Tess couldn't remember the last time she had been this excited about a date. The arranged dates she had had to go on were something she dreaded, one of the guys had been 15 years older than her. Her father was not at all happy about that one, but her mother explained that there was no obligation, it was a courtesy, honoring a request from a neighboring planet. But tonight, a cute guy was taking her out because he was interested in her, not her title or her connections to Voltron.

Tess slipped her feet into the yellow pumps and stood up, running her hand over her stomach, trying to soothe her nerves. She really wanted things to go well tonight.

"Tess?" Dana knocked on the door.

"Come in."

"Oh, Tess, you look terrific!" Her aunt gasped. "That dress is just beautiful."

"Thanks." She twisted her hands together nervously.

"Sweetheart, do you think this is a good idea?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I adore Griff, really, I do. But should you be getting involved with someone when you're only staying for a few months?"

Tess had thought about that, briefly, before pushing that thought aside. "Um, yeah, I had thought of that. This is just an evening out with a friend, let's not get ahead of ourselves."

Dana looked her up and down. "That's how you dress for an evening out with a friend?"

"This is how princesses dress for an evening out with a friend," Tess said jokingly.

"And what does Griff think about spending an evening with a princess?"

"He, uh, he might not know."

"What do you mean?"

"I've been enjoying just being Tess, not Princess Tess."

Her aunt sighed. "Just…just be careful, Tess."

She thought her aunt's warning was a little melodramatic, but before she could respond, the doorbell rang.

"Tess!" Harry called up the stairs. "Griff is here."

"Have fun," Dana said.

"Thanks."

Griff stood on the front porch dressed in a pair of black slacks, light blue shirt and a black sports coat. Tess grinned when she saw him as his mouth fell open, it was just the reaction she had hoped for.

"You look amazing," he told her.

"Thank you."

"I feel a little underdressed, like I should go rent a tux."

She laughed. "I'm a little disappointed that you didn't."

He took her hand. "Maybe next time."

"Where are we going?" She asked as he led her down the front path to the silver car parked at the curb.

"I'm hoping you like Italian," he said, holding the passenger door open for her. "I'm taking you to my favorite restaurant, Lucia's Bistro."

"How did your meeting go?" She asked after he settled in next to her.

"Great. I got the loan, if they accept my offer on the house and the inspection goes well, we'll close in a couple of weeks."

"That's incredible, really it is. You have achieved so much in such a short amount of time."

Griff shook his head. "It wasn't me, it was my Uncle Flynn."

"What do you mean?"

"The pub was always his idea, I remember him telling me about it when I was a kid."

"Why did he open it here?"

He grinned at her and winked. "It's an old story, he followed a woman to America."

"Oh, really?"

"Yup. He followed her to Philly, but it didn't work out. He found Houten and saw the potential. "

"And you followed him."

"Mm hm."

"What about your family?"

Griff glided to a stop at a red light and glanced at her. "My father took off not long after I was born, so it was just my Ma and me, Flynn was her older brother. My mother passed away seven years ago."

"Oh, Griff, I'm so sorry." Tess couldn't imagine not having her mother in her life.

He took her hand and squeezed it gently. "Thanks. It was breast cancer and she suffered, she's in a better place now." He dropped her hand so he could shift when the light turned green. "Anyway, I finished school and Flynn told me he found where he wanted to open his dream pub and he offered to fly me over. He got me a job as a bartender where I worked for two years learning the tools of the trade. I quit about six months before Flynn was set to open so I could work full-time helping him prepare."

"What happened?" Tess asked quietly.

"A massive coronary. He was healthy, or we all thought he was, this came as a shock to all of us. For a couple of weeks, I was at a loss, but I had been working so hard with him to bring the pub to fruition, I decided the best thing I could do to honor him would be to continue his work."

"How old were you?"

"24."

"And you were able to just take over with the vendors and the bank?"

"I had a little help. Iona has over 32 years of experience in the restaurant business and she co-signed everything with me."

"That's so nice of her."

"She believed in the pub. She and Flynn were…close."

"Oh."

"Yup." Griff turned into the parking lot of a small restaurant set back from the street and partially hidden by trees. "She wasn't the woman he followed to the States, but she was the reason he stayed."

"And the pub has been successful?"

"We weren't expecting to turn a profit for two years, we did it in a year and a half. I was able to hire two more servers this year."

