JENNIE
It didn't take long to get to the little bookshop. Apparently Lisa had found out from Jimin which one I was talking about. She got out of the car and opened the door for me, which I was starting to get used to. A bell chimed when we entered the store and I took a deep breath, enjoying the smell of all the books. I might love my e-reader, but I'd never pass up the chance to browse real books.
The woman behind the counter greeted us in Lilarian before doing a double take. She dipped a quick curtsy and I tried to not be disappointed that even after our sneaky exit, I was still Duchess Kim.
"Your Highness. Duchess Kim." She gave us a small smile. "Can I help you with something?"
"Jennie wanted to find some gifts for friends back home."
"I saw your store while I was out earlier today and wanted to come back." I looked around the open area we were standing in. There were rooms and hallways that appeared to go farther back into the building. "I've always had a difficult time turning away from a bookstore."
"We're happy to have you." She motioned toward the bookshelves. "We have a large selection of books, new and used. Many are in English. There are rooms toward the back with older books. We also have an assortment of the more standard souvenirs, including some pottery my sister makes."
"Thank you." I smiled at her and headed for the books. I ran my hands over the spines. She had a lot of the most recent best sellers. I stopped on a copy that had a Signed sticker and pulled it off the shelf. It was the UK version of Fall Guy by Luz. I tucked it under my arm and kept looking. Somi would love this one. We'd read the American version months ago. I browsed the shelves a little more and found an interesting book titled Inhale, Exhale by Sandy. I grabbed that one for myself. It was set in the States and looked like it would be pretty steamy.
I left that room and wandered down the little hall and peeked into some of the doorways. A room with old, leather-bound books drew me in like a moth to flame. I took a deep breath, enjoying the musty smell of the old pages. Lisa followed me into the room and drifted down one of the aisles to the side. I stopped to stare at some of the names on the spines. I didn't recognize all the authors, but I hesitated when I hit the A section. I scanned the books carefully, looking for one name in particular.
When my eyes landed on Austen I gulped and carefully pulled the volume off the shelf. Gently I opened the book and checked the publication date. Eighteen thirty-three. It wasn't a first edition, but that was okay. There wasn't a price tag, which was intimidating, but I couldn't walk away from the book.
"What is it?" Lisa looked over my shoulder.
"Pride and Prejudice."
"What year?" She looked over my shoulder at the title page. "First edition?"
"No." I closed the cover carefully. "But my mother always wanted an old copy of Pride and Prejudice. It was her favorite book."
"We could keep looking. Maybe the owner has one, or knows of someone that does."
"I need to ask how much this is—there isn't a price tag." I turned the book over and then checked over the binding. "I only checked out of habit. I've never seen one this old. Mom would have gone gaga."
"Then get it." Lisa moved so she was leaning against the bookshelf.
"It's probably very expensive." I bit my lip.
"Get it anyway." Lisa shook her head. "You should do something nice for yourself."
"Buying an ice cream cone or new shoes would be doing something nice for myself. This book probably costs more than some people spend on groceries for a year."
"If you don't buy that book, I will." She stood up straight and held out her hand.
"What? I don't need you to buy it for me." I pulled the book against my chest.
"Who said I was going to give it to you?" she smiled and took a step toward me. "Maybe I have secret love for Fitzwilliam Darcy. I also need to get a gift for someone who would love it."
"If I can't have it, no one can." I narrowed my eyes in mock threat.
"Is that so?"
"You'll have to pry it from my cold, dead fingers." I backed into the bookshelf behind me.
"Maybe I just need to distract you long enough to steal it." She put a hand on the shelf by my head.
"And how do you plan on doing that?" I licked my lips.
"I have a few ideas." She moved her other hand, caging me in, and leaned down.
I clutched the books to my chest and my heart beat against them like a drum. Lisa brought her mouth close to mine but stopped a centimeter away. I inhaled her scent and fought my urge to close the distance. Slowly she moved her mouth to my cheek, close enough that I could feel her breath wash across my skin. Her journey continued down my jaw and to my neck. My head tilted of its own accord, letting her have better access. One of her hands moved from near my head to just beside my waist, the sleeve of her jacket brushing against my arm.
