Will this runaway royal ever find her place…and true love?
All Princess Catherine Zara of Lysianna wants to do is attend
college like everyone else her age. So she’s a royal and requires a
security guard to move about in public, but if she goes to
university, she doesn’t have to marry the man chosen for her. He’s
not her true love, so why torture herself? All she has to do to get
her life started is to run away to the US…
And then she meets Luke.
Luke Cobb wants to survive college with a degree in studio art and
guarantees that he can show his paintings in the local galleries.
All he needs is the right break to get his work mainstream and the
right woman to stoke his dormant muse. When he meets Zara, he’s
smitten and his creativity sparks.
Except, she’s a princess and he’s a commoner, which could be a big
problem…
Excerpt
Once alone, she picked up her sketch book and pencil before heading
back out to the balcony. She left the door open and sat on the bare
concrete. The world glittered below. Sure, there had been danger in
Lysianna. People robbed one another and many lied. The same ones
found guilty tried to appeal to her father for leniency. Campus life
wouldn’t be much different. People would be rotten to one another
and they’d try to steal—boyfriends, girlfriends, supplies, grades…
It was life and the world wasn’t perfect, but she didn’t mind as
long as she had a chance to experience it. Her eyes were open
concerning school, but she still loved the romance of being so far
from home and meeting new people. The variety! Not everyone would
bow to her and some might not notice her. What a concept!
She spied the tall, dark-haired man on his balcony. He held a cup of
something. Coffee? Tea? Something stronger? She scooted over on her
own balcony to watch him. He stood barefoot and clad in nothing but
pajama pants. Was this his post-sex look? She sort of hoped so.
He wrapped both hands around the cup and rested his elbows on the
railing. Worry knotted his shoulders.
She could see his face finally. He seemed handsome. Dark eyes and a
killer body. Strong, muscled…she wondered if he’d finished the
drawing from before and if he’d slept with the model.
She shivered. She’d never slept with anyone of the opposite sex and
the times she’d slept with Corinne didn’t count because they’d
actually slept. No sex involved.
She opened her sketch pad and created a list.
While I’m at university, I want to:
*be kissed properly
*buy a cheeseburger
*see a rock band play a concert
*have sex & lose my virginity
*have sex with a handsome man
She tapped her pencil against her lips as she debated the next item
for her list.
*to meet the tall, dark and handsome artist downstairs
*to model for someone (nude?)
*to attend a real party
*to fall in love
She snorted. Love wouldn’t happen. Not for her. Before things got
that far, she’d be found out. The law of averages wasn’t in her
favor. If her stepmother didn’t tell someone she’d arrived at the
college, Corinne would let the secret slip.
Still, she could dream.
Besides, the list was only one of dreams. It wasn’t like she’d
created a checklist to live by. She’d come to the college to get an
education, not fall in love. Even if she wanted to be with someone
and experience those aspects of life, she had to finish her degree
first. She’d paid the money to attend and refused to waste the
chance—even for love.