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Five

Though Phillip’s leaving had been a blip in her carefully laid plans, the instant his hand slipped around her own, the second his fingers threaded loosely through hers, as far as Hannah was concerned, things were back on track.

Dressed in slacks, a plain white button-down shirt and a caramel cashmere sport coat, he looked casual, but carried himself with an air of supremacy that was almost intoxicating. A woman could feed endlessly off the energy he exuded.

They took a long, leisurely stroll through the gardens and, for the first time since she’d arrived, she felt as though she could finally relax. She had begun to feel as though she were being pulled in ten directions at once. Then Phillip appeared, snapped his fingers and made it all go away. Somehow she knew deep down that, no matter what, he would take care of her.

They walked across the pristinely maintained lawn—she’d seen golf courses that didn’t look this good—in the general direction of the woods bordering the estate.

“Did you have a successful trip?” she asked.

“You mean, did I kill anything?” he replied, and she nodded. “Not this time.”

“What’s in season here this time of year? No, wait, let me guess. You’re king, so you make the rules. You can kill whatever you want, whenever you want.”

He grinned and she felt an honest-to-goodness flutter in her heart. She would call his smile beautiful, had he not been so utterly male.

“I have to follow the laws of the land like everyone else,” he said. “Right now we’re hunting small game and birds.”

“Could I go with you sometime?”

“Hunting?”

She nodded, and he looked genuinely surprised.

“My father and I went every year up until his death.” A knot of emotion rose up and clogged her throat, the way it always did when she talked about him. Losing him so unnecessarily had left a laceration on her heart that, a year later, was still raw and bleeding.

Everyone kept telling her that it would get easier, but the truth was, each day it seemed to hurt a little bit more. For her anyway. Her mother, it would seem, had little trouble moving on.

“You were close with your father,” Phillip said. A statement more than a question.

She nodded, and he gave her hand a squeeze. It was a simple gesture, but it meant everything to her. “He was my hero.”

“It was a car accident?”

“His car was hit by a drunk driver. He was killed instantly. Of course, the other driver walked away with barely a scratch. The worst part was that it wasn’t the first time. He had three prior convictions for DUI and was driving on a revoked license.”

“The laws here are much tougher on repeat offenders than in the U.S.”

“It’s tough enough losing someone you love, but for it to be so…senseless. It’s just not fair.”

“No, it isn’t,” he agreed.

She realized that recently losing a parent was one thing they had in common. “Reports of your mother’s death said she was sick, but they never really specified what she died of.”

“She had cancer of the liver.”

“It must have been quick.”

“She was given six months when she was diagnosed. She only lived three.”

“There was nothing they could do?”

He shook his head. “It was too far advanced.”

She searched his face for a sign of remorse or loss, but there was none. When he spoke of her, he sounded almost…cold. “Do you miss her?”

“I barely knew her.” He glanced over at her. “She was cold, overbearing and heartless.”

Her parents certainly hadn’t been perfect, but she never once doubted their love for her. “That’s sad.”

He shrugged, as though it didn’t bother him in the least. They stopped at the edge of the woods, near the base of a barely perceptible and frightfully narrow path cut through the trees flanked with thick underbrush. “I’d like to show you something.”

“Okay.”

“It’s untended, so watch your step.”

He tugged her along after him, the woods swallowing them up, transporting them instantly into a world that was quiet and serene, and rich with the scent of earth and vegetation. Even the sun couldn’t penetrate the dense canopy of leaves overhead.

“I’m going to assume there are no dangerous wild animals out here,” she said, ducking under a low-hanging branch.

“I assure you, we’re perfectly safe.”

She followed him for several hundred feet, and could swear she heard the sound of running water. The deeper they descended, the louder it became. Finally they reached a clearing and bisecting the forest was a quaint, bubbling brook. It was like something out of a storybook.

“It’s lovely!” she told him.

“My sister and I used to play here when we were children,” he said, releasing her hand so she could investigate. “It was forbidden, which made it all the more appealing. We would sneak away from our nanny and spend hours investigating.”

And so would her and Phillip’s children.

She made her way to the water’s edge, and though it probably wasn’t proper, she couldn’t resist toeing off her sandal and dipping into the chilly water. “You were close? You and Sophie?”

