‘And it hasn’t even started yet,’ Callie said wryly. ‘Wait until they start playing parlour games.’
‘Parlour games?’ Luca queried.
‘What people used to do before TV.’
He shot her a sideways look. ‘Sounds interesting.’
‘You said you’d give me time, Luca,’ she reminded him as he pulled into the light Christmas Day traffic.
‘How much time do you need?’
‘More,’ she insisted.
‘I’m afraid that’s not possible. I have other places to be.’
‘You said you’d let me go.’
‘I didn’t say I wouldn’t come after you.’
Callie shook her head while her heart went crazy. ‘I belong here, Luca.’
‘You belonged in the lemon groves too. You belonged in the five-star hotel, whether you chose to believe it or not. The staff there love you. You belong anywhere you choose to be. You have a positive slant on life that infects the people around you. That’s why they love you. That’s why I love you, and want you for my wife.’
‘And a royal princess, mother of your heir,’ she said quietly.
‘So you’re going to believe Max, not me.’
‘I make my own decisions. This has nothing to do with Max.’
‘Who has been reminded that he’d agreed to stay away from Fabrizio for life,’ Luca explained, ‘in case you were wondering.’
‘Stop here.’
‘What?’
‘Here,’ she insisted. ‘There’s a park. We can walk.’
Luca dipped his head to stare around. ‘I had intended taking you somewhere more romantic.’
‘It’s all a matter of scale,’ Callie insisted, ‘and this is fine. This patch of green might not look much to you, but I can tell you that it’s appreciated around here as much as you appreciate your royal parks.’
‘I didn’t play in royal parks as a boy,’ Luca reminded her as he slowed the car. Parking up, he killed the engine. Getting out, he came around to open the passenger door. She accepted his help and climbed out.
The same thrill raced up her arm. Luca’s quiet strength was so compelling. He broke the silence first as they went through the entrance into the small inner-city park, and her breath caught in her throat when he said, ‘I refuse to believe you don’t know how right this is between us.’
‘But you’re a prince,’ she protested.
‘I’m a man.’ Wrapping his big hands around her lapels, he drew her close. ‘And that man knows we belong together. But though I’ve confided in you, you’ve told me nothing.’
Shoulders hunched against the freezing wind, Callie lifted her head and stared into Luca’s strong, rugged face. ‘Why do you want to marry me, when you can have your pick of every princess in the world, and all the heiresses, if that grand ball was anything to go by?’
‘I keep asking myself that same question,’ Luca admitted dryly.
‘This isn’t funny,’ she said.
‘This I know,’ he agreed. ‘All I can come up with is that there is no reason to love. You either do or you don’t.’
They had stopped in front of the bandstand where, only that morning, she’d sung carols with the Browns while the local band played their hearts out.