"That's wonderful," she said as she opened her door. "It is a great restaurant."

"Thanks, I'm pretty proud of it. Obviously, Flynn was going to be the business manager, I just kind of fell into that job, which is why I need you."

"Speaking of which," she said as he held the door to the restaurant open for her. "Thank you. I have some ideas I came up with this afternoon for better organization of the liquor inventory."

"No. We're not going to talk work tonight. And you've only worked for me for two days, slow down." He approached the hostess. "McManus."

"Of course, follow me." The hostess took two menus from beneath her station.

The restaurant was small and intimate. Their table was covered with a crisp white tablecloth and a small candle flickered in the center next to a bud vase holding a single red rose.

"Your waitress will be with you momentarily," the hostess said as she handed them their menus. "Enjoy."

"This place is lovely," Tess whispered when they were alone. "What do you recommend?"

"I don't think you can go wrong with anything here. The lasagna, manicotti, and the chicken saltimbocca are all wonderful. But I like to try something new every time I come."

"Oh, do you come often?"

"Well, if you listen to the town gossip, I date a different woman every night, so I probably come here three times a week."

"Griff, that's not what I meant."

"Running your own business doesn't leave you a lot of time for dating. Do you have a wine preference?"

"I'll let the pub owner pick the wine."

"Good evening, my name is Nina and I'll be your waitress tonight." A young woman appeared at their table, setting a basket of warm bread down before listing that evening's specials. "Can I get you a drink while you look at the menu?"

"We'll take a bottle of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano."

"Very good," Nina said as she made a note on her pad. "I'll be right back with your wine."

Griff looked up at Tess and saw her grinning at him. "What?"

"There is just something very charming about Italian words said with an Irish accent."

He laughed. "I knew I would eventually charm you. And I knew it would be the accent."

Tess found herself glancing over the top of her menu at him and thinking about what her aunt had said. If she was completely honest, she would admit that she was falling for him, fast.

Nina arrived and set wine glasses in front of them. She poured a small amount of wine in Griff's glass and waited for him to taste and approve the selection before pouring Tess's drink. She took their meal orders and slipped away.

"So, tell me about the brewpub," Tess said, taking a sip of her wine.

"This was just an idea Flynn and I had tossed around a bit, brewing had become a hobby of mine. Some mates and I dabbled in it in school and came up with some real crap. Luckily, I've practiced and gotten better."

"I'd hope so. Tell me about the house."

"Oh, it's just too perfect to be true. It went on the market last month and I sprang into action. It is huge and old, it has a lot of good bones, which is important, we'll begin demolition as soon as we close."

"What demolition are you planning?"

"Nothing on the outside, there is a huge porch where I am going to set up outdoor seating. But inside, there is a lot of work to be done."

Tess unconsciously leaned closer. "Like what?"

"Uh, well." Griff looked around before reaching inside his jacket. He pulled out an envelope and a pen. Setting the envelope on the table, he started sketching as he explained. "The kitchen is not big enough. We're going to be knocking down the wall and extend it into the dining room and bringing in professional grade equipment. Which leaves the front parlor, living room, and the study, where we'll be setting up tables, I want to keep the charm and the built-ins. The walls of the study are lined with bookshelves, I'm going to keep those. We should be able to seat between 75 and 85 people. The best part of the house is the huge basement, I'm going to set up the brewing down there. Upstairs I am turning the master suite into an office so I can move out of the storage closet in the pub."

"How long until you can open?"

"Oh, we have a lot of work ahead of us. I'm thinking next summer at the earliest, more likely in the fall. I'm hoping to have the brewing equipment set up by this fall. I want to brew and sell my beer at Flynn's for a while before the brewpub opens."

Tess watched as he absentmindedly doodled Love Knots all around his rough sketch of the house's blueprints. He seemed to do it unconsciously, the pen moving smoothly, swirling and twisting ink into a perfect knot. She felt a funny tingling in the pit of her stomach and she unconsciously brushed the index finger of her right hand over the watchband on her left wrist.

As though he suddenly became aware of what he was doing, Griff stopped drawing and stuffed the envelope back in his jacket. "Sorry about that. Like I said, it's something I doodle. But no work talk, tonight." He took the bottle of wine and poured a little more in her glass. "Tell me something about pretty Tess from Arus that I don't know."