“When we were small. But now Sophie and I are very…different.”

“How is that?”

“You’ll find that my sister is something of a free spirit.”

“She’s independent?”

“That’s putting it mildly.”

She might have been imagining it, but she could swear he sounded sad. Maybe he missed the relationship they’d had. If his mother was as cold as he’d described, maybe they were all the other had.

“I always wanted a brother or sister,” she told him.

“And ironically, I always wished I were an only child. Siblings are highly overrated.”

Somehow she doubted that. “You have a brother, too.”

“Half brother.” His response was so full of venom, his eyes so icy, it gave her a cold chill. Maybe this was a subject best left alone for the time being. She was sure that once they got to know each other, he would open up more.

One step at a time, she reminded herself.

She slipped back into her sandal, a sudden chill making her shiver. Goose bumps broke out across her arms and she rubbed to warm them.

“You’re cold,” he said. He shrugged out of his sport coat and slipped it around her. It was warm and soft and smelled like him.

He arranged it on her shoulders, using both hands to ease her hair from underneath it, his fingers brushing the back of her neck. She shivered again, but this time it had nothing to do with the temperature. At least, not the air. Her inner thermostat on the other hand had begun a steady climb.

It was the way he looked at her, so…thoroughly. As though he wanted to devour her with his eyes.

“I like your hair down,” he said, brushing it gently back from her face. “Promise me you’ll wear it like this all the time.”

“I have so much natural curl that when I wear it down, it tends to look kind of…untamed.”

His mouth pulled into one of those sexy, simmering smiles. “I know. I like you that way.”

Oh, boy, here we go again.

“It wouldn’t be proper.”

“Proper is also highly overrated. Besides, I make the rules. And I hereby decree that, from this day forward, you are to wear your hair down.”

She might have been offended if she thought for a second that he was serious about the royal decree thing. Besides, he was standing so close that the testosterone he was giving off was beginning to short-circuit her brain.

He cupped the side of her face, traced her features with his thumb. Her cheek, her brow, the corner of her mouth. Her internal thermometer shot up another ten degrees and her knees started to feel soft and squishy. She knew it would be best to stop him, but they had connected emotionally today. Physical affection just seemed like the natural next step.

Maybe a bit too natural.

His eyes searched her face. “You’re beautiful, you know.”

She took in a deep breath. “Your Highness, I suspect you’re trying to seduce me.”

“If I am, it seems to be working.” His thumb brushed her cheek. “You’re blushing.”

She didn’t have a snappy comeback for that one. And, oh, how she wanted to touch him. To put her hands on his chest and feel his heart beating, feel the warmth of his skin through his shirt. She wanted to run her fingers through his hair, across his face, feel the faint shadow of stubble on his cheeks.

He brushed his fingers across her cheek. “Your skin feels warm here.”

Probably because her blood was hovering just below the boiling point.

He stroked lower, down her chin and throat, his eyes following the path of his hand. Then lower still, just above the swell of her breasts. It was a move so intimate and sexually charged, and wonderful, that she went weak all over. With desire and fear and curiosity.

He lifted his eyes to hers. “And here.”

“Phillip—”

“I know, I’m breaking the no-touching rule.” He caressed the uppermost swell of her breasts with the tips of his fingers and her knees nearly buckled with the new, erotic sensation. “But as king, I make my own rules.” He leaned in closer, until his mouth was only inches from hers. “And nothing is going to stop me from kissing you.”

Well then, there wasn’t much point in telling him no, was there? Besides, what harm could one kiss do? A real kiss this time. How far could it go, out here in the woods?

“Just one kiss,” she told him, as though his demand even required a response.

He cupped her cheek and mini explosions of sensation detonated under her skin.

She was getting that weak, dizzy feeling again. “Then we stop.”

His other hand slipped through her hair to cradle the back of her head. He lowered his head and she lifted hers to meet him, her eyes slipping closed. Then their lips touched, barely more than a brush, and time seemed to stand still. It was just her lips and his lips, their breath mingling.

It was unbelievably wonderful. So sweet and gentle, as though she were a delicate piece of china he thought he might break. And while her head was telling her it was time to pull away, time to stop, her heart was telling her just a little longer. Because sweet and gentle wasn’t enough for her this time. She wanted more.

