The Prince's Bride (Modern Fairytales) Page 7

  A laugh escaped her. She couldn’t help it. He quickly lifted his head, as if the sound of her laugh had jarred him. She cut herself off immediately, because he was looking at her as if he’d seen a ghost. “What?”

  “Nothing.” He swallowed hard. “It’s just…your laugh. It’s haunted me all these years, and hearing it now…it’s as beautiful as I remembered. Maybe more so. Just like you are. You’re stunning, Alicia. Absolutely stunning.”

  “Oh. Uh…thanks.” She sat still, unsure of why his soft words affected her so deeply, so fully, but unable to deny that they did. Her heart warmed, and her cheeks flushed, and she couldn’t look away from him. “I don’t know if yours is the same or not. You haven’t really laughed yet. Not a real one. When’s the last time you did?”

  He frowned. “I don’t know. It’s not exactly something I keep track of.”

  “Of course you don’t.” Because that wasn’t what was important to him. His own happiness—why should that matter to him? She had a feeling he was always far too concerned with everyone else to worry about himself. And for some reason, that bugged her.

  It shouldn’t, but it did. She shouldn’t care. Dammit. In many ways, she felt kind of sorry for him. He’d given up any semblance of a normal life in order to serve his country. There was something to be said about that, no matter how mad she was at him.

  Weird that he didn’t know about the airport. She’d bet he remembered every bad thing he’d done in the last ten years. “When’s the last time you let someone down?”

  “Three days ago,” he said quickly. “When I brought you here against your will.”

  Well, crap. That was a good answer. “You could fix it. You could set me free.”

  He tightened his grip on his scotch and tossed it back without a sign of hesitation. “No. What’s done is done. I can’t let you go till we see this thing through. It’s in the books now. Recorded in history. Unfortunately, and I hope you believe me, there’s no way out of this.”

  She sat forward, her heart squeezing tight. “Wait a second. You’re telling me I’ll be forever remembered in your history for the fact that I had sex with you in a bar and was held in the castle afterward?”

  He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Uh…”

  “I could kill you right now,” she growled.

  “Understandable,” he said slowly, eyeing her as if watching for any sign of her actually attempting to do so. “But instead, how about we eat, and you tell me more about Baker.”

  She pointed a finger at him. “Don’t try to distract me from this mess with offers of a contract once this is over. It won’t work.”

  “I didn’t offer a contract of any sort,” he said immediately. “I told you, I won’t lie to you. Don’t think my agreement to discuss your company, or my guilt over detaining you, will make me agree to a business deal. I don’t let business and pleasure interfere with one another like that.”

  “So you mean, you don’t have sex in nightclubs with all the women who come to your country to present cases to you?”

  Flexing his jaw, he rested a hand on her knee possessively. “You know I don’t. That was just because it was you.”

  She trembled at the feel of his hand on her. It was too much. “Please don’t think—”

  “And you have every right to be angry, but I can’t be upset or regretful over something that brought you back into my life. Clearly, someone intercepted your letters—”

  She snorted.

  “And despite your inability to believe that, I’ve thought about you a lot over the years, and you’ve always been special to me. I would like to take this time to get to know you, to see if maybe we can be friends again. Perhaps we could let the past go?”

  So many things ran through her mind in that moment. The way they’d met, and how handsome he’d looked at the skating rink in Rockefeller Center on that long ago night. How he’d made her laugh back then, and how she’d done the same for him, and how sad it made her that he’d forgotten how to laugh in her absence. How happy and safe she’d been when he held her close and kissed her sweetly, and how she hadn’t felt safe like that ever since. She’d been so sure he was her soul mate, no matter how young they’d been at the time, that he was the love of her life…

  And she’d been devastated to find out she was wrong.

  She’d sworn after Brian died to never let someone in her heart again, to never love someone enough that losing him would destroy her, and Leo was a threat to that promise. If anyone could make her forget the pain, the reasons she kept to herself and never let anyone in, it would be him. And she couldn’t afford to let that happen.

  Not again.

  “No.” She pushed his hand off her leg, even though her heart screamed at her for rejecting him, for refusing to give him a second chance. Even though every fiber in her body begged for him to do more than comfort her. “I don’t want to be your friend, Leo. I just want to go home and forget this ever happened.”

  Liar.

  His touch was burned in her memory for all time. The way he’d made her feel as he caressed her skin, and how full she’d been with him inside her. How perfectly his lips had fit over hers as he made her come alive in his arms.

  She’d never forget any of that.

  Not in a million years.

  He stiffened and then stood. “Well, then, by all means, I’ll leave. I’ve already forced my home upon you, so I won’t force myself any longer. Good night, Alicia.”

  No. Don’t go. Stay. She lifted a hand, not meeting his eyes. She stared at the fireplace instead. It was safer. “Night.”

  Without another word, he headed for the door. With his hand on the knob, he hesitated and then turned back to her. “Alicia?”

  Reluctantly, she gave him her full attention. The pain she saw in his eyes, the emptiness, struck her like a punch to the gut, and damn him, she ached to stand up, pull him into her arms, and make it all go away. It was like he was silently calling to her, and she couldn’t ignore it any more than she could stop breathing. “Yeah?”

