Crown Jewels (Off-Limits Romance #1)(59)

Unfounded, the logical side of me reminds this dumbass side.

But right then, Lucy stops on our wooded trail and points to a little painted sign. “Hot springs? We can go to hot springs?” She’s grinning like a little fucking kid. I find myself nodding, smiling back at her.

“You want to go there?”

“Hell yes!” Her brow rumples. “Wait—how hot are they?”

“They’re not very hot, actually. A little warmer than lukewarm. Kind of like a bath, but not a hot tub. Maybe they should be called warm springs.”

“No—that’s perfect.” She grins back at me as she drags me up the springs trail. Her eyebrows are wiggling. “Can we get in? We’ll both behave ourselves and just relax and watch the sun go down. Oh my God, is that it up there?” She points to the terrain up above us. “That little vein of water near the top of that mountain?”

I nod. “It winds around the peak and makes a pool.”

“Oh my goodness, that’s amazing! This is seriously paradise.” I see the shadow flit across her features as the words fall from her mouth. As if it might upset me that she’d call the island where I lost my mother paradise.

“It’s beautiful,” she amends, squeezing my hand. “I’m grateful that you brought me here.”

“I don’t come often, but I wanted to bring you.” It’s kind of awkward confessing that, but it’s the truth. I wanted Lucy to see this place.

In the past, if I ever do come here, it’s just for a couple of hours, and I’m by myself. I come here to think of Mum and feel alone. I only do it every other year or so.

Lucy tugs me closer, till we’re walking almost shoulder to shoulder.

“I was wondering at first if this was where you brought all the ladies. I imagine you have girls come and hang out around the castle pretty often.”

I press my lips flat, giving her a poker face—not because it isn’t true, but because it is. Suddenly, I wish it wasn’t.

“Sometimes,” I hedge.

“It’s okay.” Her hand squeezes mine. “I know I called you a manwhore, and I thought of you that way. And I don’t know how you are with them—maybe you are. But I like you, Liam. That’s not all there is to you, and I can see that now that we’re friends.”

It makes me feel so fucking good, the way she says it. Lucy’s fingers stroke my hand, and she leans against my arm as we walk.

“I haven’t had a guy friend in a long time,” she says softly.

Fuck. I want to ask if that’s because of him—that sick fuck, Bryce Parsons—but I’m afraid of upsetting her.

“That surprises me a little,” I say instead.

“Because I’m so much fun?” She gives me a silly grin.

“Yeah. Because you’re fun. And beautiful. You’ve got this whole…this thing going.” She seems so real. “It’s like…you’re honest. I don’t know. I can’t explain it.”

“With you I am. I’m not trying to impress you or seem like I’m somebody I’m not. Probably because of how things started off between us.”

“That night at Dec’s?”

She nods.

I squeeze her hand. “I like it that you’re this way around me.” It makes me feel different, too. Like I don’t have to be anyone specific when I’m with her. “A lot of girls aren’t like that.”

“I’m sure they’re not. Do they all want to be your princess?”

I shrug. “I guess.”

“I’m sure that’s got to get tiring.”

“It does,” I say, and I’m surprised to realize how much. I’ve tried to make it fun these last few years, to live it up, especially after what happened earlier this year, but… “It is tiring.”

Lucy snuggles up against my arm again. “You’re a real boy, Liam, not just a prince. Is that right?” She sounds like she’s teasing, but her face is sympathetic and sincere.

“I’m a man,” I tell her with a smirk.

“You better cut down on sexy comments. I’m trying to keep my chastity in tact, you know.”

“And I thought I was the slut here.”

Her mouth falls open. She punches me in the arm. “I can’t believe what you’re implying. No manners, Prince Liam. None at all.”

I shrug. “Isn’t that your forte? Southern girl.”

“It is. And I have excellent manners.”

“Do you?” I tease.

“Abso-freaking-lutely.”

We’ve been walking uphill for a while. I can see the summit clearly now. “You keep your composure in any and all situations? Stay polite?”

“Of course I do. I’m a Southern belle.”

“That right?”

“That’s so right.”

“Okay.” I smirk, and give her a look that lets her know something is coming. When we crest the top of the trailhead a minute later, looking over the steaming springs and the mountain behind them, I scoop Lucy up, toss her over my shoulder, and bolt down the path toward the water.

Lucy’s shrieking, banging on my back. I hold onto her tightly, taking her down into my arms when we reach the dock and swinging her around in a circle.