Which was why, when Phillip deepened the kiss, when she felt his tongue tease the seam of her lips, she didn’t do or say a thing to stop him. And when she gave in, opened up to him, the kiss went from sweet to simmering in the span of a heartbeat.

He tunneled his fingers through her hair, drew her against the length of his long, solid frame. She couldn’t help but put her arms around him, flatten her hands against the ropes of muscle in his back. It seemed as though her entire body, from the tips of her toes to the crown of her scalp, came alive with brand-new and intense sensations. And there was an ache, real and intense, building deep within her. A clawing need to be touched, in a way that no man had ever touched her before.

It was exhilarating and terrifying, and more wonderful than she could have ever imagined.

As though reading her mind, Phillip let one hand slide down her back to cup her behind. He drew her against him, and she could feel that he was just as aroused as she was. And instead of feeling wary or afraid, she felt a need for more. And she longed for the day when she didn’t have to tell him no.

Unfortunately, that was not today.

She broke the kiss and pressed her forehead against his shirt, felt that his heart was thumping as hard and fast as her own. And said the only thing she could think to say. “Wow.”

A chuckle rumbled through his chest. “Thank you.”

She looked up at him, saw that he was smiling. “It’s not completely obvious that I have zero experience when it comes to this sort of thing?”

“A little, maybe. But I think that’s what I like about you.”

“That I’m inexperienced?” She thought men liked women who knew how to please them.

“That you’re not afraid to admit it. That you embrace your values, not lean on them. You have no idea how rare that is.” He touched her cheek. “Although, I fear your honesty might get you into trouble one of these days.”

“My father always told me, nothing bad can come from telling the truth.”

“In that case, he would have been very proud of you.”

She felt the beginnings of tears prickle in her eyes and laid her head back against his chest, so he wouldn’t see. “You think so?”

“I do.”

He could really be quite sweet. When he wanted to.

“They’re bound to be wondering where we’ve disappeared to,” he said. “We should get back before they dispatch a search party.”

Though she would be content to stand here all day, wrapped up in his strong arms, just the two of them, she knew he was right. And as she backed away, she took heart in the fact that today had brought them one step closer to the ideal future that she knew they would have together. Things were falling right into place.

“Let’s go,” she said.

He reached out and took her hand, laced his fingers through hers and led her out of the woods.

“By the way, I wanted to ask you about something.” She told him about the woman who had been staring at her Monday. “She wasn’t in any of the profiles. I thought maybe you’d know who she was.”

He shrugged. “There were so many people there.”

“She would be hard to miss. Long, dark hair, very beautiful. And she never took her eyes off us.”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

She couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t being honest with her. He’d been by her side the entire day. Surely he would have noticed someone staring. Wouldn’t he? Or maybe, people stared at him all the time.

Besides, what reason did he have to lie? She was probably just being paranoid again.

The walk back to the palace went far too quickly, and when they reached the steps, Phillip’s valet was waiting for them.

“An urgent call from the prime minister, sir.”

“I’ll take it in my office,” Phillip told him, then turned to Hannah. “I enjoyed our walk.”

He was wearing one of those secret, just-between-us smiles, and it made her feel warm all over.

“Me, too.”

“We should do it again soon.”

She had a feeling he wasn’t talking about the walking part. “I’d like that.”

As he started to walk away, Hannah called after him.

“Phillip.”

He stopped and turned to her.

“Would you have dinner with me tonight?”

There was a slight hesitation before he said, “I can’t.”

No explanation, no excuses. No apology.

The sting of disappointment was quick and sharp. Can’t, or won’t? she couldn’t help but wonder as he turned and walked away. Why, after they’d had such a good time together, would he not want to be with her? It didn’t make sense.

You are not going to let this bother you, she told herself as he disappeared inside, then she walked back over to the blanket where she’d left her things. Only then did she realize that his jacket still hung on her shoulders. But even that couldn’t shelter her from the chill that seemed to settle deep in her bones.

They’d taken a huge step forward today. She felt as if they really connected.

Why then, did it feel as though, for every step they took forward, they took two back?

Six

Phillip had just hung up the phone with the prime minister when the door to his office flew open and his sister barged in unannounced.