As she moved from my right side to the left, I tilted my head again, my body alive with anticipation. I wanted her to kiss me. Needed her kiss, and I was near my breaking point—no more waiting. Her other hand slid down from the shelf and closed on my waist while she took a step closer, pressing her body against mine. She brought her head back up and looked into my eyes.
"I want to kiss you, Jennie." She took a deep breath and moved a little closer. "But I'm not going to kiss you again until you ask me to."
"What?" I jerked my head back at the same time she pulled the book from my arms. "Hey!"
I made a grab for the book but she held it above her head. Embarrassment and anger flared through my system. She had gotten me all worked up just to steal my book? The book I wanted so badly?
"You jerk!" I grabbed at her arm and tried to pull it down, but she was too strong.
"You can tempt me all you want, crawl all over me, but I meant what I said. I won't kiss you again until you ask me to." Her eyes sparkled with her own frustration. "I've made it clear what I want. You need to decide."
I stopped and looked at her. "You were right. This is difficult."
"And I plan on doing my very best to get what I want."
"C'mon. Let me get the book." I changed the subject. The truth was, what I wanted was quickly outweighing my concerns.
"Nah uh. I got it fair and square. I was looking for a gift for a friend."
"Fair and square? You stole it out of my hands."
"I did, didn't I?" she smiled with pride.
"Fine." I still had my other two books, so I hadn't lost everything. I marched out of the back room and to the counter to pay for my selections.
The shop owner asked how I was enjoying Lilaria and if I'd read any of mylalisanity's books before. We chatted about the author and then I moved so Lisa could buy her book. When she announced the total, my eyes almost popped out of my head.
"Thank you. I have a friend who will really enjoy this." Lisa calmly handed over a credit card and smiled when she handed her her bag.
"My pleasure, Your Highness. I hope you both enjoy the rest of your night." She dipped a quick curtsy as we left.
"Where to now?" Lisa opened my door.
"I don't know. I didn't even think we'd be able to come here without being followed." I set my package in my lap while she took her seat. "What is there to do for fun around here?"
"There's the movies."
"Too many people." I shook my head.
"Then I guess the clubs are out." She raised an eyebrow.
"Definitely." I frowned. "What about a museum?"
"Too late. Most of them are closed by now." She narrowed her eyes. "We could go to the zoo."
"No, thank you." The thought of running into Jeremy made me cringe.
"That's right, you've already been. There was a very nice picture of you and Jeremy in the paper saying you're going to work together."
"What? I didn't see that and—wait a minute. Are you jealous?" I twisted in my seat to look at Lisa. It was sad but the thought brought a little bubble of excitement in my chest. "Nice segue there with the whole zoo option."
"Should I be jealous?" She turned away from me and started the car. "You have made it very clear that you want someone normal, to be out of the spotlight. And Jeremy would love nothing more than to have a royal girlfriend."
"Hey! First of all, I don't want anything to do with Jeremy." I didn't mention that he'd made passes at me. "Second of all, we're in your ex's car, which is a really weird place to be having this conversation. And thirdly, I don't want someone normal, I want to be normal. To be just me. Not Duchess. Just Jen."
"You're not just anything." Her voice rose a little and she snapped her mouth shut for a minute. She pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward the city. "You're not just anything. Even 'just Jen' is something special."
I looked at her as my heart slammed in my chest. I wanted to say something, anything, but my mouth was frozen. Fear ran through my body and my mind wrestled with my heart. I wanted Lisa. I was scared of what that would mean, where it would lead.
I opened my mouth and shut it. I opened my mouth again and closed it. Neither of us said anything else, just rode in silence. I had no idea where we were going, but I didn't ask. Lisa eventually pulled into a small restaurant that wasn't too busy.
