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“Seven am.”
“I would have thought you would be fishing by now.”
He doesn’t answer but gestures with his chin. “How is the burn?”
I pull at the strap of my tank top and examine my shoulder.
“Hm. Not angry red like last night. You probably will not blister,” he says.
“Good to know, Doctor. What’s on the agenda today?”
“For you? Resting indoors,” he says.
I pout. “But I thought you would show me how to fish today?”
“That can wait for another day. And besides, I’m out of fish bait. And with the news chattering about my disappearance, I don’t want to go into town.”
That’s an easy thing to solve. “I can order you fish bait from the grocery store, and they can deliver it,” I say.
“Why do you insist on making me operate in the 21st Century?” Sigurd asks.
“Because it’s fun to watch you squirm,” I say.
This gets me a chuckle, which I find gratifying.
“It’s going to be very sunny again, so you’re staying in the shade,” he says.
“Boring,” I say.
“It’s one day out of a two-week vacation,” he replies. “We’ll go outdoors tomorrow.”
Wait a minute. “We?”
Is that a smile playing on his lips? “You didn’t think I was going to leave you alone, did you?”
I blink at him. “Well…yes.”
He snorts. “Right. Because I can trust you to be still and take care of yourself? Because as soon as I go exploring, I won’t return to find you getting yourself into trouble?”
I think about how to answer this. If I say yes, I can take care of myself, it means I’m so independent that I don’t need or want him hanging around. If I say I’m not to be trusted alone, I seem like a damsel in distress. I don’t know which angle to take here, honestly.
“I really liked how you taught me to clean a fish. So, if you refuse to take me out onto the lake to teach me how to fish or teach me how to swim because you think I need to stay out of the sun, then maybe you can show me how to fend off a bear so I’ll be safe on my own while you’re out…doing whatever it is you need to do. And I’ll stay here and order you some nightcreepers.”
“Nightcrawlers.”
“Still a terrible name.”
The prince stares at me for a moment, then heaves a sigh, the kind of sigh that I’m getting used to hearing from him. I’m not mad at it.
“I’m not going to teach you to fend off a bear.”
“Shoot,” I say with a pout.
“If a wild animal sees you, he’s likely to run away anyway.”
“Sigurd.”
“Ah, shit, maybe I shouldn’t have told you that. Knowing you, you’ll probably immediately run up to a fox and try to pet it.”
