Eva’s heart chugged in her chest. After Alex’s good guess
about her virginity, she couldn’t imagine what he had in
mind as payback, but she did know she owed him. So when
he asked her to meet him at the stables at midnight, she
hadn’t argued. She’d simply enjoyed the dinner, keeping
up Alex’s pretense that their chance meeting that
afternoon had sparked an instant attraction. Then she’d
said polite goodbyes to the king and his new wife and Dom
and his wife, before she walked her mom back to their
quarters, changed into jeans and a lightweight sweater
and headed for the stable.
The moon rose high in the sky. A faint ocean breeze lured
her down the cobblestone path. An island in the
Mediterranean, Xaviera had January temps that were much
warmer than the climate of her country, which was nestled
between Finland and Russia. If she were home right now,
she’d be wearing boots and a parka and battling a winter
wind to get to her stables.
She reached the big stone-and-wood building and entered
through a door on the side. Though the stable was the
cleanest she’d ever seen, the earthy scents of horse, hay
and leather hit her. She glanced down the long row of
stalls and saw Alex standing in front of the last one,
petting the nose of his Arabian, Thor.
She strode down the aisle.
Alex heard her and smiled. “So you’ve come to dicker.”
“I didn’t come to negotiate anything. I came to see what
my payback will be for you saving me tonight.”
He laughed. “It’s odd to hear somebody say that. Usually
I’m the one who has to make amends.”
“Quite a reputation my future husband has.”
“Actually, that’s the point. The best way you can pay me
back is to not marry me.”
She gasped. “I have to marry you!”
He bobbed his head, as if thinking through her comment,
then said, “Not really.”
“We have a treaty!”
“Made decades ago.” He caught her gaze. “Were you mature
enough at age four to commit to someone?”
He knew the answer to that so she said nothing.
“Of course, you weren’t. And then we pulled the rug out
from under you. The prince you were supposed to marry is
now married to someone else. You’re not getting the
prince who was promised to you. You’re not even getting
the good prince, the one who will someday be king. You’re
getting second-best.”
She looked at him, wearing a T-shirt with the front
tucked into nice-fitting jeans, with his dark curly hair
casually messed, and those intriguing brown eyes. For a
beat of time, she wondered if she really was getting
second-best. Dominic was handsome in the perfect,
straitlaced way. This guy? Alex? He was rough-around-the-
edges gorgeous. A sexy bad boy. And all hers in a few
months—
She swallowed hard as strange tingling sensations cruised
through her.
She ignored them. When all was said and done, this was
about duty. Oil and safe passage for their tankers
trumped which prince she would actually marry. And
needing to make herself look strong and loyal to her
country trumped both of those.
“I don’t have a choice.”
He walked toward her. “Actually, I read the agreement and
the treaty. You might not have a choice. I might not have
a choice. But we have a choice. If both of us decide not
to marry, we can nullify it.”
She gaped at him. “Nullify a treaty? Just because you
don’t want to marry me?”
“I don’t want to get married at all. And we wouldn’t be
nullifying the whole treaty, just that one clause.” He
sighed. “Look, I rescued you tonight because it’s not
right that somebody as pretty as you are should be
perceived as an also-ran, the woman who didn’t make the
cut.”
Her pulse slowed, then speeded up again. Forget all about
Dominic dumping her. Forget about the treaty. Alex
thought she was pretty? He was one of the most eligible
bachelors in the world and she was a woman whose dad had
tossed their family into an unfathomable scandal. Alex
should be running from her as fast as his feet would take
him. Instead, he thought she was pretty? Too pretty to be
known as the princess who didn’t make the cut.
“But I’m not anybody’s knight in shining armor.”
He hadn’t mentioned her father’s betrayal, or the fact
that she’d soon become a queen, but she was well aware of
both and the consequences. Alex might not want to rescue
her, but he was her only option to show her subjects that
her family still remembered their call to service.
She lifted her chin. “Like it or not, you have to be
mine. Or your country is in violation of our treaty.”
“I told you we can—”
“No! My father disgraced us enough! I have to prove I
will do my duties!”
His eyes narrowed. His full lips pursed. “You’re refusing
my plan.”
“Yes.”
He stepped closer. Instinct told her to step back. Common
sense told her he’d see that as a sign of weakness. So
she held her ground, looked him in the eyes, as he
circled her, inspecting her as if she were his next
purchase. Waves and waves of chill bumps trickled down
her spine.
“Why would a girl as pretty as you are want to marry
someone she doesn’t really know?”