  “I am sorry that someone ruined what we had. What we shared together was—is—very special to me. So are you. And you can rest assured I will get to the bottom of this and find out who hurt you with those letters, one way or another.”

  She swallowed, not saying anything.

  And he left her alone in her room…

  Just the way she liked it.

  Riiiiight.

  Chapter Nine

  Knock, knock, knock.

  Leo stiffened and set his pen down on his desk a little too roughly, staring at his office door as if he could murder the intruder with nothing more than the force of his glare. After last night’s failed attempt at regaining Alicia’s friendship, and the endless hours of insomnia that had followed, he wasn’t much in the mood for company, or idle chat from a guard who couldn’t read his frown well enough to know he was in no mood for such things. He’d locked himself in his office all day, with strict orders that he wasn’t to be disrupted.

  Yet, here someone was.

  Fucking disrupting him.

  “Enter,” he called out curtly.

  The door cracked open, and his father peeked his head in. “Are you busy, son?”

  “No, of course not.” Smiling, he shook off his bad mood and stood, motioning his father into the room with a sweeping gesture. “I’m never too busy for you, Father. Come in, come in.”

  The older man came inside, shutting the door behind him and letting out a small sigh. “Did you meet with the princess?”

  Leo sighed, too, pinching his nose. “Yes. She was lovely, as promised. But, as I said, I’m not ready to commit to a marriage of convenience. Not yet.”

  His father sighed. “I’m not getting any younger. And the Princess of—”

  “Are you so sure about that?” Leo cocked a brow. “I heard you beat Lord Marshall in an intense tennis match yesterday. The man is younger than me.”

  The king waved a hand. “Luck. Nothing more.”<
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  “Well, I’ll continue to count on that luck to keep you around,” Leo said, straightening a pile of papers on his desk. “At least until I find the perfect wife.”

  His father sighed. “I’ve been warned you are in a foul mood. Is this true?”

  “It is.”

  “Why?” his father inquired, coming across the office slower than he normally would have.

  Leo rubbed his jaw and came around the front of the desk, perching on it. His father sat in the leather chair he’d had placed for visitors, settling in carefully and looking every inch his age in that moment. It took all Leo’s self-control to keep his hands to himself and not assist his father. “I didn’t sleep well last night. Couldn’t shut my mind off.”

  “And did something trigger this night of unease?” he asked, his voice soft as he rubbed his wrinkled forehead. “A woman, perhaps?”

  Leave it to his father to be spot on, like usual. “I spoke with Alicia again.”

  And she confused the hell out of him, in more ways than one, again.

  “Ah.” The other man nodded. “I take it the conversation did not go as expected?”

  “Oh, it went as expected.” Leo let out a small laugh. “I expected it to be a failure, and it was. She has no desire to get to know me again, not after I brought her here under duress, and not after I betrayed her.”

  His father frowned. “How did you betray her?”

  “She thinks I left her sitting at an airport, from what I can tell.” Leo sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I have no idea what happened there, or how she got letters from me that I never wrote, but I can’t fix something I never did in the first place.”

  “I see.” His father nodded slowly, looking far too worried for a problem that wasn’t even his. “She told you as much?”

  “Yes. Over dinner.”

  “Then you need to try harder,” his father said, tapping a hand on the arm of the chair. “Do something to win her over to your side.”

  “Or I could let her go, and hope that someday she can look back on me fondly, despite my attempts at keeping her here against her will,” he said drily, knowing that even that was a far stretch. “I think that’s the only wise course of action at this point.”

  “You know it’s too late for that. Our customs—”

  “Are sexist and outdated.” He gripped the edge of the desk so tightly his fingers ached. “And you know it as well as I do.”

  “True. But it is what it is. She’s not the first woman to suffer her fate, and she won’t be the last, I’m certain.” Father shrugged. “Your own mother—”

  “Was once in her shoes. Yes, I know.” He gritted his teeth. “She was from our country, and understood our customs. Alicia does not.”

  His father stood, wobbling slightly. “You still like this woman?”

  Leo hesitated, but nodded, watching his father closely for any other signs of unsteadiness. It wasn’t like him to show his exhaustion so clearly. “Of course.”

  “Maybe she’s the woman you’re waiting for?” his father asked slowly, rubbing his forehead again, as if he had a headache. “The woman you intend to marry?”

  He liked Alicia, sure. But enough to marry her? To give up his freedom? To relinquish the one thing that was actually in his control, because his father said so?

  Nope. Not happening.

  He wasn’t ready for that.

  “She’s not a princess,” Leo pointed out, latching on to that one fact. “Are you so desperate to see me married off that you’ll forget your rich Princess Genevieve plan?”

  That was the princess his father really wanted him to marry. She came from a country that had loads of money and a huge army.

  Not that they needed either. Randovia was healthier than most of its European neighbors, because his father was brilliant and a great king.

  A legacy Leo hoped like hell to live up to.