"Oh, uh, okay." Tess took a drink as she tried to decide what to do. It didn't feel like the right time to tell him she was a princess, the daughter of a powerful, famous couple. "Did you know I am the middle child of six children?"

A look of surprise crossed his face. "No, I did not know that, you had mentioned twin brothers. I can't even imagine having five brothers and sisters. What's the breakdown?"

"Three brothers, two sisters. Now, tell me something I don't know about Griffin McManus."

"I play the piano. What are your brothers and sisters named?"

"The oldest is Cady, then the twins, Declan and Gideon, then me, then Charlotte and Nick. Where did the name Griffin come from?"

"My mother's maiden name. What about Tess? Family name?"

"No, just a name my parents liked. What did you study in school?"

He grinned and took a sip of his wine.

"What?" She asked.

"Literature."

"You studied literature?"

"Mm hm."

"How's that helping with the running of a pub?"

"Seems to be working out all right. If my mother had had her way, I would have gone to the seminary."

"I'm not going to lie, I'm glad she didn't get her way."

Griff laughed. "Oh, pretty Tess from Arus, there is something positively bewitching about you."

"Bewitching? That might be the best compliment I've ever received."

He reached across the table and laid his hand over hers. "It's the only word I can think of to properly describe the effect you've had on me. I can't seem to get you out of my mind."

Tess laced her fingers through his. "Really?"

"Really."

"Chicken saltimbocca?"

Tess looked up. For a moment, she forgot they weren't alone. "Oh, uh, thanks."

Griff thanked the waitress when she set his steak pizzaiola in front of him.

They spent the next hour enjoying their meal and talking about whatever came to mind, from books to movies to music, everything except work. By the time Nina came back to see if they wanted dessert, Tess knew without a doubt she was completely in love with him.

"The tiramisu here is amazing," Griff said.

"Oh, I don't think I could eat any more."

"Want to split one?"

"Okay, sure."

"We'll take one tiramisu and two forks," he told the waitress.

"All right, I'll be right back with that."

"What are your plans this weekend?" Griff asked when they were alone.

"Tomorrow night Paige and I are going to Flynn's for the live music."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"I'll put your name on the list, then."

"The list?"

"You won't have to pay the cover charge."

"Do you get a big turnout?"

"Fridays and Saturdays, especially in the summer, are very busy. Tomorrow night The Oblivious are playing, they're local and they're very popular, so you guys might want to get there early if you want a table."

Nina moved the candle aside and set the dessert between them. "Enjoy."

"Just know that I'm not ignoring you, I'll be behind the bar and busy."

Tess shook her head. "You don't have to entertain me."

"I know, but I'd like to see you."

"Will you be busy all day?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I want to go over the new inventory ideas I have."

"Save it for Monday, we'll make it through the weekend with the old system. Try the tiramisu." He cut into it with his fork and offered it to her.

Tess allowed him to feed her. Her eyes rolled back in her head as soon as it hit her taste buds.

"I know, right?" Griff chuckled.

Tess slid her fork into the dessert and scooped up a bite. She started to return the favor and feed him the tiramisu, but as soon as the fork brushed his lips she pulled her arm back and ate it herself instead. "Sorry, too good to share."

"That's not fair."

"Life isn't fair. Deal with it."

Thirty minutes later, Griff pulled up in front of Tess' aunt and uncle's house.

"I had a really good time tonight," she told him as she unbuckled her seatbelt. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome. I had a great time too. Would you like to do it again sometime?"

"Yes, I would."

He reached up and gently touched her cheek with his fingertips. "Don't worry about working again until Monday."

Tess nodded, unable to find her voice as he touched her.

"I'll look for you tomorrow night," he whispered as he leaned closer. "But I can't promise I'll be able to talk to you until 2 am."

"I know."

Griff stopped just a breath away from her lips. "I'd like to kiss you."

Tess swallowed hard. "I'd like you to."

It was a sweet, gentle kiss full of promise and more than a little bit of longing.

He pulled back slightly and rested his forehead against hers, not saying a word until she opened her eyes. "I'll find a way to talk to you before 2am."

She smiled. "Until tomorrow."

"Until tomorrow."

He sat in his car and waited until she had gone inside the house and turned off the porch light. Tess turned and leaned against the closed door. She was in trouble and she didn't know what to do about. Slipping her shoes off, she started up the stairs. The best thing to do right now was call Paige.