His secretary stood in the doorway behind her, looking both pained and apologetic. “Princess Sophie to see you, sir.”

Even the most loyal of servants were no match against Sophie. Phillip dismissed her with a wave of his hand, and she backed out of the room, closing the door behind her.

“I see you’re back,” he said.

In lieu of a civilized greeting, she said, “You’re an idiot.”

Obviously she was in a snit over something. He sighed and leaned back in his chair, curious as to what he had done to provoke her this time, and sure he was about to find out.

“Your fiancée was barely here a day and you took off? To go hunting? That was harsh, even for you.”

He wasn’t even sure why she cared. And because he didn’t owe anyone an explanation, least of all her, he didn’t give her one.

“She must scare the hell out of you,” she said.

Instantly his hackles went up, and before he could stop himself, he warned her, “Don’t even go there.”

Leave it to Sophie to know exactly which of his buttons to push. From the moment she was born, she had made it her mission in life to torment him, as sisters often did.

“She’s the real deal. But you already know that, don’t you? That’s why you’re so determined to keep her at arm’s length.”

She couldn’t be more wrong. He was doing Hannah a favor. But Sophie would never understand that. “You’re in no position to give me relationship advice. Who did you run off with the other night, Sophie?”

Her smug smile was all the answer he needed.

“You’re coming to a family dinner tomorrow night,” she told him. “You and Hannah, at my residence.”

“Is that so?”

“It is.”

Though he was inclined to refuse, for no reason other than the fact that she demanded it, he realized it was probably a good idea. Were Hannah to befriend Sophie, she might be less unsettled in his absence. She had looked utterly crushed when he refused her dinner invitation. He liked Hannah, and he didn’t want her to be unhappy. But he couldn’t change the person he was.

“All right,” he told Sophie.

She looked surprised. “Really? And here I was all prepared to pull out the brass knuckles.”

He would have guessed as much. But, after the heated disagreement he’d just had with the prime minister, he simply wasn’t in the mood for another fight. “What time would you like us?”

“Seven o’clock. And bring a bottle of wine. In fact, bring a red and a white. I’m making roast leg of lamb.”

“You’re making it? Well, I’ll be sure to bring a bottle of antacid, too. And perhaps I should put the palace physician on high alert as well. Just in case.”

Pleased that she had gotten her way, she ignored the jab. Besides, she knew as well as he did that the insult was unfounded. She had trained at one of the most prestigious culinary academies in all of Europe, and was an accomplished, gifted chef. It was a passion that had been vehemently discouraged by their parents. But Sophie somehow always managed to get what she wanted.

It both annoyed and impressed him.

“I’ll see you both tomorrow then,” she said.

He kept his face bland. “I can hardly contain my excitement.”

She only smiled.

“Is that it?” he asked.

“I suppose you noticed Madeline on Monday.”

The mystery woman Hannah had asked him about. Of course he’d noticed her. She would have been hard to miss, staring at them the way she had been. “What about her?”

“It would seem she’s back to her old tricks.”

“Forgive me if don’t shudder with fear.” Madeline was of no consequence to him or Hannah, which was why he hadn’t felt the need to explain who she was. She was nobody.

“You know how she can be. Anything to get attention.”

“And confronting her would only feed that need. She’ll get bored and find someone else to antagonize.”

“She could do some damage in the meantime.”

He seriously doubted that. “Is there anything else you needed?”

Sophie shook her head, obviously exasperated with him. “Does your fiancée have the slightest clue how difficult you can be?”

He didn’t respond.

“So, I’ll see you both tomorrow evening?”

“We’ll be there.”

She flashed him one of those cryptic, I-know-something-you-don’t smiles. One that made him uneasy. Then she was gone.

Forget Madeline. Sophie was the one he should be worried about. This whole dinner scenario seemed a bit too…domestic for her taste. Why did he suspect that there was more to this than she was letting on?

Hannah had just finished a quiet dinner alone in her suite, a meal she’d had little appetite for, when Elizabeth knocked on the door.

“You should have left hours ago,” Hannah scolded her. She may have been a palace employee, but for heaven’s sake, she needed a life of her own outside of work. It seemed as though she was always there.

“I was just finishing up a few things,” Elizabeth told her. “I was on my way out when a call came in for you.”

