Page 9 of Royal Surrogate 1
“Huh.” I can feel her staring at me. “So where did you get the money?”
“From this afternoon? At the bank. I don’t usually carry that much cash with me, but something told me that today?—”
“No, no,” she interrupts. “The million dollars. Where does a young guy like you get a million dollars?”
She’ll need to know about my heritage soon enough, but I hadn’t planned to discuss it while we were still in the car.
“Tech?” she asks. “Did you make an app or something?” I feel her studying me for a moment. “Or are you a big Montovian movie star?”
“I thought you knew a lot about a lot,” I say, grinning. “You don’t know the current movie stars of Montovia?”
“Montovian popular culture isn’t a topic that comes up very often at LWU.”
“It doesn’t come up very often in Montovia, either,” I say, chuckling. “Have you been?”
“To Montovia? No.” She sighs. “I’d meant to travel. I mean, I’d planned to. Sometime. But then…” Her voice trails off and she goes silent.
“Your father?” I ask, glancing at her again.
She’s staring out her window, but she doesn’t respond. “He had to sell off everything. You know, just to pay for his care. Now the state pays for it, but it’s been…humbling for him. He was a civil engineer. He designed that bridge we just crossed.”
Impressive, I think. Strong genetic intelligence.
“Where are we going?” she finally asks. “We’re headed toward the Seattle Center. We’re not…”
“We are. I’ve rented out the Space Needle for us. I hear the food is divine,” I say, pulling up to the lot. Just as I asked, there’s an attendant waiting to valet my rental car.
The valet opens the door for me, and I grab the file from the back seat before rushing around to open the door for Renae.
“I’m not dressed for this place,” she says, glancing down at her clothing. “You should have warned me. I mean, I could have gone home to change?—”
“Nonsense,” I say, holding my hand out to help her out of the car. She takes it, and that same wonderful rush of something goes up my arm. “You look lovely, my little owl. Beautiful.”
She lifts a brow at me as she steps out. “I’m underdressed. I didn’t even notice you were wearing a suit?—”
Her mouth falls open as the flashbulbs begin to pop. “What the hell?” She turns to me.
I merely smile. Perhaps I should have warned her, but considering her reaction just now, I was right not to. She would have certainly backed out of our “date” tonight.
“I invited a few members of the press,” I say, smiling for the cameras as I slide my arm around her waist. “They won’t be going up the elevator with us.”
“Who the hell are you?” she whispers through her forced smile.
“I’m sorry,” I say, turning to her as the lights flash around us. “Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Lord Caspar. Heir to the Guardianship of the province of Wintervale.”
CHAPTER 6
Renae
This is getting more insane by the second.
He’s a lord? Of all the crazy things he’s said to me today, that shouldn’t take me by surprise, but it does. I let him guide me to the elevator, trying to ignore the flashing bulbs that follow us.
“Why are they here?” I demand. “Why did you invite them?”
He waits until the elevator doors close behind us before looking down at me with a smile. “It’s all part of the package.”
His arm is still around my waist, warm and strong and distracting, so I pull away, leaning against the side of the elevator and trying to gather my thoughts. “Is this some sort of trick or something? Some reality show where you try to see what people are willing to do for money?”