turned as a stranger came in.
He must have been over six feet tall, with midnight-black hair that gleamed eerily by the candlelight. His eyes looked dark, though she couldn’t be sure, and a hint of shadow on his jaw gave him a shadowed look, like a character in a book who could be either good or evil.
Amy swallowed. “I’m sorry, the store is closed.” She felt behind her for the letter opener on the desk.
“I’m not here to shop,” he said, his voice deep and deliberate. He had just a hint of some sort of accent. “I’m looking for someone—”
She thought fast. “Oh, you must be Allen’s hunting buddy. He’s in the back getting his guns together for your trip.” She moved around the desk, hoping the stranger didn’t notice her shaking hands and jelly legs. “I’ll just go get him.” She could go out the back door, she decided. The police station was only two blocks away. Someone would be on duty, and she could bring whoever it was back with her.
She was almost to the door when the man said, “I’m looking for Amy Scott.”
She stopped and turned around. “Why?”
“Are you Amy Scott?”
She glanced at the door, then back at the man, who had not moved since he’d come in. He wasn’t advancing on her. If she needed to, she could almost certainly outrun him, if only because she had several yards’ head start. “Who wants to know?”
He stepped closer. “But you are, of course. Your face…it’s unmistakable.”
She automatically lifted a hand to her cheek. “Have we met?”
“No, I don’t believe we have.” His mouth curved toward a smile but didn’t quite make it. In the flickering candlelight he looked the way she’d always imagined Sir Lancelot—a deeply handsome face, sensuous mouth, intelligent eyes, but a stature that implied such power that he was almost intimidating. Almost.
He moved toward her and gently lowered her hand from her face. “My God, you’re even more beautiful than I’d imagined.”
Her heart hammered in response to his touch, even as her brain told her to back off and be prepared to call the authorities in case this was some crazy guy off the street.
“You tried to imagine what I’d look like?” she heard herself ask.
“All my life.”
Though the door was closed, when the wind lifted again outside, Amy imagined she felt it finger through her hair and tingle down her back. “Why?” she asked, standing her ground by the back door. “Who are you?”
“Forgive me,” he said, smiling the kind of thousand-megawatt smile usually reserved for movie stars. “I’m not explaining myself very well. I am,” did he hesitate? “Franz Burgess. I am in the royal service of the Crown Prince of Lufthania.”
“Lufthania?” Last year she had spent a frustrating month trying to locate a travel book on Lufthania for the Bradleys, a local couple who were always looking for unusual and obscure travel destinations. She had been unsuccessful in finding a book, but she’d learned just enough about the small Alpine country to pique her curiosity.
“You have heard of Lufthania?” he asked, not necessarily surprised, but he watched her with keen interest.
“Just barely. Who did you say you were?”
“I am secretary to the Crown Prince. Looking for, well, you might say a long-lost relative.”
Amy raised an eyebrow. “Then you must have taken a wrong turn somewhere. There’s no royalty here.”
“Don’t be so sure.”
“Oh, I’m sure.” The lights flickered on and Amy said a silent thanks to the Chesapeake Electric Company. “Oh. That’s better.” She blew out her candles and felt more confident now that the power was on.
That is, until she looked at Franz Burgess and saw what the candlelight had barely revealed.
Her first crazy thought was that he was one of the most handsome men she had ever seen. It was that simple. His eyes, which had held so much expression even in the dark, were so vibrant a green that it seemed as if light came from inside of them. His hair was wavy and haphazard, a rich chocolate brown touched with auburn lights from the same sun that had tanned his skin.
He was a little bit younger than she’d initially thought, perhaps in his mid-thirties. Faint lines bracketed his mouth and fanned out from the corners of his eyes, but rather than aging him, they gave his face just the ruggedness it needed to keep from being too pretty.
“As I was saying,” he said, “I’m here in the prince’s service, looking for a lost relative.”
“A lost relative,” she repeated flatly. “Of royalty.” She stared at him for a moment before asking, “Are you an actor?” That would explain the slick good looks, the smooth delivery of an absurd story. Someone had hired him as a practical joke.
He looked puzzled. “I beg your pardon?”
“Did one of my friends send you here with this crazy story?” That had to be it. Someone remembered her search for books on Lufthania and thought it would be funny to resurrect the place.
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I,” she said. “My birthday isn’t for two months.”
“On the contrary,” he said, his gaze even. “Your birthday was the day before yesterday.”
The silence that followed was brief but shuddering.
“What are you talking about?” Her nerves went tight. “My birthday is in almost two months. January twenty-ninth.”
He gave a short nod, as if he knew better but wouldn’t bother with such small details right now. “Let me explain why I’m here. Why I’ve been looking for you.”
“You have.”
He nodded. “For a very long time, actually.”
A tremor rumbled through her. “Okay, what do you want? Special orders can take several weeks, you know.”
“I’m not here to order anything. My business with you is personal.”
Gooseflesh rose on her arms and she ran her hands over them. “What personal business could you possibly have with me, Mr. Burgess?”
His gaze was steady. “What I’ve come to tell you might seem unbelievable to you, but it’s true, and I believe you’ll consider it very good news.”
Amy’s muscles tensed. “So what is it?”
He glanced at her desk. “Perhaps you should sit down.”
“That doesn’t sound like good news.”
He smiled. “Sometimes good news can make you weak in the knees as well.”
She