“Who is it?” She was hoping maybe a friend from back home. God knows she could use a friendly voice right now.

“It’s your mother,” Elizabeth said, then added, “Again.”

This was the fourth call since Hannah left Seattle. Hadn’t her mother gotten the message that Hannah wasn’t ready to talk to her? She was still too bitter and angry. It was very possible, if Hannah talked to her in her current state of mind, she might say something she would later regret. Like she had the last time they spoke.

“Tell her I’ll call her back.”

“She said it was urgent.”

She would say just about anything to get Hannah’s attention. To get her to come to the phone.

“She sounded upset,” Elizabeth added.

Hannah felt a slight jerk of alarm. She remembered the last urgent call from her mother. She had been in the university library studying for exams, so engrossed she almost didn’t answer her phone, when it buzzed in her pocket. And when she heard her mother’s distraught voice, her heart sank.

Sweetheart, you need to come home. Daddy was in an accident….

But he was gone now, and she couldn’t imagine anything urgent enough to warrant a return call. “I’ll call her tomorrow.”

Elizabeth didn’t say a word, but she had this look. Not quite disapproval, because a palace employee would never be so bold as to disapprove of anything a royal did or said. It was more the lack of emotion that was giving her away. It was obvious she was trying very hard not to react. Or maybe it was Hannah’s own guilty conscience nagging at her. Either way, Hannah knew exactly what she was thinking.

And she was right, of course. “I know, that’s what I said yesterday. So technically, today is tomorrow. Right?”

“That is true,” Elizabeth agreed.

“You think I should call her, don’t you?”

“It’s not my place to pass judgment.”

Maybe not, but Hannah was pretty sure that’s what she was thinking. And the truth was, her mother wasn’t likely to stop calling. Not until Hannah gave her the opportunity to apologize for her inappropriate behavior these past few months.

Maybe it would be best, to ease her mother’s guilt and Hannah’s, if they cleared the air. And besides, it was what Daddy would have wanted. Hannah had always been more like him than her mother. So many times her father had told her, “Your mother isn’t like us, Hannah. She’s fragile. You just have to be patient.”

But sometimes her mother could be so insecure and vulnerable it had been difficult even for her. Not that she was a bad person. She needed constant reassurance that she was loved and appreciated. At times her neediness was utterly exhausting.

“My lady?” Elizabeth was watching her expectantly.

Hannah sighed, knowing what she had to do. Knowing that, for her father’s sake, she had to settle this. “I’ll talk to her.”

“She’s on line two,” Elizabeth said. Then, ever the proper assistant, nodded and slipped quietly from the room, shutting the door behind her.

Hannah walked over to the phone, hesitating a minute before she finally lifted it off the cradle and pressed the button for line two. “Hello, Mother.”

“Oh, Hannah, honey! It’s so good to hear your voice!”

Hannah wished she could say the same, but right now the sound of her mother’s voice, that syrupy sweetness, was just irritating. “How have you been?”

“Oh, fine. But I’ve missed you so much. I was afraid you wouldn’t come to the phone again.”

“You said it was urgent.”

“How have you been? How do you like it there?”

“Everything is fine here.” If she discounted the fact that her fiancé had taken off the minute she arrived. Or that he refused to share dinner with her.

“I’ve been very busy,” she told her mother.

“Is the palace beautiful? And is Phillip as gorgeous as I remember?”

She was stalling. Hannah wished she would just say what she had to say and get it over with. “The palace and Phillip are exactly the same as the last time you saw them. Now, I’d like you to tell me what was so urgent.”

“Can’t I have a pleasant conversation with my daughter?”

Sadly, no. She had shot any chance of that all to hell with her selfishness. “It’s late, and I’m tired.”

“Okay, okay.” She bubbled with phony laughter. “I’ll get to the point.”

Thank goodness. Just apologize and get it over with already.

“Now, Hannah, I don’t want you to get upset…”

Oh, this was not a good sign. That didn’t sound anything like an apology. “Upset about what?”

“I called because I have some good news.”

“Okay.” Spit it out already.

“Keep December thirtieth open on your calendar.”

Oh, no.

“Why?” she forced herself to ask, even though she already suspected what was coming next.

Dreaded it, in fact.

