Free The Keys' Prince (The Royal Heirs) by D. D. Scott Page B

put his hand under her chin and tilted up her head so she had no choice but to look into his eyes. “And I’m not saying that, Stella, because I have to take you to Kristianico in order for our plan to work. I want to take you home. I’m looking forward to being your prince.”
    “That’s very sweet of you. Thank you. And for the record, I don’t think I’ll mind being your princess. Living the kind of lives we do is really lonely, isn’t it?” She asked and sighed, her heart heavy with the recognition of just how lonely it was. “It doesn’t matter how many years you do it. That part doesn’t change. It’s nice to be with someone who truly gets that.”
    “You do know that it doesn’t have to be that way, right? You do believe that, don’t you?” Dario asked as he started to open the front door. “Even for people like us, there’s hope. We can find love, too. Once upon a time, long-long ago, we found it. And I’ve never given up on finding it again.”
    Before Stella could find the right words, she heard what sounded like a horse bounding down the staircase behind them.
    Turning around, she came face-to-face with the largest, fluffiest black dog she’d ever seen. Well, not that she could see much of him. He had her almost pinned to the hand-carved oak door they’d been about to open.
    “Wyatt. Get down. You know better than that,” Dario said, peeling the dog’s monster paws off of Stella’s shoulders and trying to coax him to sit down, which he evidently did not want to do.
    “You finally got a dog,” Stella said, dropping her tote bag to the floor and getting down on her knees to wrap the dog in a huge hug. “What a handsome boy he is.”
    “I did finally get one. But he thinks he’s a lap dog. All sixty pounds of him. You know how much I always wanted one, but I didn’t think it was fair to leave him so much while I travel.”
    “Well, what changed? You’re still traveling a lot, I assume.”
    “That I do. But I finally decided that there was no reason I couldn’t just bring him along.”
    “You take this beast everywhere you go? He’s not exactly the size to fit in one of those designer puppy purses.”
    “No. No, he’s not,” Dario said and laughed as Wyatt continued licking Stella’s face and sunglasses. “But he’s sure good company. I even think Stefan enjoys messing with him, which, by the way, means I owe Stefan a huge thank you for bringing him here from the condo I was renting across the bay. The poor boy must have been going nuts because I didn’t come home last night. Not that my staff wouldn’t have spoiled him rotten, but he is kind of a daddy’s boy. Well, he was till he met you.”
    “He’s a Portuguese water dog, right?” Stella asked.
    “Indeed. And as ornery as they come,” Dario said, leading Wyatt by his collar out the front door and doing his best to walk the dog without a leash. “You don’t mind if he goes with us, do you? Just for the r-i-d-e, not to the gardens. He loves to g-o for a r-i-d-e.”
    “You have to spell it out?” Stella asked unable to keep from laughing not only at Dario having to spell it out but at how excited Wyatt was to get to go along. So much for the spelling system. The boy knew exactly the treat he was in for.
    Stella couldn’t hold it in any longer and laughed out loud. It definitely wasn’t Dario walking his dog. Wyatt was walking his master.
    “He’s very smart but a little out of control,” Dario said, doing his best not to trip over Wyatt’s large paws as the dog basically dragged him toward the car.
    “Here. Hold up, Your Highness. I’ve got his leash,” Stefan said, quickly coming toward them with a thick red leash.
    “Have you tried to hold up when you’re walking Wyatt?” Dario asked laughing right along with them.
    “Good point, Sir,” Stefan said, straddling the dog to get his leash clicked into place. “There now. That should be a bit easier.”
    “Should being the operative word,” Dario