by Holly Jacobs
Nope. She didn’t feel soothed. Nothing today was normal. If anything, she felt as if her restlessness had escalated. She felt itchy with it.
Yep, Tanner had made her itchy, like some dread disease. He’d infected her.
She’d see him tomorrow and make sure he understood that yesterday was an aberration. There would be no more dating, no more kissing. It was time for him to head home and get back to the business of being a prince. And it was time for her to…
Miss him.
She could try and talk herself out of it, try to convince herself it wasn’t so, but the truth was, she’d miss him a lot. She’d miss his laughter, his company. She’d miss trading barbs. She missed trading kisses with him even now.
She walked along the edge of the dock and wondered how it had happened.
How did Shey Carlson fall for a prince?
It was ridiculous.
She was going to stop right now.
A bunch of gulls cried out as they swooped down onto the sidewalk and gobbled up some spilt popcorn. Their cries seemed to mock her, laugh at her. She might try, but she couldn’t stop the feelings she had for Tanner.
It might be ridiculous, might have happened way too fast, but what she felt was real. And it was growing.
Part of her wished he was here with her right now, and part of her wished she wouldn’t have to face him again, because when she did she was going to have to send him away.
“Shey?”
As if some genie had been listening there he was. Tanner was at her side, smiling. “I was just thinking about you,” he said.
She was about to admit she’d been thinking about him as well, so she didn’t say anything.
“Can you get tomorrow night off from the store? Get Shelly or that college student to handle the evening hours?”
“Why?”
“Because I have plans for us.”
“About that—” Now…she’d tell him now. His comment made for the perfect segue…she’d tell him there was no us. The only plans he needed to make were plans to go home.
But he stood there, watching her, waiting, and she couldn’t make herself tell him to go. Tomorrow. She’d let herself have one more night with him, then she’d tell him to go home.
“About that?” he prompted.
“I’m sure I can get someone to cover things. So are you going to tell me what we’ll be doing?”
“No. But if you stop looking so nervous and smile at me, I’ll buy you an ice cream.”
Despite the fact she knew she shouldn’t, she smiled, her heart feeling lighter than it had all day. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
He offered her his hand. “Shall we?”
She took it and felt the now familiar zing of awareness as she touched him.
She’d finally found a man she could love and for both their sakes she was going to have to send him away.
But not until tomorrow. Tonight, she was going to simply enjoy his company and the ice cream.
“Let’s go.”
CHAPTER NINE
“Is everything ready?” Tanner asked Emil. They were at Monarch’s and he was nervously waiting for Shey to get ready.
For years he’d thought he was pretty good with women. He didn’t lose his cool. He knew how to woo them. But with Shey, he hadn’t just lost it, his cool had totally been obliterated with no hope of retrieval. And he didn’t have a clue how to woo her. He was just shooting in the dark.
“Everything just as you wanted it,” Emil said, a soothing, I’m-talking-to-a-madman quality to his tone. “The driver’s waiting out front.”
Tanner didn’t care that his friends were starting to worry about his sanity, all he cared about was Shey, convincing her that they had something rare together.
“Good,” he said. “Now comes the hard part.”
“Hard part?” Emil asked.
“Convincing the lady to come along.” And knowing Shey, hard part was an understatement. Her stubbornness was one of the qualities he loved about her—except when he didn’t. And he suspected tonight was going to be one of the didn’t nights.
“What woman wouldn’t want an evening like tonight?” Emil asked.
Tanner laughed. “Shey Carlson. I expect she’s going to come along kicking and screaming the whole time.”
“So why would you plan a night like this for a woman who’s not going to enjoy it?”
“I suspect she’ll enjoy it, but I know she won’t admit it. The thing is every woman, whether they admit to wanting it or not, deserves a piece of magic now and again.” At least he hoped every woman—specifically Shey—wanted magic.
Emil was still shaking his head. “Good luck, then. Sounds like you’re going to need it.” He turned and walked toward the door of the shop.
“I am,” Tanner muttered more to himself than to Emil. “I guarantee I am.”
“You are what?” Shey asked as she came back into the room.
“Are you done here?” he asked, ignoring her question.
“Yes. And I know I said I’d go out with you tonight, but I’ve been thinking about it and I don’t think it’s a good idea. We—”
He cut her off by planting a big kiss on her lips. He meant it to be a playful way of silencing her, but the moment his lips met hers, all thoughts of playfulness evaporated and all that he could focus on was the woman in front of him, the woman he wrapped his arms around and pulled closer.
He let himself sink into her, lose himself in her.
This woman, his entire body—his entire being—seemed to cry out. This woman. He couldn’t get enough of her, couldn’t pull her close enough.
She seemed to feel it, too. Her arms were around his neck, her body pressed willingly to his. She moaned a little as he deepened the kiss.
