Page 14 of Mistaken as His Royal Bride
Maddi put down her fork and felt a dull flush climb into her face. Her endless capacity for food was an affectionate joke between her and her sister.
‘I like food.’
Maddi knew she sounded defensive. And she knew she wasn’t exactly behaving like a delicate princess. What she wanted to know was how they had got the beef so tender and tasty. Had they marinated it?
‘When you were here with your father as a teenager you were a vegetarian. Obviously that was a phase?’
Maddi went panicky and cold inside as she thought furiously of when she’d last seen Laia eating meat. And then she relaxed. It had been a week ago—she’d eaten a burger. Well, she’d eaten half and Maddi had eaten the other half.
‘Yes, it was a phase,’ Maddi said with some relief, and picked up her glass of wine to take another sip.
‘And have you always had that gap between your front teeth? I’ve never noticed it before.’
Maddi almost spat out her wine, but somehow managed to keep it in her mouth and swallow it without looking as if she was choking. She did have a gap in her front teeth. Not hugely prominent, but enough of a feature to be noticeable.
She decided to try and brazen it out. ‘Are you sure you’ve never noticed it before? We haven’t exactly been...close.’ A frisson of awareness skittered over her skin.
Aristedes shook his head, eyes on her. On her mouth. ‘I think I would have remembered a feature like that. It’s...noticeable.’
‘Maybe my teeth are just...growing apart?’
‘In that case perhaps you should see the palace dentist?’
Maddi wanted to squirm. ‘I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. Teeth shift all the time. I remember when I had braces—’
‘I don’t remember you with braces.’
He knew, and he was toying with her.
The suspicion lodged in her head, making Maddi even more trenchant. ‘I didn’t visit here all that often, I had them as a young teenager.’
Laia had told her she’d always tried to duck out of visiting with her father over the years.
‘Clearly I should have paid more attention.’
His tone was perfectly bland, but Maddi looked at him suspiciously. He watched her lazily. She had an impression of a big jungle cat, toying with a morsel of food. The air around them felt closer. Heavier.
The staff came back, breaking the weird moment, and cleared the plates.
The butler asked, ‘Would Princess Laia like some dessert? Tea or coffee?’
‘Or perhaps a digestif?’ the King interjected.
Maddi looked at her wine glass. It was empty. The wine together with the whisky was already having an effect. The thought of dessert was tempting, but she didn’t want to draw attention to her appetite again and she knew Laia didn’t have a sweet tooth like her.
She shook her head and smiled at Felipe. ‘Just a coffee would be lovely, thank you.’
‘I’ll have the same. Thank you, Felipe.’
Alone with him again, Maddi felt pinned under Aristedes’s gaze. She stood up and went to the balcony, looking out over the sea. It was dramatic and awesome. She looked down. And not a little terrifying. A suspicion slid into her mind. Had he brought her here on purpose, because he was going to expose her and then tip her into the sea as punishment?
Felipe returned with coffee and biscuits and Maddi went back to the table. She tried to ignore the tension once they were alone again and busied herself with milk and sugar.
‘Sweet tooth?’ Aristedes enquired.
Maddi cursed herself and put back the second spoonful of sugar. ‘Sometimes. But not in general, no.’
Then he said, almost idly, ‘I’m glad you’re finally here. We’ve been waiting a lifetime for this moment.’