Taming the Prince (17 page)

“I mean…” He sighed fitfully. “Look, do you think you could see yourself spending your life with a guy who’s not noble?”

She smiled. “You’re noble, Shane. Whether or not you’re a prince has nothing to do with that.”

“But I mean… Could you be with a man who’s just a regular guy?”

She shook her head. “No, I’m afraid not.”

He looked stricken by her response. “You couldn’t?”

“No,” she said again. “Look, I’m sorry. But I’d rather have someone like you.”

Now he looked confused. “What…?”

Sara laughed, certain now that they were both on the same wavelength, even if Shane was still at sea. “I don’t want a regular guy, Shane. I want a special one. I want you.”

He seemed to think about that for a minute, then, very slowly, he began to smile. “Oh. Okay.” Then he turned grave again. “But what if I end up being king?”

“Then you’ll be a special guy who wears a crown to formal functions,” she told him. She rose up on her elbows, wanting to meet him eye to eye when she said what she had to say. “I don’t care
what
you
do,
Shane, whether you’re ruling a country or hammering a nail into a piece of wood. I care about
who
you
are.
And who you are is…” She smiled. “Extraordinary.”

He grinned, obviously relieved. “Is that all?”

“No,” she told him. “You’re also the man I love.”

He reached up to cup her cheek in his palm, his eyes filled with longing and promise and love and…so much
more. “I love you, too, Sara,” he told her solemnly. “So whattaya say? Will you marry me?”

“And be your queen?” she asked with a smile.

He nodded. “Not that my kingdom comes to much,” he said. “I’m reasonably certain I’ve lost my job at the construction site, and chances are slim that I’m going to be the once and future king here in Penwyck. So, really, my domain is pretty much a one-bedroom rented condo in Malibu, and a vintage Jeep Cherokee. Oh, I do have a really bitchin’ Yater surfboard, though. There are people in high places who would
kill
to own that.”

Sara laughed. “I’ll make protecting it my first assignment when I go to work for the California Security System.”

Shane arrowed his dark brows down in concern. “I thought you had a job waiting at the RII. Which, now that I think about it, will mean you have a helluva commute to work every morning if you agree to be my queen and co-monarch.”

She shook her head. “I think I can safely say that my future at the RII has been compromised before I even started there. Besides, after the grilling and skewering I got this afternoon about our Black Knights adventure, I think I can safely say I have no desire to work for the RII anyway. I’d much rather accept the job I was offered earlier this year by one of my professor’s former students. She’s a high-ranking official with the CSS, and she needs someone to work in the L.A. office whose specialty is counterterrorism, which, what do you know, just so happens to be the focus of my studies.”

“Well, my, my, my. Isn’t that convenient?” Shane asked.

“Yes, isn’t it?”

“So you’ll be the queen of counterterrorists, and I’ll be the king of the unemployment line.”

Sara laughed harder. “Sounds like a match made in heaven.”

“Or, at the very least,” Shane said, “a match made in Penwyck.” He pulled her close again, and lifted his head to cover her mouth with his. “I love you, Sara Wallington,” he said as he pulled away. “No matter who or what you turn out to be.”

“And I love you, Shane Cordello,” she readily replied. “No matter who or what you turn out to be.”

And as they drew together for a kiss to seal the bargain, they both knew that
that
was really the only thing that mattered.