Alex finished typing the twentieth page of the day. Each morning she’d woken at seven sharp, and before breakfast had written at least five pages. She’d go for a walk, then return to her room, unable to keep her fingers from the keyboard. The story called to her.
On the day she reached the hundredth page, the housekeeper knocked on her door. “Package for you, miss.”
“Leave it on the bed, Ruby. I’ll open it later,” she said absently.
The woman peeked into the room. “I don’t think I can do that, Ms. Alexandra.”
Alex turned to face her, but the woman covered a smile with her hand and ducked out of the room. What had gotten into Ruby?
“Well, leave it in the foyer, and I’ll—”
“Mrs. Connelly would never allow that,” Ruby called back up the stairs at her.
Alex sighed. What the devil—?
She saved her file on the computer and shut down the program, knowing she’d written herself out for the day. Tomorrow, she promised herself, she would finish that chapter and start the next. The book was becoming more and more real every day. She felt such jubilation at the completion of each scene. Yet when she stopped writing she had to face the rest of her life, and the knowledge that some power beyond her understanding had determined that it would be a lonely existence without the man she loved.
She walked down the stairs from her room and into the foyer, looking for the package that Ruby had said was delivered. There was no box of any sort to be seen. Had the woman really meant it couldn’t be brought inside? She opened the door and stepped outside, looking to one side then the other of the door. Nothing stood on the porch but the familiar wicker furniture.
“Over here,” a voice called.
She looked up, expecting to see a delivery truck. An immense ebony horse stood in the grass circle in the center of the drive; its reins were held by a man. A man who shouldn’t have been where he was.
Alex put a hand out and steadied herself against the door jamb. “Phillip.”
He started walking Eros toward her. “I told the woman who answered the door that I expected your delivery should wait outside.”
She choked on a bubble of laughter. “Mother would be a little dismayed to find that creature in her foyer.” Then her smile left, and in place of it she felt the coldness sweep over her again. “What’s this all about, Phillip? I did what you asked of me. I left. But we can’t be friends, not after what we had back in Altaria.”
“That’s too bad,” he said. “I would like you as a friend.”
She shook her head. Her throat spasmed, and her eyes burned with tears she refused to let fall. “That would be too hard, to just be pals.”
“Then I suppose we’d better be more than that.” He stopped in front of her and handed her Eros’s reins. “Here, my peace offering.”
“You flew him all the way to the States to give to me?” She was astonished.
“I was wrong, Alex. I love you. I shouldn’t have run you off the way I did. I want you in my life.”
The words sang in her soul. “But can you trust me now?”
“I’ll trust you to keep me interested in life. To keep me guessing, and encourage me to do the things I once loved and still dream of doing.”
“Your boat,” she whispered.
“I’m working on it. We go into production next month, if all goes well.”
“Oh, Phillip, really? That’s wonderful.”
“But it won’t mean anything to me if you’re not there with me.”
She looked down at her hands. “You might change your mind. You might tell me to leave again. I couldn’t bear that.”
“I won’t. Here, hop aboard. Let’s go for a ride and talk.”
He mounted the big horse and reached down for her. She hesitated but at last gave him her hand, and he pulled her up behind him. She squirmed on the back half of the saddle.
“It’s not very comfortable. There’s something lumpy back here.”
“Oh really? Must be a burr or something. Better check it out.”
She slid back on Eros’s rump, pulled up the leather flap and reached under carefully. Her fingertips hit something soft, and she pulled it out.
“It looks like a little velvet pouch of some kind.”
“Huh,” he grunted and started Eros moving away from the house, down the long gravel drive. “Fancy that. What’s in it?”
“I don’t know.” She gripped the horse with her knees to keep from sliding off as his easy gait took them slowly toward the side gardens. Her fingers pulled at the silk cords, and she reached inside. A warm circle of gold came out with her fingers. A diamond glittered up at her.
“Oh!”
“Did something bite you?”
“Oh, Phillip, you’re wonderful!”
He chuckled. “Guess not.”
She was about to punch him for his wisecrack, when he lifted one leg over Eros’s head and slid to the ground. He took the ring from her and reached up to slip it over the appropriate finger. “Marry me, Alex. Pretend you love me, if you don’t. Pretend you want to be my wife, my mate, my lover, my friend and companion forever. Pretend anything you like, but first these things then don’t ever stop using your imagination. And I promise I’ll love you forever and never again turn you away.”
She was weeping as the gold band slipped up her finger. Weeping for joy.
“Crocodile tears?” he asked.
She shook her head, unable to speak. “No. Real. Yes, yes, Phillip. I’ll be all those things.” She kissed him on his upturned mouth. “But I don’t need to pretend anymore. I’ll let my characters do the pretending from here on.”
“Good,” he said. “Then I won’t have to worry about your faking certain reactions, will I?”
She laughed at the wicked gleam in his eyes. “You never had to worry about that, my love.”
“Good.” He pulled her down from the saddle and wrapped his arms around her. “Now let’s go tell your parents that there’s going to be a wedding after all.”
And this time, with the right groom, she thought jubilantly.
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Kathryn Jensen for her contribution to the DYNASTIES: THE CONNELLYS series.
This book is for you, my loyal readers.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your constant and exuberant support! May love and light fill your hearts.
Kathryn
ISBN: 978-1-4268-6869-6
THE ROYAL & THE RUNAWAY BRIDE
Copyright © 2002 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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The Royal & The Runaway Bride (Dynasties: The Connellys Book 7) Page 16
