Their pilot gave them a few updates as they reached their peak altitude, but otherwise, he left them to themselves. James had asked that he keep the interruptions to a minimum. Curiously, he leaned over Vanessa’s shoulder. The buildings were tall, some very old and some very new. For James, it wasn’t that impressive. He’d been flying so many times, he couldn’t possibly count every trip. She was looking at it as though New York City was the most amazing city in the world.
“I ought to have taken you at night. You can see the lights of every building,” James said.
“No, this is perfect. I can see where everything is. Oh, there’s our park!” She pointed.
James smiled and slowly took her hand. She didn’t pull away, and instead, settled back against him as she took in the view.
“Sometimes I get bogged down in the little details of life,” Vanessa said. “Okay, maybe a lot of the time. But it really is beautiful, isn’t it, when you look at it from here?”
“It can be.”
They’d been in the air for fifteen minutes when Vanessa turned and looked at him with wide eyes.
“Thank you for this. For today.”
“I’m honestly dumbfounded that I never thought to do this before. I wish we’d had more time—” He hesitated, knowing that bringing this up again could spoil her day.
Instead, she looked down, twisting her lips to the side, and sighed. “I do too. I wish you’d been there when…” Her cheeks colored.
“I know.”
“You do, don’t you?” She looked up, frowning. “I, um, I should’ve…”
“You didn’t know where I was. The fault there is mine,” James insisted. “And you’re trying, which is more than I thought I’d get.”
“Low standards, huh? I guess you and I have something in common.”
Before he could reply, Vanessa cupped his cheek and pressed her lips to his. He smelled it again, that soft wave of lavender. They were strapped in their seats, so they had to reach for one another. It didn’t keep their lips from meeting again and again.
“You’re missing it,” he muttered against her lips.
“We’re circling back,” she replied, before kissing him again, this time letting her tongue slip over his.
He would have to remember how much she liked to fly.
They arrived back at her apartment in the late afternoon, and though he was loath to leave her so soon, he had promised to only keep her for part of the day. It was a challenge, but a fair one, he thought. No sense in denying Jonah his mother for too long.
The benefit of this was twofold, however. Firstly, Vanessa had clearly had such a good time, and ending early would leave her wanting more of that. Secondly, keeping his promise and getting her home early was like a down payment on her trust. Eventually, she might feel more comfortable with him around her son. Their son.
Meanwhile, he went home alone and took care of himself in the shower to thoughts of Vanessa’s thighs, and especially the space where those thighs met her glorious ass.
The next morning, he packe
d up his laptop and stopped by Vanisa’s Sweet Stop for coffee. The morning rush took about twenty minutes to clear enough for Anisa to even notice he was there, and having done so, she raised a brow sharply. She could do nothing about it for some time, though, and continued ringing up orders of pastries and coffee alongside the young man beside her.
Finally, when the line was gone, she came out from behind the counter. “Vanessa won’t be back for another half-hour.”
“That’s fine. I’ll wait.”
Anisa put her hands on her hips. “We don’t really have the set-up for a coffee shop. People don’t tend to stick around long.”
“I have my own hotspot.” James pulled out his wifi stick. Anisa didn’t look convinced, so he shrugged. “I could help. Free labor.”
Anisa scoffed, but then looked around. “You wanna wipe down that table over there? Someone spilled sugar and creamer before leaving with their coffee.”
James raised his brows and then stood and shucked off his suit jacket. “Do I get an apron?”
“To protect the Armani? Sure. Hey, Davis, toss us an extra?”
Anisa smirked as James caught it and put it on.
“How do I look?” he asked, rolling up his sleeves.
“Very industrious.” She held up a finger. “Get to work.”
For the next hour and a half, he busied himself keeping the tables clean and the lobby swept. He fetched coffee and bags from the counter and gave them to waiting customers, and he talked with a few at the counter while they waited for Anisa to get special order forms ready for them. It was almost fun. He knew it wasn’t the same as it would be for someone who had to do this for a living, but he enjoyed change. He enjoyed new experiences, and this was definitely a new one.
Plus, it was so worth it when Vanessa came in the front door and spotted him serving coffee to a couple sitting by the window. The expression on her face was something he would have lived and died a thousand times to witness.
“I hired a new busboy,” Anisa joked from the counter.