  His father shrugged. “If it gets you settled? Yes.”

  “No,” he gritted out, tired of this same argument they’d had a million times. A million and one, now. “I’m not getting married. Not yet. I need to focus on this country and learning how to run it. I don’t need anything else distracting me.”

  “And yet you still wish to court Alicia?”

  Leo barely refrained from rolling his eyes at his father’s outdated term for what he felt for Alicia. “I like her, and I enjoy spending time with her, and want to be her friend. That’s all.”

  Well, that wasn’t all.

  Every time he talked to her, or saw her, or even thought of her, the desire he felt for her grew more and more insistent. If he wasn’t careful, it would consume him. He’d love to get her in his bed again and see all the ways she’d changed underneath those tantalizing dresses and loose, flowing shirts she always wore. If he regretted anything, it was that it had been too dark to see a damn thing in that hallway.

  If he had it to do all over again…

  “Then think of what made her like you, and vice versa, and then recreate it,” his father said, interrupting his thoughts. “And after you try again, bring her to me. I wish to dine with both of you tonight.”

  “I don’t know if she’ll come,” Leo warned.

  “She’ll come. Just tell her I requested to see her…” He pointed a shaking finger at him. His face was ashen, almost gray, and he looked exhausted. “After you do something romantic intended to win her over, that is.”

  Leo hesitated, but really, what did he have to lose?

  She already hated him, so he might as well try. And he’d agree to pretty much anything his father asked, as long as it got him in bed. “All right. I’ll do my best, but only if you go take a nap while I’m out being ‘romantic.’”

  The older man shook his head. “I’m not tired.”

  “I don’t care. You nap, or I don’t try harder.” He paused a beat. “And I don’t meet that other princess tomorrow, the one that you slipped into my schedule without telling me, even though you’re clearly pushing for Princess Genevieve.”

  Holding his hands up, his father winced. “Very well, then. I’ll nap.”

  “Good.” Leo pulled him in for a tight hug, clapping him on the back. “Have you heard back yet from the former head of communications about those letters Alicia received?” Leo asked him.

  “No.” King Henry frowned, his face going even more ashen. “Not yet. But don’t worry, we’ll find out what really happened, soon enough, I’m sure.”

  He forced a smile. “Thanks, Dad.”

  His father stepped forward and winced, pressing a hand to his chest. Leo started to reach out to help him steady himself, but the stony stare he shot his way stopped him. “I’m fine. Stop worrying about me and go get your girl instead. I’m not getting any younger, you know. And I’d like to hold a grandchild in my arms before I die, whether it’s through a princess or an American.”

  Despite his worry, Leo rolled his eyes. “I’m not marrying Alicia, Dad.”

  “We’ll see, son,” he said, grinning. When he smiled, his blue eyes sparkled, and he looked younger than his sixty-three years. “Now, do something that would impress me. Make this forced nap worth it, or you’ll answer to me.”

  As he left, Leo picked up the phone and made a quick call. It was just after five in the evening, so it was a bit of a stretch to pull off what he planned at this hour. When he was done, he left his office, and as he climbed the stairs, he nodded at servants and workers who he passed, smiling at each one in turn and greeting them by name. His father taught him at a young age to learn a man or woman’s name and never forget it, because a man who couldn’t remember his employee’s names was not a man worthy of running a country.

  It was a lesson he’d never forgotten.

  As he approached Alicia’s door for the second time in as many days, he knocked immediately. The door swung open. This time, when she saw it was him, she didn’t slam the door in his face. She didn’t look happy to see him, either, but still.

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  “What now?” she asked, frowning.

  “We’re going out, that’s what.”

  She stood straighter. Despite her casually disinterested expression, he saw the flare of excitement in her eyes before she hid it. Just like he saw the way she checked out his body, her cheeks flushing delicately as she looked at him again. “Where are you taking me?”

  “You’ll see when we get there.”

  She licked her lips and glanced down at her black Converse sneakers, tapping the heels together nervously and tucking her long blonde hair behind her ear. It took all of his control to keep his hands at his sides instead of pulling her into his arms. “But where—?”

  He held his hand out, locking eyes with her. “Come with me if you want to find out.”

  Her cheeks flushed even more at the reminder of the words he’d spoken to her the night they made love, and his gut tightened into a tiny ball in the bottom of his stomach. If only he could show her just how much that night had meant to him, some way, some how. She would forever be the one who got away, but he didn’t want her to go away yet. And he wasn’t sure how he felt about that reluctance.

  “Leo…” she said as if she would protest.

  “Come on.” He wiggled his fingers, shooting her a dark, seductive look that made her inhale a deep breath and hold it in. “You’ve got to be bored out of your mind in that room all by yourself. Let’s go live a little, maybe knock something else off that bucket list of yours.”

  She hesitated. “I actually like being alone, just for the record.”

  “I promise not to bite.” His gaze drifted down to her red lips. Fuck, he needed to see if she tasted as good as he remembered—because that didn’t seem possible. “Unless you ask me to.”

  She snorted, but her pupils dilated before she shook her head and stepped back. “Not gonna happen.”