by Cara Colter
Despite herself, Maddie found she was interested. This was like Mountain Bend. She needed to know if the story was going to have a happy ending.
“People were leaving the island in hope of work elsewhere. It was a truly grim situation. The island was now losing its most valuable resource—people. It was becoming a place of ghosts.”
Again, the very same future Mountain Bend was facing. Despite herself, she could feel herself leaning toward him, interested. “What happened?”
“We have an abundance of hot springs on the island, so we are slowly reviving our economy with tourism and export of some of our mineral waters, which claim health benefits. I have taken on the economy as my main responsibility. But I have others. One is an expectation of a marriage that will bring benefit to our island. And that’s part of what brought me to America.
“I wanted to sample normal. That’s why I didn’t tell you who I was.”
Maddie grudgingly accepted that explanation. She could see that a man might not want to print Prince on his business card, that he might want to be liked for himself, but the engagement part?
“I’m supposed to be married soon.”
His announcement was joyless.
“Yes, I couldn’t help but hear that from the googling throngs.”
“Yes, but you heard it was Aida. The other part of my trip here is that I came to ask someone else to marry me. Have you heard of Sea O’Brian?”
“The actress?”
“Yes.”
It was a stark reminder of the rarified circles he moved in. It was a stark reminder of yet more treachery!
“Are you telling me you have two fiancées?” Maddie breathed.
“Um—”
“You cad! You’ve been flirting with me for two days!”
He was smiling again.
“Stop it! I’m dead serious.”
“I know. But as I say, I’ve never been shrieked at before. It’s, er, refreshing.”
“Shrieked?” she inquired dangerously. “I did not shriek.”
“I’m sorry. Let me think of another way to put it.” He was silent for an insultingly long time. “Squealed at?”
“Oh!”
He frowned. “Yelped at?”
“I think you have to leave now.”
“Just a few more moments of your time.”
“Humph. This had better be good.”
“Marriages, in my family, and on my island are not love matches, Maddie. It was decided when I was a child that one day I would marry Princess Aida Montego of the island that neighbors ours. Wynfield is our biggest ally and trading partner. This isn’t a choice. It’s a business decision, made by our fathers. Contracts were signed a very long time ago.”
“But what about love?” she asked, aghast despite herself. “Oh!” she clapped her hand over her mouth. “That’s where Sea O’Brian comes in, isn’t it? You love her.”
No reason to feel sad! The man was a cad.
“No,” he said, “I don’t love her. And she’s just told me no, in any case.”
She ordered herself not to feel relieved. That made him a worse cad, didn’t it?
“Though,” he continued, “to be sure, love plays a part in this story, but not Sea’s part. Aida met a young man. She loves him madly. And he her. She would still do what is expected of her. She would marry me, even as she loves another. She really would have no choice, and we were both raised with the notion we were not to expect personal happiness.”
“Not to expect personal happiness?” Maddie asked. On the other hand, maybe it was a good thing. The pursuit of happiness could lead to very poor decisions, as she well knew. Maybe his family was onto something!
“When you are born into a royal family,” Ward said, “it is drummed into you from birth—service before self.”
“I don’t know what to say. Despite the fact I can see the practicality of it—an expectation of happiness can cause no end of problems, after all—I’m appalled for you, and I’m appalled for that poor girl.”
“If I returned from America married,” Ward said softly, “then she would be free. One of us, at least, could have some chance at personal happiness.”
Maddie’s mouth fell open.
“I reached an agreement with Sea to play the role of my wife,” he said. “To set Aida free. Now, unfortunately, Sea has been made a better offer, and I am back at square one.”
Despite herself, Maddie found the story—and his honor, his interest in giving Aida a life he had not asked or expected for himself—brought tears to her eyes. She saw in front of her a man who had everything: title, wealth, power. And yet he had no expectation of the greatest richness of them all, love.
“But now what?” she asked him, her anger completely gone.
“I’m not sure.”
“People cannot be forced to marry one another in this day and age. It’s archaic.”
“Ah, yes. Archaic. That is probably as good a word as any to describe Havenhurst.”
“You have to get out of this,” Maddie said vehemently, “Not just to save Aida, but to save yourself.”
“I agree. But I don’t know anyone else who would be willing to return to Havenhurst as my wife. I’d have to know something of their character.” He paused. He frowned. He stared at her. “Unless—”
He was looking at her so intently, her heart began to pound. She wiped her sweating palms on her pajamas.
“What?” she stammered.
“What if my meeting you was not mere coincidence, but chance meeting opportunity? What if it was whatever people called these stunning moments in time when the seemingly absurd, the impossible, manifests into destiny?”
Maddie stared at him. She felt light-headed. She really should have had some crackers with her tea.
“What are you saying?” she whispered.