“Because I’m getting married!”

“Married?”

“Now, honey, I know what you’re thinking—”

“Daddy has been gone barely a year!”

“Hannah, please, you’re not being fair.”

“Fair?”

“A year is a long time when you’re alone.”

It was the same song and dance she’d fed Hannah three months after his death, when she’d gone out on her first date. I’m lonely, she’d told Hannah. What she didn’t seem to get is that she had just lost her husband, therefore she was supposed to be lonely. She was supposed to mourn his death, not take the first opportunity to run out and find a replacement.

“Please don’t be angry, Hannah.”

“Who is he?”

“No one you know. He owns a small law firm outside of Seattle. But you’ll love him, honey.”

No, she wouldn’t. No one could replace her father. Ever. And if her mother honestly believed someone could, she was more oblivious than Hannah could have imagined.

“I was thinking, I could bring him to your wedding. So you could meet him.”

She didn’t want to meet him. “For security reasons, that won’t be possible.”

“Please give him a chance. He’s such a sweet, generous man. And he loves me.”

Hannah was sure that what he probably loved was the substantial estate her father had left behind. “You say that like Daddy didn’t love you. Or is it that you didn’t love him?”

“That’s unfair. You know that I loved your father very much.” There was a quiver in her voice that said she was on the verge of tears. No big surprise there. She often used tears to win sympathy. But Hannah wasn’t buying it this time.

“Then why are you so eager to replace him?”

“You’ve gone on with your life. I should be allowed to go on with my life, too.”

It wasn’t the same thing and she knew it. Besides, Hannah wasn’t out trying to find a new father, was she? “And so you have, Mom. You don’t need my permission.”

“No, but I would like your blessing.”

“I really need to go now.”

“Hannah, please—”

“We’ll talk about this when you’re here next week,” she said.

“I love you, honey.”

“Goodbye, Mom.” She could hear her mother still talking as she set the phone back in the cradle. But if she stayed on the line any longer, she would have wound up saying something she regretted.

There was nothing she could do or say to change her mother’s mind. She had obviously made her decision. And since Hannah had no control over the situation, there was no point in wasting her time worrying about it.

She had other things to keep her occupied. Wedding plans and redecorating, and hours of reading to do. She didn’t need her mother anymore.

She sat on the sofa, surrounded with binders full of information to read, color swatches and wallpaper samples to choose from, last-minute wedding plans to tie up. But she couldn’t seem to work up the enthusiasm for any of it.

She felt too…edgy.

Hannah decided a long, hot bath with her lavender bath gel might relax her. Afterward she towel-dried her hair and changed into her most comfortable cotton pajamas. She curled up in bed to watch television, browsing past the gazillion channels available, but there wasn’t a thing on that held her interest.

She snapped the television off and tossed the remote on the coverlet. She was bored silly, yet she didn’t feel like doing anything.

Hannah glanced over at the closet door, where Phillip’s jacket hung. She had planned to give it back to him tomorrow. But what if he’d forgotten he’d lent it to her, and was wondering where he’d left it.

Yeah right. She just wanted an excuse to see him. Which in itself was silly because he was her fiancé. She shouldn’t need an excuse to see him. Right? If she wanted to see him, she should just…see him. Shouldn’t she?

Yes, she decided. She should.

Before she lost her nerve, she rolled out of bed and grabbed her robe, shoving her arms in the sleeves and belting it securely at her waist. She stuck her feet in her slippers, grabbed Phillip’s jacket, and headed out into the hall.

His suite was all the way down the main hall at the opposite end of the east wing. She had never actually been there, but it had been part of the tour Elizabeth took her on earlier in the week.

When she reached his door, she lifted her hand to knock, then hesitated, drawing it back.

What was she doing? Begging for his attention? Was she really so pathetic? Had she so little pride? Wasn’t she stronger than that?

She turned to walk back the way she came from, but hesitated again.

On second thought, why shouldn’t she stop by to give him his jacket? He was her fiancé, wasn’t he? And damn it, she had worked hard to prepare herself for her role as his wife. Didn’t she deserve a little something in return? Was a little bit of his time really all that much to ask for?

No, she decided, it definitely was not.

She turned back, and before she could talk herself out of it again, rapped hard on the door.