at the idea.’
He liked the fact that she’d clearly thought this through. Though it also surprised him that Indigo Moran had such a deeply conventional side, given the dress she’d worn last night. ‘And that bothers you? I thought you had a reputation for being a free spirit.’
‘Which isn’t the same as being reckless and stupid,’ she said. ‘What do you expect me to do—jump into a lake and pull you in with me?’
He laughed. ‘Point taken. No, I don’t think you’re stupid.’ He paused. ‘So can I watch you work, today?’ he asked.
She looked surprised. ‘Are you really interested in glass, are you being polite, or are you just bored and at a bit of a loose end?’
He liked her plain speaking. But either they could spend all day fencing, or he could come clean. Given how little time he had left here, he chose the latter option. ‘It’s an excuse to spend time with you. And I have a feeling it might be the same for you, too.’
She looked wary. ‘I’m not so sure that it’s a good idea.’
At least she hadn’t denied that she wanted to spend time with him. So he could be just as honest with her. ‘I know it isn’t a good idea,’ he said softly.
She said nothing, just looked even warier.
‘If I wasn’t who I am, would your answer be different?’
‘Probably,’ she admitted.
‘Do you have any idea how refreshing it was yesterday,’ he said, ‘to have someone backchat me and treat me like a normal person, for once?’
‘Poor little rich boy,’ she said, folding her arms and giving him a pointed look.
He grinned. ‘And you’re still doing it. I like you, Indigo. I think you like me. What’s the harm in two people getting to know each other?’
‘As you pointed out yesterday, you’re used to the paparazzi following you. You have a security team looking after you. You’re not just a normal person. If anyone wants to get to know you, or you want to get to know someone, then the whole world will know about it.’
‘This is a private house,’ he said.
‘Which is open to the public,’ she reminded him.
‘Who won’t be expecting to see me—they might think, oh, that man sitting by the table over there looks a bit like that Prince Lorenzo guy, but they’ll think no more than that.’
‘What if they do recognise you?’
‘They won’t,’ he said confidently. ‘It’s like when that famous violin player busked on the metro in Washington DC a few years ago, playing a Stradivarius. People weren’t expecting a famous musician to be busking on the metro with one of the most expensive instruments in the world, so they didn’t recognise him and hardly anyone stopped to listen to what he was playing. It’s all about context.’
‘You,’ she said, ‘are just used to getting your own way all the time.’
‘Not all the time.’
‘Did you get an A star in persistence lessons at prince school?’ she asked.
He laughed. ‘There isn’t such a thing as prince school. Besides, you know very well I went to the same school as Gus.’
‘In a different country, and when you were still very young,’ she said thoughtfully.
‘Not as young as you were when you went to boarding school—I was eleven.’ And how he’d missed his family. Thought it had been good practice for his stiff upper lip. ‘I know this is crazy,’ he said. ‘I just want to spend a bit of time with you. I have a free day, but I know you’re working, so maybe I could make myself useful. Kind of multi-tasking.’
She scoffed. ‘You’re telling me that a man can multi-task?’
‘Don’t be sexist.’ He grinned at her. ‘I learned how to multi-task at prince school.’
She laughed, then. ‘Says the man who claims that prince school doesn’t exist.’
‘They’re not formal lessons, exactly, but over the years I’ve been taught about the importance of diplomacy and how to...’ He wrinkled his nose. ‘I was going to say, how to handle people, but I think you might take that the wrong way.’
Her blush was gratifying. ‘Yes. I would.’
‘I don’t mean manhandle,’ he said softly. ‘That’s not who I am. I’m not expecting you to fall into my arms because I’m about to become the King of Melvante. But I can’t stop thinking about you. And I think it’s the same for you, too. That kiss, last night...’ He paused. ‘I don’t behave like that. I don’t usually act on impulse and I definitely don’t do insta-lust. I’m pretty sure you don’t, either.’
‘No.’ Again, she blushed. Telling him that maybe, just maybe, it was different with him.
‘It would be sensible if we just stayed out of each other’s way. But I can’t do that. Something about you...’ He blew out a breath. ‘OK. I’ll shut up and stop distracting you now.’
‘Maybe,’ she said quietly, ‘if you wear goggles, that’ll be enough to disguise you. And you need to wear goggles anyway if you’re going to be on this side of the rope. I don’t want you to get a glass splinter or dust in your eye. And you need gloves, too, if you’re going to work with me.’ She reached under her table and rummaged around in a box. ‘Try these.’
They fitted perfectly. Which was a sign, of sorts, he thought. ‘They’re fine.’
‘OK.’ She handed him a pair of protective glasses, and he put them on.
‘What do you need me to do?’ he asked.
‘Help me clean the lead cames. That’d be easy to teach you.’
‘I’d like that,’ he said. It was so far away from his normal life that it really was like having a rest.
He watched her work, fascinated by how neatly and quickly she worked to remove the stained glass from the leads without damaging the fragile glass or the soft metal. And he noticed how she labelled everything before putting it in a specific place and then photographing it.
‘I assume that’s to be sure everything goes back in the right place?’ he asked.
She nodded. ‘Plus I’m documenting everything that I do, so the next time the glass needs work the restorer will know exactly what I’ve done and how.’
Her work was methodical, neat and efficient. She was good at giving instructions, too; when she showed him how to clean the leads, she gave him an old piece of lead from her box of tricks under her desk so he could practise first, and corrected his technique without making him feel stupid. Lorenzo liked the fact that she was so direct and clear.
And when the house opened to the public, he discovered that Indigo was far from being the socially inept nerd she’d claimed to be. She was seriously good with people; she was patient, charming, and he noticed that she assessed them swiftly so she could work out whether they wanted a quick and simple answer, or if they’d prefer a longer and more detailed explanation.
Lorenzo noticed how patient Indigo was, never once making her questioners feel stupid or a nuisance. If anything, she went out of her way to make them feel appreciated.
Funny, all the formal training he’d had in diplomacy didn’t even begin to approach this. Indigo was a natural with people, warm and open, and the rigidity of boarding school clearly hadn’t left its mark on her. Lorenzo knew that she could teach him a lot, just by letting him shadow her. And maybe if he could focus on that, on the way that Indigo could help him prepare for his new role, it would stop him thinking of her in a different context. One that would cause too many problems for both of them.
*