there’d been a book first, anyway.
Stop it!
‘You’re fully refreshed? How are the allergies? You slept almost twenty-four hours. I hope the rest helped you.’
Did kidnappers sound calm, rational and solicitous?
Mel drew a breath, said shakily and with an edge of uncertainty she couldn’t entirely hide, ‘I feel a bit exhausted. The allergies are gone. I guess I slept them off while we travelled between Melbourne and…?’
‘Braston.’ He spoke the word with a slight dip of his head.
‘Right. Yes. Braston.’ A small country planted deep in the heart of Europe. Mel had heard of it. She didn’t really know anything about it. She certainly shouldn’t be anywhere near it . ‘I’m just not quite sure— You see, I thought I’d be flying from Melbourne to Sydney—’
‘We were able to fly very directly.’ He leaned towards her and surprised her by taking her hand. ‘You don’t need to be nervous or concerned. Just stick to what we’ve agreed and let me do the talking around my father, the king.’
‘K-king.’ As in, a king who was the father of a prince? As in, this man, Rikardo, was a prince? A royal prince of Braston?
Stick with the issue at hand, Mel. Why are you here? That’s the question you need answered.
‘You are different somehow to what I have remembered.’ His words were thoughtful.
‘Remembered from our drive to the airport? I don’t understand.’ Her words should have emerged in a strong tone. Instead they were a nervous croak drowned by the clatter of a baggage trolley being wheeled closer to the plane.
Well, this was not the time for Mel to impersonate a scaredy frog waiting to be kissed into reassurance by a handsome prince.
Will you stop with the fairy-tale metaphors already, Melanie!
‘You’re nervous. I understand. I’ll walk you through this process. Just rely on me, and it will be easy for both of us to honour our agreement.’
Mel drew a deep breath. ‘Seriously, about this “agreement”. There’s been—’
‘Your Highness, if you and your guest would please come this way.’ An attendant waved them forward.
The prince, Rikardo, took Mel’s elbow, tucked the wonderful warm wrap more snugly about her shoulders, and escorted her to the steps and down them onto the tarmac.
Icy wind whipped at Mel’s hair and stung her face but, inside the wrap, she remained warm. Floodlights lit the small, private airstrip. A retinue of people waited just off the tarmac.
Mel had an overwhelming urge to turn around and climb back onto the plane. She might not be down a rabbit hole, but she was definitely Alice in Crazyland. None of this would have happened if she’d been completely herself when she ordered that ride to the airport and believed it had arrived. Mel would never take someone else’s medication again, even if it were just an over-the-counter one that anyone could buy!
‘Please. Prince…Your Highness…’ As she spoke they moved further along the tarmac. ‘There truly has been some kind of mistake.’
What could have happened? As Mel asked the silent question puzzle pieces started to come together.
If he’d called at the right address, then he had expected to collect a woman from there.
Her cousin had been in a strange mood, filled with secrecy and frenetic energy. At the end of the dinner party, Nicolette had rushed to her room and started rummaging around in there. Had Nicolette been…packing for a trip?
Rik had said he’d arrived earlier than he’d expected to. That would explain Nicolette not being ready. Mel had thought that he’d called her by her first name of Nicole, but it could have easily been ‘Nicolette’ that he said. She and her cousin looked heaps alike. Horror started to dawn. ‘It must have been Nicolette—’
‘Allow me to welcome you on to Braston soil, Nicolette.’ Rikardo, Prince Rikardo , spoke at the same time. He stopped. ‘Excuse me?’
Oh. My. God.
He’d mistaken Mel for Nicolette. Mel’s cousin had made
Stop it!
‘You’re fully refreshed? How are the allergies? You slept almost twenty-four hours. I hope the rest helped you.’
Did kidnappers sound calm, rational and solicitous?
Mel drew a breath, said shakily and with an edge of uncertainty she couldn’t entirely hide, ‘I feel a bit exhausted. The allergies are gone. I guess I slept them off while we travelled between Melbourne and…?’
‘Braston.’ He spoke the word with a slight dip of his head.
‘Right. Yes. Braston.’ A small country planted deep in the heart of Europe. Mel had heard of it. She didn’t really know anything about it. She certainly shouldn’t be anywhere near it . ‘I’m just not quite sure— You see, I thought I’d be flying from Melbourne to Sydney—’
‘We were able to fly very directly.’ He leaned towards her and surprised her by taking her hand. ‘You don’t need to be nervous or concerned. Just stick to what we’ve agreed and let me do the talking around my father, the king.’
‘K-king.’ As in, a king who was the father of a prince? As in, this man, Rikardo, was a prince? A royal prince of Braston?
Stick with the issue at hand, Mel. Why are you here? That’s the question you need answered.
‘You are different somehow to what I have remembered.’ His words were thoughtful.
‘Remembered from our drive to the airport? I don’t understand.’ Her words should have emerged in a strong tone. Instead they were a nervous croak drowned by the clatter of a baggage trolley being wheeled closer to the plane.
Well, this was not the time for Mel to impersonate a scaredy frog waiting to be kissed into reassurance by a handsome prince.
Will you stop with the fairy-tale metaphors already, Melanie!
‘You’re nervous. I understand. I’ll walk you through this process. Just rely on me, and it will be easy for both of us to honour our agreement.’
Mel drew a deep breath. ‘Seriously, about this “agreement”. There’s been—’
‘Your Highness, if you and your guest would please come this way.’ An attendant waved them forward.
The prince, Rikardo, took Mel’s elbow, tucked the wonderful warm wrap more snugly about her shoulders, and escorted her to the steps and down them onto the tarmac.
Icy wind whipped at Mel’s hair and stung her face but, inside the wrap, she remained warm. Floodlights lit the small, private airstrip. A retinue of people waited just off the tarmac.
Mel had an overwhelming urge to turn around and climb back onto the plane. She might not be down a rabbit hole, but she was definitely Alice in Crazyland. None of this would have happened if she’d been completely herself when she ordered that ride to the airport and believed it had arrived. Mel would never take someone else’s medication again, even if it were just an over-the-counter one that anyone could buy!
‘Please. Prince…Your Highness…’ As she spoke they moved further along the tarmac. ‘There truly has been some kind of mistake.’
What could have happened? As Mel asked the silent question puzzle pieces started to come together.
If he’d called at the right address, then he had expected to collect a woman from there.
Her cousin had been in a strange mood, filled with secrecy and frenetic energy. At the end of the dinner party, Nicolette had rushed to her room and started rummaging around in there. Had Nicolette been…packing for a trip?
Rik had said he’d arrived earlier than he’d expected to. That would explain Nicolette not being ready. Mel had thought that he’d called her by her first name of Nicole, but it could have easily been ‘Nicolette’ that he said. She and her cousin looked heaps alike. Horror started to dawn. ‘It must have been Nicolette—’
‘Allow me to welcome you on to Braston soil, Nicolette.’ Rikardo, Prince Rikardo , spoke at the same time. He stopped. ‘Excuse me?’
Oh. My. God.
He’d mistaken Mel for Nicolette. Mel’s cousin had made
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