He cocked his head at her. That smile tickled the gorgeous sensuous curve of his bottom lip.
“I’m asking you if you would consider being my wife.”
CHAPTER TEN
WARD WATCHED AS Maddie tried to absorb what he had just said. He didn’t blame her. He was stunned that he had said it himself. He watched the blood drain from her face. She reached for her tea, as though a sip would steady her, but her hand was shaking.
And then the teacup slid from her hand, spilling tea all over her and landing on the floor with a clatter. He leaped to his feet, afraid she had burned herself.
But before he could close the distance between them, her eyes got a glazed look in them, rolled back in her head, and she went completely limp, as though there were not a bone in her entire body. He reached her, just as her body crumpled from her chair.
Ward slid his hands under her and caught her before she hit the floor. He cradled her, one arm at the bend in her knees, the other around her shoulders.
“Maddie?” he called softly. Her eyes fluttered, but didn’t open. He hefted her against his chest and took the seat she had been on, feeling her warmth seep into him.
He looked down into her face. How had she become so familiar in such a short period of time? The faint freckles, the scattering of hair, the delicacy of feature?
Maddie looked so pale and so frail. It was as if her every vulnerability was open to him. Why had he done this to her? Why had he invited her to participate in a deception? It was all wrong, and she was the wrong person for it.
Still, it was done. He had asked. She was sensible. She would say no.
He thought he should get a damp cloth, or call Lancaster, who was more adept at first aid than he was, but instead, he did something he was not sure he had ever done.
Except maybe once, when he had decided not to marry Aida.
He listened to his heart, and he dropped his lips to the smoothness of her brow.
Her eyes fluttered open.
&
nbsp; And at first, she smiled, as if she had been having the best of dreams.
But then, she struggled against him. “What on earth?”
“You fainted. Shush, don’t struggle like that. Just relax for a moment. Regain yourself.”
She followed the instruction in that she quit struggling, but she was stiff in his arms, a frown on her face as she gazed up at him.
“I did not faint,” she decided. “I’m not the fainting type.”
“Well, I did not poison your tea, so unless you have another theory?”
Her frown deepened. She rubbed at her forehead. “Did you kiss me?”
He decided silence might be the best defense!
“Oh,” she said, brightening. “I get it. It’s a dream. Kissed by a prince and all that rot.”
“I think the rot part might be a little strong,” he said, pretending insult.
“So, it’s not a dream. I have a real live prince in my house. Don’t get the idea I swooned for you. I haven’t eaten properly today,” she said defensively.
“It had nothing to do with me asking you to marry me?”
Her eyes went very round. “Nothing,” she whispered.
“A business arrangement,” he said softly.
Did she look disappointed? Had he led her to believe something else? That it would be real?
Would she have gone for that?
Ward realized he could not allow himself to think of that: of Maddie forever his. Of waking in the mornings to those green eyes and that small smile, of being treated like a normal man. Of being told to go sod himself when that was what he needed to hear. Of chasing each other, the way they had chased through the hot pools.
Of possessing her in every way a man possessed his wife.
No, he could not go there. This woman, who had suffered so many losses—parents, fiancé, career—deserved something he could not give her.
A family. A normal, wholesome all-American family.
But what he could give her, a tender gift to her, was a way out of the challenges she was facing now. He was in a position to make sure the benefits of marrying him outweighed her reservations and overcame her anger.
“A business arrangement,” she said, her tone wooden.
“I can make it worth your while, Maddie, well worth your while.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“It’s just wrong. It’s deceitful, for one thing. For another, think of the poor example it sets for someone like Sophie. You marry a man you just met? Because he’s a prince? Because he can solve your problems and give you things?”
He decided now would probably not be the safest time to tell her that her voice had become a little shrill again.
“I think you should give it some thought.”
She seemed to realize she was still in his arms. This time, when she struggled, he let her go. She found her feet, a trifle unsteadily, but still folded her arms over her chest and planted her legs apart, a posture intended to show strength even if she still looked pale and shaky.
“I’ll do no such thing,” she said.
“It’s more than evident the whole town is struggling, including the Black Kettle.”
“And?”
“Please sit down before you go down again. Maddie, I can help. I can show you some of our mineral water exports. Not to mention what your newfound notoriety could do for tourism. Mountain Bend, home of an American princess.”
He found he could not take his eyes off her. She was adorably cute when she was fuming like that. Had he thought this through properly? Wasn’t the cute factor going to make the arrangement he had just suggested more complicated?
Maybe not. She had called him a liar. A cad. And a sneak. She had called his kisses “rot.” Another man, a saner man, might be withdrawing his offer and heading for the door.
But he did not feel sane. Not at all.
He felt as if he was a man who had waited his whole life for this moment: honesty. Someone who was strong enough to be completely straightforward with him. Funny, that honor would come wrapped in such a fragile-looking little package. He suspected Maddie was hiding strength she did not even know about.