“I told you I have to—”
“Prove you’ll do your duty,” he interrupted her. “Got it.
And I believe that’s part of it.” He stopped at her side
and slid his hand under the thick lock of hair that fell
over her shoulder to her breast. Running the silken
strands through his fingers, he said, “I would think
you’d be eager to find somebody your own age. Maybe
somebody who shared your interest in land mines and
whatnot.”
“First, I’m not part of the land mine fight. Second, you
are my age. Five years isn’t that much of a difference.”
He flipped the strand of hair over her shoulder, and the
tingles that rained down on her when his fingers brushed
her skin nearly made her shiver.
“So you like me?”
“I didn’t say that.”
He smiled knowingly, stepped close. “Just attracted
then.”
“To you?” She’d meant for it to sound like a scoff. It
came out as a squeak.
“Or maybe you’re simply not clear about what attraction
is. Being a virgin and all.”
If the feelings tumbling around her right now were
attraction, then he was correct. This crazy combination
of fear that he’d touch her again and longing to feel his
fingers graze her skin totally confused her. Her chest
was tight. Her body wanted to shiver. Even her lips
tingled.
“I’ve had boyfriends.”
“So you wouldn’t mind if I kissed you.”
“As a way to get me to drop the idea of marrying you? How
badly do you kiss?”
She’d barely gotten the word kiss out of her mouth before
he grabbed her by the shoulders, drew her to him and
planted his lips on hers. The shock of it buckled her
knees. His arm fell to her waist, anchoring her against
him as wave after wave of warmth flowed through her. But
as quickly as he’d yanked her to him, he released her.
She stared at him. Her nerve endings glowed like the
sparks from a Roman candle. She couldn’t quite get air
into her lungs.
He grinned.
Not sure what to say, what to do, she fell back on
dignity. As haughtily as possible, she said, “I’m still
marrying you,” before she turned on her heel and walked
out of the stable.
Head high, she marched up the cobblestone path so afraid
he was following her that her neck hurt from fighting the
urge to look behind her.
When she reached her quarters, she breathed a sigh of
relief, though her hands shook and her knees still
wobbled.
Her mother awaited her on the sofa. “So how did it go?”
How did it go? In twenty seconds, he’d reduced her limbs
to jelly, and no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t
get her heart to stop thumping.
“He doesn’t want to marry me. He says if we both say we
want to step away from the marriage, that section of the
treaty will be nullified.”
Her mother gasped. “Oh, no! Our family has disgraced our
country enough! You have to do something to prove you’re
still loyal enough to the crown to do your duty!”
She fell to the sofa beside her mom. “I know. I told him
that.”
But convincing him of her duty was only part of her
problem. One twenty-second kiss had thrown her for a
loop. Made her feel hot and cold. Changed her breathing.
Given her chill bumps. When she’d pictured marrying
Dominic, the images were warm and sweet. When she thought
of marrying Alex, the images became hot and steamy.
And, oh, dear God, she was not a hot and steamy girl.
“Our family has been respected as leaders of Grennady for
centuries. But your father has put us in a precarious
position. You cannot look weak or wishy-washy. You cannot
walk away from a treaty mere weeks before you become
queen. The press will crucify you. Your entire reign will
be tainted.”
Eva’s brain tried to pay attention to her mom but
couldn’t. She couldn’t stop thinking about how
experienced Alex was and how little she knew. How did a
virgin please a playboy?
Her mother grabbed her hands. “You’ve got to marry Alex.”
Her chest filled with anxiety. There was no good option
here. If she returned to her country without marrying
Alex, it would appear she had no respect for treaties. If
she married Alex, she was so far out of her depth she’d
most likely make both of them miserable.
“I don’t think he’s going to give up on trying to get me
to bow out.”
“Then you have to make him like you.”
Right. Leave it to her mom to reduce this to something
that sounded simple but really wasn’t.
She took a breath. “How exactly do I do that?”
“Flirt. Compliment him. Women have been doing it for
centuries.”
Every woman but Eva. In high school, she’d only dated
boys who were friends. As an adult, she gone out with men
who knew she was promised to a prince and would have
thought it odd if she flirted. Worse, Alex had probably
been flirted with by the best. If she got it wrong, or
was clumsy, she’d make a fool of herself.
Still, she didn’t have options. She had to go through
with this marriage. Plus, it would be months before the
actual wedding. There was time to fix this. Time for him
to get to know her. Time for her to learn to flirt.
She just had to stop being smart with him and treat him
with respect—And Google flirting.
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