The Keys' Prince (The Royal Heirs) (13 page)

“Fantastic for sure,” Dario said, staying beside her.

Stella was thrilled that she could now check off another item from her Bucket List—riding a three-wheeled DeSoto. She’d take a highlighter to the item in the notebook she kept for that purpose as soon as Franco and his team delivered the rest of her personal items to the Casey Key hideaway.

Lost in thought, she pedaled the quarter mile from St. Armand’s Circle to Lido Beach in silence. She lifted her face to the sun and felt her heart and soul open up. The closer she got to the beach, the lighter she felt and the more her future seemed filled with wonderful possibilities.

She’d always had a thing for the beach. Maybe it was the Pisces in her. Maybe it was that she was her father’s daughter, and his world revolved around all-things related to the sea. Either way, only the sea and its pristine beaches had the ability to make her believe that all things were within her reach.

She sold a sign in Neptune’s Treasures that read “All I need is Vitamin Sea.” Nothing had ever been more of a sure-fire remedy for her, except Dario.

Each block closer to the Gulf she pedaled, her spirit soared higher. She was definitely getting one of these bikes.

Realizing the implications of her wish before she could even bask in it though, she sighed and silently cursed her circumstances. Such a seemingly simple wish caused an all-too-familiar stab at her heart.

Sure she could buy a bike. She could buy the company that made them, if she wanted to. But where would she keep a bike that she could actually ride it? Getting to ride today was a one-time, lucky shot that some twist of fate or good karmic energy had rewarded her with. Stella knew better than to think she could make going-for-a-bike-ride an everyday part of her life.

Now that her cover was blown, opportunities like this would be few and far between.

Nearing the beach, Dario motioned toward a large bike rack, and Stella followed. After locking their bikes into place, Stella grabbed her beach bag and the picnic basket. Dario immediately took both out of her hands, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. They headed up the boardwalk, hand-in-hand, toward paradise.

“This is going to be amazing,” Dario said putting his arm around Stella’s shoulders as they walked up a small incline onto the top of the boardwalk, past the foot showers used to rinse away the sand from between your toes.

“It is,” Stella said, stopping when they got to the top of the ramp to take in the stunning view.

As far as she could see, the aquamarine green and blue palettes of the Gulf of Mexico’s surf smashed into and then receded from the powdery, white-diamond sand.

“Beautiful, isn’t it? You’ve got the Riviera in Kristianico, but I can totally see why the Sarasota beaches are ranked in the top ten in the world. Can’t you?”

“I sure can. And I could get used to this. I really could. You know how rocky the beaches are in Kristianico. They’re beautiful with sweeping views of the sea, but we sure don’t have this exquisite sand.”

“Haven’t you spent any time here while you’ve been in Sarasota?” Stella asked, noticing that it was as if this was the first time Dario had set foot on the beach.

“Actually, I haven’t,” he said, looking down at his feet.

“Why not?” She asked, knowing how much he loved the sand and surf.

She couldn’t comprehend how anyone could be in Sarasota and not spend time on its fabulous beaches, let alone someone like Dario, who was just as mesmerized by their offerings as she was. Heck, she did everything within her power to spend as much time on the beach as she could and as little time anywhere else, including her shop.

“I’ve been too busy working and checking in on various projects back home. Things aren’t good in Kristianico. And that’s basically all I think about. I wasn’t going to go to the commissioners’ meeting the other day, but on the spur of the moment, I decided I would, just to get out and see how smaller governments worked here in the States.”

“I’m so glad you did. Otherwise, we might not have run into each other,” Stella said, knowing all too well how easy it was to get buried by the mountains of work necessary to make empires like theirs run smoothly. They both struggled so hard to carry on and build upon the success their fathers achieved.

“I hope you keep thinking that way,” Dario said.

“As much as it scares the hell out of me, there’s nothing I want more,” Stella said, taking his hand and leading the way onto the beach.

