And for one day, he’d had enough. He thought of her excitement at the paltry souvenir stand they’d visited. How would she react when he showed her Bellissime by the light of day instead of a quick walk at night?
Griffin picked up his coffee cup. “I think I shall be sick today.”
It took a moment for Maylee to stop typing, and when she did, she looked over at him. “Huh?”
“I’m sick,” he enunciated, and took a sip of coffee. “Cancel my appointments.”
“Oh, but . . .” She looked at the computer, then back at him, frowning. “What about—”
“It’s either appointments with my mother, other titled people who want a visit from a royal, or people who want money. Tell the charities that they can send me a bill and I’ll give them what they want. Tell everyone else to sod off.”
She chuckled. “Shall I write it just like that? Lord Montagne Verdi wishes for you to sod off.”
“You can word it much nicer, of course. And then we’re going to go sight-seeing.”
Her eyes lit up, which was all that he needed to know he’d made the right decision.
***
After breakfast, they retreated back to their rooms to change. Griffin figured that if they didn’t want to be followed, they’d need disguises. Maylee had picked up a few touristy shirts and baseball caps for family back at home, and so they’d separated to change into jeans and the ugly silkscreened T-shirts. Griffin shoved a baseball cap over his head and frowned at his reflection. “Appalling.”
Of course, when Maylee returned a few minutes later, baseball cap over her curls and a tight T-shirt and jeans outlining her curves, he had to change his mind on their choice of clothing. Her delectable ass filled out her jeans remarkably well.
This, he decided, was a good plan.
“I brought you some sunglasses, too,” she told him, and produced a pair of plastic monstrosities with the lenses printed with the Bellissime flag.
“I have prescription glasses.”
“Yes, and everyone recognizes you in them. Can you see good without them?”
“Can you see well,” he corrected.
“I can see just fine. It’s you I’m worried about.”
He sighed. “Never mind. I can see without them, yes.”
“Then put them on. It’s all part of your disguise.”
He did, and turned to give her an unhappy glare.
She choked on a laugh at the sight of him. “Very nice,” Maylee told him, unable to keep a straight face.
“The first place we are going is a sunglasses store,” he admonished her, trying to scowl and unable to in the presence of her happiness.
“Come on,” she told him, and extended her hand for him to take. “I know the back way out of the hotel. No one will see us.”
Griffin put his hand in hers and was surprised at how pleasant it was. Hers was warm and soft and reminded him of her touches last night. This was definitely getting more enjoyable by the minute.
They went through the maze of the hotel and then through the back loading dock, and escaped down a narrow alleyway, walking two blocks before coming out into the midst of the Bellissime streets. They were full of tourists, the streets garlanded with the royal family’s colors.
“Where to first?” Maylee asked him with a squeeze of his hand.
He tapped his sunglasses. “We’re getting rid of these.”
She laughed again, and they went off into the shopping district.
***
Griffin decided he rather liked spending time with Maylee. She was fascinated by everything, from the street vendors with wooden puppets in the shape of both the crown princess and Luke Houston, to the chocolate cakes sold on the corners. They passed plenty of stores, but Maylee was more interested in buying things to send to family than for trinkets of her own.
He got a far less embarrassing pair of sunglasses, and he let her lead the way after that. To his surprise, she was just as interested in the older buildings of Bellissime as she was with the touristy stops. Every plaque they passed by, she stopped to read and then would ask him questions. It was a pleasure walking the streets with her and telling her about his homeland, and she soaked up every word. He especially liked her intake of breath when they passed the Saine-Anne de la Vallée Cathedral, the tiny, ancient church that Alex and Luke would be married at a few days hence.
“It’s so beautiful,” she told him.
“It’s very old,” he agreed, and went into an accounting of the church’s history, dating all the way back to Charlemagne. She listened to every word with wide-eyed pleasure. Normally when he went on about his antiquities interests, people got bored or tuned out. Maylee just looked impressed and fascinated. He made a mental note that he’d have to arrange for her to travel with him on a future trip. Perhaps to Peru. Wouldn’t she be impressed with Macchu Picchu? He knew he’d found it a bracing sight, and he wouldn’t mind seeing it again, through her eyes.
Then he frowned at himself. Maylee wasn’t his assistant, but Hunter’s. She was simply on loan.
He wondered how much he could pay her to defect to him. Maylee was loyal as could be, and he wasn’t sure if Hunter would be willing to give her up, since Gretchen seemed fond of her. Of course, hiring Maylee would cause all kinds of new problems. Kip was rather possessive of his job, and the last thing that Griffin needed was two assistants. He’d have to figure out the details somehow.
“Boy, they sure like dessert here, don’t they?” Maylee asked, her drawl catching his attention. She’d paused in the street, staring at a sweets shop.
“Bellissime is very proud of its chocolate,” he agreed. “Do you want to try some?”
“Thought you’d never ask,” she said, grinning.
A few minutes later, they emerged from the shop, two gelato cones in hand. Griffin had gotten a traditional chocolate spumoni and Maylee had gotten a chocolate crème de menthe, which she joked was a fancy pants way of saying chocolate and peppermint.
As they left the shop, Maylee gave her cone a lick. “Mine is amazing. I think I love Bellissime.”
He laughed. “We take chocolate very seriously here.”
She eyed his cone. “Is yours better than mine?”
“You want to give it a taste?” They moved to a nearby park bench and sat down. A fountain burbled nearby, and people strolled past, taking pictures. It was all very touristy and pretty. “I’ll share if you want.”
“If I say yes, are you going to laugh at me for eating yours and mine?”