How to Catch a Prince

Sophie shook her head. “I’m just a little behind on my coffee. I’ll be ready for anything in a few minutes.”

“If you say so,” Pippa said doubtfully.

“I do,” Sophie said and patted Pippa’s hand. “And thank you for being so caring.”

Pippa insisted that Sophie stay at the palace through the early afternoon. Sophie left as soon as she could, arriving at her apartment and pacing. Could she have died? Was she being overdramatic?

She shook her head from side to side. Truth was that not everyone survived being smacked by a scooter. She could have been paralyzed or worse.

Sophie thought of herself as being stronger than that, though. She was strong enough to overcome this. A little brush with a scooter couldn’t knock her out forever. She’d survived challenges in every country she’d visited. She was a mule.

Max had even referred to her in that manner, and she hadn’t been insulted or disagreed. She was strong, resilient. She could make it through anything. Right? She put her doubts from her mind and watched a television show.

Dinnertime arrived and her cell phone rang. It was Max.

“How are you feeling?”

“Much better. I left the palace a couple hours ago.”

“What can I bring you for dinner?”

Surprised by his offer, she automatically refused. “You don’t need to bring anything. I can pull a box of something from the freezer.”

“I think you could use something better than that. I’ll be over in an hour or so,” he said and hung up.

“But—” she said and sighed. The truth was she wasn’t hungry. She hadn’t been hungry since the accident. If she told Max that, though, he would think she had been terminally injured.

Sophie puttered around her apartment for awhile then sat down on the couch. She leaned her head back for just a few minutes.…

The doorbell jolted her from her sleep. Her heart hammered against her chest and she jumped to her feet. Taking a quick breath, she rushed to the door and opened it.

Max stood in front of her holding two bags, two bottles of beer and a bottle of wine. She blinked. “Wow. What’s all this?”

“Steak, baked potato, salad. Took forever for me to find this in take-out,” he said. “And I’m betting the steak is nowhere as good as we got in Australia.”