As soon as the warm sand sifted through her toes, Stella relaxed, determined for just one day to put their difficult worlds on hold. Surely they deserved one magical afternoon without major problems to solve or people to please.

They walked together through the dunes and then out into the open stretch of sand, getting as close to the water’s edge as they could without their chosen spot becoming fodder for the changing tides.

As soon as they’d gotten their blanket placed, weighed down by their picnic basket, and their beach chairs settled into the sand, Dario grabbed Stella’s hand and pulled her toward the water.

“Easy, baby,” she said, laughing all the way to the water’s edge. “I’ve got to ease into it. The water here is a wee bit chilly.”

“Does this help?” He asked, reaching down, scooping up a handful of water and splashing her.

“Oh, you don’t want to challenge me in the water, my prince. Did you forget that I’m a Pisces?”

“Forget my baby’s birthday?” He asked, looking over the top rim of his aviators. “March fourteenth. I’ve wished you ‘Happy Birthday’ every year we’ve been apart and always thought about you even more on that special day. I wondered what you were doing. Who you were doing it with. Wished that it was me.”

Knowing that Dario had thought of her, Stella no longer felt the chill of the cold, salty water. She felt a wonderful warmth from the inside out.

“But guess what? This year, I won’t have to wonder,” he said dipping down into the Gulf and raking handfuls of water through his hair. “I’m putting myself in charge of your birthday celebration. We’ll be in Kristianico by then, and I’m personally going to see to it that it’s a day you’ll never forget.”

Stella was so caught up by his sweet plans that she didn’t have time to warn him that a rogue wave was about to nail him.

“Guess I missed that one,” he said, shaking his wet head and trying to coax the saltwater out of his ears. “But I bet you didn’t. You saw it coming and didn’t tell me, didn’t you?”

“I would never do something like that,” she said, knowing there’s no way he’d believe her. He knew her way too well.

“Right,” he said turning around to brace himself for the next one.

The way his dark hair, now completely drenched, hung in loose wet curls around his shoulders sent surges of desire through Stella’s stomach, and then lower. His dripping wet body reminded her way too much of how he’d looked in the shower they’d shared earlier that day.

Stella bit her lip and pretended to focus on the seashells under the water’s surface and the pelicans scouring the water for fish not too far in front of them.

“Look,” she said, pointing out over the top of his shoulders. “Dolphins. Two of them.”

“Cool,” he said, coming back to stand next to her, shivering ever so slightly, probably from the chilly water.

She loved watching dolphins swim in their natural habitat, especially when they were traveling in pairs, like these two were. There was something so romantic about them moving together in perfect rhythm, breaking the surface of the sea in fluid strides, side-by-side. They created one of the best tangos to be found on Neptune’s dance floor.

“The animal kingdom gets it right,” Dario said, reaching for Stella’s hand. “Look how they stay together and always have each other’s backs.”

“We could learn a lot from them,” Stella said, something stirring deep inside her that such a viral, powerful man as Dario would notice the same simple things in nature that she did. It’s one of the traits she’d always loved about him.

“Indeed, we could,” he said, putting his arm around her as they watched the pair till they rounded the shore to the north of Lido Beach, headed toward Longboat Key.

“Are you ready for some lunch?” She asked massaging her growling stomach, which hopefully wasn’t loud enough that he could hear it.

“Sure. Actually, I’ve been ready ever since I peeked inside the basket you packed.”

They made their way back to their chairs and blanket, and Stella carefully started to unpack the basket, constantly checking over her shoulders to make sure what she was doing hadn’t been spotted by the birds flocking the beach.

She handed Dario a tuna salad wrap and was about to tell him to watch out for the seagulls and terns, but she couldn’t get the words out fast enough. Two terns and one gull swarmed his head. Exactly the moment he held up his wrap to spread a napkin over his lap, one of the terns dive-bombed him.

“Holy crap! What the-”

Before he could finish, the second tern absconded with his tuna salad.