"Let's grab some dinner." She got out of the car and walked around to my side. I climbed out and followed her inside. Everything was in Lilarian: the sign, the menu, the words on what I thought were ketchup packets.
The man behind the counter said something friendly to Lisa and then to me. We had covered basic greetings in the car, so I tried to say, "Nice to meet you." The man chuckled and her smile grew.
"Nice to meet you, too," he responded in English.
Lisa looked at me and shook her head. "We might need to hire a professional. You just said, 'Nice to leave you.'"
"I'm sorry." I grimaced.
"They're very close words." The man motioned toward the back of the place. "Have a seat. I'll bring you some drinks."
"Thank you."
Lisa picked a booth in the back and pulled her jacket off. I set mine next to me in the booth and tried to not fidget in my seat. Lisa passed one of the menus to me.
"Thank goodness there are pictures." I stared at the images in relief.
"I wouldn't let you order something nasty."
"Sure, sure."
"Well, not too nasty." She laughed and it eased some of the tension gripping my shoulders.
"So, this is the burger joint Ryujin was talking about?" I let my gaze drift over the pictures and tried to pick apart some of the descriptions. "Laitu?"
"Lettuce." She set her menu down. "And yes, this is the best burger in Lilaria. I thought maybe after this week you could do with some familiar food."
I smiled because she was right. We ordered our food and went back to working on my Lilarian. I was seriously lacking in the language department.
"I feel like I'm trying to cram before a final."
"Cram?" she raised an eyebrow.
"You know, pull an all-nighter studying. Cram in as much information as possible before the big test." The waiter deposited our food and whisked off to another table.
"Ah." She picked up some fries.
"I'm really unprepared."
"I think we need back up." She frowned. "If we had more time, you'd pick it up just fine, but it wouldn't hurt to have someone with more practice helping you."
"What about the bargain? I won!"
"I'll still help."
"Oh, no. You're not getting out that easy. I want the picture."
"You don't even know what I was working on." She laughed.
"Doesn't matter. A bet's a bet."
"Okay." She took a sip from her water.
"Okay?" I frowned. "Just like that?"
"You're right. I can't hold up my end of the bargain, so I have to do something else." She polished off the rest of her burger while I watched her.
"All right." I took another bite of my food and thought about it. "What is it of?"
"You'll see."
"You're frustrating."
"I warned you."
I rolled my eyes. She had said I'd either end up hating her if I didn't end up in her bed.
People at the restaurant had started to recognize who we were and had turned to look at us. Lisa threw some money on the table and stood up. She pulled her jacket on and held her hand out to help me stand up.
"Time to get out of here."
We took a scenic route around the city and Lisa pointed out some of the places we hadn't seen the other night. After a while we ended up back at the palace. The guard nodded us through the gate and Lisa parked back by the kitchen while I tried to guess what she had been sketching.
"It's a bird."
"No." She shook her head.
"A plane?"
"Not a plane and not Superman either." She held the kitchen door open for me.
"Kai with devil horns?"
She laughed. "Now that would have been a good idea."
We made our way through the kitchen and to my room and I looked down the hallway. "Maybe we should go get the drawing now so you don't try to back out."
"Are you trying to find a way in my room?" Lisa asked.
"If that's what I was looking for, I'd just drag you into my room." I bit my lip. Her eyes focused on my mouth and I thought about asking her. Asking her to kiss me. Asking her to come into my room. Asking her to let me get lost in her.
"You'll have to wait. I sent it out to have it framed."
"Oh. I didn't realize it was something you wanted to keep." I looked away from her. "You don't have to give it to me if it means something to you."
"I want you to have it."
I touched the necklace and looked up at her. "Thank you for tonight. It's the first time I've felt like myself since I got here."
"Be you, Jennie. No one can ask for more than that."
I stood on my tiptoes and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. I lingered for a moment, breathing in her smell before turning and going into my room.
When I closed my door, I leaned against it and took a deep breath. I was in trouble.