Falling For Jack by Christina Carlisle Page A

to Jack. She tried to imagine the palace through his eyes. The massive doors that opened into a marble entrance hall, completely overpowering in its size. Ahead of them was a wide staircase leading to the upper floors. Everywhere the eye could see were long, daunting corridors with walls covered in tapestries and paintings of her ancestors.
    “Rudolf will take you to your suite and make sure your luggage is delivered to you, Jack.” She stood a little away from him on the first landing of the stairway.
    He stepped closer. “I’m impressed so far. Where is your suite?” he asked with a wicked grin.
    She glanced at Rudolf who was standing discreetly nearby and put a finger to her lips in a silencing gesture. “I’ll meet you here at twelve o’clock and we’ll go into lunch together. If you need anything delivered, just pick up the phone in your suite.”
    “I want you. Can I get you delivered by picking up the phone?”
    She lowered her lashes but a faint smile played around her lips. She turned and, with Greta following, made her way to her rooms.
    Two hours later Lara opened the door to leave her apartment. I am really nervous, she thought. What must this being doing to Jack? This poor, gorgeous man, whipped away from his old boat and smelly fish and about to dine with European royalty. Oh help .
    He was waiting for her on the landing where she’d previously left him. Her eyes almost fell out of her head as she stared at the elegant man in front of her. Looking vital and refreshed, his black hair gleamed under the lights of the massive chandelier above his head. He wore a charcoal gray suit that surely must be tailor-made and a pale blue-toned shirt with a darker blue tie. He was magnificent.
    She glanced at her blue-knitted suit and elegant shoes, realizing she and Jack were color coordinated.
    “Smart suit,” she said, by way of greeting.
    “And the same to you, princess.”
    “Um, Jack, when I present you to the king and queen and my brother, you give a slight bow of your head. Okay?”
    “Thanks. Rudolf has already filled me in on the protocols,” he said with a casual shrug. “Are you allowed to hold my arm as we walk down the stairs?”
    She placed her hand into the crook of his arm, feeling the fine material and the steel of hard muscles beneath her fingers.
    “I certainly am. Thank you, Mr. Lucas.”
    ~ * ~
    Jack fidgeted with the knot of his tie. He knew he shouldn’t but he was bored. This informal luncheon, as Lara had called it, had been anything but, and at the end of almost three hours he was decidedly uncomfortable and yes, very bored.
    But, I’ve been well behaved, he thought, allowing himself a small congratulatory smile as the attentive butler poured him another coffee. I have been dutifully polite to King Johann and Queen Francesca and talked about nondescript topics with them and Lara’s brother, Crown Prince Carl . Boring topics such as the weather and how different it was from Australia. Of course, it was bloody well different. Australia was thousands of miles away at the other end of the earth, and as far as he was concerned, it might just as well be on another planet compared to his present environment.
    Earlier he had been greeted warmly by the king and queen, although he’d decided he had better not step out of line. He wondered if they had dungeons here and whether he could be in danger of being locked away for the rest of his life for daring to defile a royal princess. King Johann was a slight, elegant man with a serious, intelligent face. He was quieter than the queen, who appeared to be the diplomat, making sure Jack was warmly welcomed. He could see where Lara had inherited her beauty as in her early fifties, Queen Francesca was still a very lovely woman with a slender figure and noble bearing.
    He looked across at Lara who sat opposite him, next to Carl. She was pale and her face was strained. In fact, he’d found it hard not to keep looking at her throughout the long