“I thought the concert would save him,” she said, her voice hollow, “and help Mountain Bend.”
“I think it’s a case of too little, too late. No business can be saved on the strength of one night’s success. You would need to look at becoming a regular concert venue. Which is a possibility. I could have my business team look into it.”
Maddie looked stricken. He could see tears behind her eyes. Her loyalty and her ability to love, coupled with that honesty, made her both a good choice, and a very, very complicated one for him.
But the choice was not his alone. He had given her the facts, as he knew them. Now he had to trust her to make the decision that would be best for her.
He hoped it would also be the one that was best for him.
“I didn’t tell you my assessment of the town to make you feel threatened,” he said. He closed the distance between them and caught a tear as it slid down her cheek.
She slapped his hand away and moved back from him. She rubbed furiously at her eyes.
“Really? I’ll be out of a job soon, Sophie’s college dreams will be up in smoke and Kettle will be out on the street, and you didn’t intend for me to feel threatened?”
“I didn’t create any of that situation,” he pointed out. “I’m offering a way out of it. But the choice is yours. Marry me. Be my wife for one year, three hundred and sixty-five days. I’ll come back in the morning. You can let me know your final decision.”
She looked as if she planned to let him know her final decision right now! And in the shrill voice, too.
But then she stopped herself. She just looked tired and pale and Ward thought the decent thing to do would be to say he would look after things no matter what she decided.
But something stopped him from saying that, too.
They both needed time to think, obviously.
“Come back early,” she said. “Before I start work.”
“All right.” If she said no, she would just go to work as if it was an ordinary day. Even though she knew what the future held. There was a kind of bravery in that, he supposed.
He realized he did not want her to say no and that there was bravery in saying yes, too.
“Can I help you?” he asked. “Get to bed?”
Her eyes widened as if he had propositioned her. Ward realized seeing her bedroom might not be a good idea.
“Get something to eat?” he said hastily.
“No.” Her voice was proud. “Please, go.”
“Can I call Sophie to come be with you?”
“Please, just go.”
He took one more look at her face, and then went and quietly let himself out the door. He had an unusual moment of self-doubt. What had he just done? He had held out a carrot to her, that given her love and loyalty, he did not think she was going to be able to refuse.
This was how he’d been raised: get what you want. Use whatever means it takes to get it. He had borne witness to his father’s ability to be ruthless on many, many occasions.
Was he just like him?
No, because his father would be gleeful at the kind of predicament he had just put Maddie in.
She would have trouble saying no.
But Ward didn’t feel gleeful. Not at all. He felt like the cad she had accused him of being.
So he would save Aida. And he would save himself from marriage, an institution he did not think he had any capacity for, given what he came from.
But at what price to Maddie?
“I’m not going to hurt her,” he promised himself, standing on her front porch for a moment, watching the stars stud the skies over mountains that looked as if the
y were a silhouette cut from black paper and stuck against the sky. Why should he feel bad about saving everything she cared about?
“She’s going to come out of this better than ever. She’s going to be able to do what she most wants to do—save her world and everyone in it.”
And if all of that was true, why did he feel as rotten as she had said his kiss was? Why did he wonder if, in the event she said yes, if she would walk toward him with all the enthusiasm of a prisoner being led to the gallows?
Lancaster hoisted himself off the car as he approached. He lifted an eyebrow in question.
“I asked her to marry me.”
Lancaster looked stunned. “And?”
Ward said nothing.
“She said no?” Lancaster breathed with disbelief.
“Let’s just say she didn’t say yes. And you needn’t look so pleased about it.”
“My apologies, sir,” Lancaster said insincerely.
“Spit it out,” Ward said, then realized he had inadvertently used the same phrase she had used on him.
“She’s strong and feisty, and honest and real. She’s making you feel things you never felt before. It’s all good.”
“Unless I go home without a bride.”
“I suspect your engagement to Princess Aida is over now, no matter what.”
“You’re so right,” Ward said, and felt the relief sweep through him.
“But it’s a good idea to bring home a bride. Insurance for Aida. If you called off the engagement, and her relationship with someone else came to light too soon, people would sense the truth. It would improve your popularity. But not hers.”
“I don’t want to hurt Aida. It has always been my intention to protect her. But I don’t want Maddie to inadvertently end up hurt, either.”
“Maddie’s a good deal stronger than she looks, and she’s good for you,” Lancaster decided, looking at him shrewdly. “I hope she says yes.”
“You’ve just an eye on the scones,” Ward said, trying for a light note, but he was aware that was what he hoped for, too.
“I doubt if a princess would be baking scones for the likes of me,” Lancaster said wistfully.
“I doubt if you could stop her,” Ward disagreed.