In between fits of laughter, Stella tried to apologize for not warning him.

“I tried to tell you, honest I did, but they beat me to it.”

“I’d say so,” Dario said, the most pitiful pout forming across his lips. “And I’d really been looking forward to your tuna salad.”

“No worries. I brought plenty more. Down here, you always pack extra, counting on the birds besting you for at least part of your meal.”

She took her beach towel and hid the wrap inside the folds of the towel.

“I know it sounds nuts, but try eating while your food’s all-but-hidden in your towel. That’s the only way I’ve figured out how to beat them,” she said, taking a quick bite of her wrap, which was barely showing outside the edges of her towel, to demonstrate.

“Incredible,” he said and followed her lead.

“Gosh I’d loved to have had a photo of that,” Stella said and laughed again until she accidentally snorted.

“You might have gotten your wish,” Dario said, taking another covert bite of his tuna salad. “Our boys set up shop a ways behind us. Knowing Stefan, I’m sure he was all over that one with his cell phone.”

“Oh, I do hope so,” Stella said and laughed. “I’d even pay for those pics.”

“Cute snort, by the way,” Dario said, effectively silencing her. “That’s something new. Another ‘first’ for us.”

Stella doubted that Dario would want a future princess who snorted when she laughed. That wasn’t very royal, at all.

But she was tickled that he’d remembered that they used to track their ‘firsts.’ The first time they shared an experience, whether it was seeing one of the marvels of the world or something as simple as eating off of each other’s plates or sharing a dessert, or, she supposed, letting go a good, hearty snort.

“I’m glad I could be of service,” she said.

“Me too,” he said still laughing. “And I can’t wait till you snort in front of my mother.”

Stella had to admit that that would be entertaining. The woman was never less than perfect, which made it all the more fun when the rest of them proved they were anything but.

They finished their lunch, hiding each course in their beach towels. Nothing but the sounds of the crazy terns and the rushing tides filled the silence between them.

It was so nice to enjoy someone’s company, Stella thought, and not have to carry on a conversation the entire time. She and Dario had always enjoyed a comfortable compatibility. They could be talking or totally silent and still be satisfied.

She drifted off to sleep, serenaded by the sea and her snoring prince. She may snort, but he snored, and he was much louder than she remembered.

• • •

When Stella woke up and checked her phone, she couldn’t believe they’d been asleep for almost an hour and a half. ‘Course they had kept each other up all night. And if she had her way, they’d be doing the same tonight. So the rest was good for them.

Needing to get up and stretch though, she decided to go for a shell-hunting expedition, hoping Dario would join her. Rummaging through her beach gear, she searched for the mesh bag she used for that purpose.

“What are you looking for sleepy head?” Dario asked, stretching his arms high above his head and brushing off the sand that had blown onto his chest and abs.

“My shell-hunting bag,” she said, pulling out her hot pink, mesh sack with ‘Lido Beach’ embroidered on it in a matching, high-gloss thread.

“Sounds like fun,” Dario said.

“Yay! We found you! Look Hollywood, it’s our dear Stella and her prince!”

Stella just shook her head and laughed, trying her best not to snort again.

“Hello, Emma Lou and Hollywood,” she said, glad that no one was close enough to have heard how Emma Lou addressed them. Keeping their cover would be next to impossible with these two around. They didn’t have it in them to be discreet. “Imagine running into the two of you.”

Dario cleared his throat and looked over the top of his sunglasses.

“I know, darling. What are the odds?” Hollywood asked, fanning herself with perfectly, French-manicured nails, the ring finger on each hand set with crystals and a blue-green dusting of glitter.

“Well, at least we get to meet your prince in the flesh and not have to rely on the gossip rags that Hollywood buys at Publix,” Emma Lou said, taking off her sunglasses and giving Dario a thorough examination from his head to his sand-covered toes. “My my, you are a hottie.”