Gradually he eased back, fingers twisted in her short hair. He smiled. “I’m asking, Shey. Please come with me. There’s so much we need to talk about. And I think you’ll agree that this…whatever this is between us should be discussed.”
“Where do you want to go?” she asked, not exactly agreeing.
“Trust me.”
* * *
Trust me?
Why on earth had she said yes and come with the crazy prince? Because she was crazier than he was.
Trust me?
She was riding through Erie in the back of a limo wearing a blindfold. How on earth had she let herself get talked into this situation?
“Tanner, this is silly.”
“Leave it on, Shey.”
“You can’t make me,” she said, trying to sound put out, when all the time she felt like smiling.
Maybe even laughing.
He was so obviously pleased with whatever he’d planned. “I could take it off if I wanted. You’re not making me keep it on.”
“According to you I’m an arrogant prince who thinks he can do anything…so, yes, I guess I do think I can make you.”
“Maybe I thought that once, the part about you being an arrogant prince, not the part about your being able to make me. But I don’t think that anymore.” This whole blindfold thing had some perks. She couldn’t see his expression as she said the words—mushy words that weren’t like her at all.
“You don’t think I’m arrogant?” he asked.
She didn’t need to see him to hear his smile. She could feel it and it warmed her. “No, not anymore.”
She paused half a beat and added, “But before you climb on some sort of pedestal, I still think you’re a pain and more than a bit the spoiled, pampered prince.” Ah, that was better.
“But not arrogant. That must mean I’m growing on you.”
The man was impossible to insult. Shey didn’t know why she bothered trying, but even though she doubted it would work, she tried one last parting shot. “Yes, you’ve grown on me—rather like a fungus, yes.”
“Ah, Shey, you do have a way with words. I worry that all your compliments will go to my head.”
“You’re trying to sidetrack me and it’
s not working. Where are you taking me?”
“You’re not very good at surprises,” he said.
“I never had a lot of chances to learn,” she said.
“Maybe I want to make it up to you? Maybe I want to give you more than just a few surprises…maybe I want to give you the whole world.”
Shey snorted and forced herself to say, “Did you memorize that line from some book? If so, I’d get my money back. It didn’t work.”
And that was a big fat lie. He’d pretty much racked her insides with that line. But Shey wasn’t about to let him know that. He knew too much already.
“I don’t need my money back. Seeing you smile like that was worth every penny.”
“I wasn’t smiling.” At least she didn’t think she’d smiled. After all, being blindfolded didn’t mean you lost your ability to sense your own facial expressions…did it?
Oh, her Prince Charming wannabe was addling her brains. She had to be careful. Very careful. She sensed that whatever he was planning was designed to turn her into a woman who would succumb to his scheme.
“Here we go,” he said.
She realized the car had come to a stop. He helped her out.
“Can I take off the blindfold now?”
“Not quite yet.”
She wasn’t sure why she complied, but she let him lead her forward. They were inside now, Shey realized. “Now?”
He pulled off the blindfold. “I thought we’d have a picnic.”
She took in her surroundings. An ornate lobby with mirrors and a huge, winding staircase. She knew exactly where they were.
“You think we’re going to picnic in the Warner?”
The Warner Theater was a lady of a certain age who’d recently had a major face-lift. Shey had season tickets to the Philharmonic and had loved watching the process of the theater’s revitalization.
“You know, the first time I came to the Warner was with a school field trip. We saw Giselle. I remember how my breath just sort of sucked out of me with a whoosh. I fell in love with ballet, with classical music that day.”
“I know all about falling,” he said, a strange husky catch in his voice.
“Tanner,” Shey started to say, but then wasn’t sure, so she stopped.
“Come on,” he invited, leading her toward the stairs. “Let’s have dinner. We have to talk.”
“You know I’ve never found anything good followed the phrase, ‘we have to talk.’”
He was going to tell her he was leaving.
Well, that was good. He was a prince and he had a job to do. A country that was counting on him. Yes, it was better that he left now, because each day he stayed would only make their parting harder.
Okay, so tonight was their farewell date. Maybe there’d be a farewell kiss, too. Then that would be it. Tanner would go back to Amar and Parker would stay here in Erie where she belonged.
Mission accomplished.
Shey should be ecstatic.
For some odd reason, she wasn’t.
“Maybe the news won’t be as bad as you think,” he said, all cryptic.
“I sort of doubt it.” Oh, yeah, he was leaving all right. And of course he’d think she’d think that was good news.
And she should.
But she didn’t.
As he led her to a blanket he’d spread at the back of the balcony she realized they actually were having a picnic. The big picnic hamper made it a pretty easy guess.
Shey noticed there were people on the stage.
“What’s up with them?”
“Your Philharmonic is having a dress rehearsal. I thought you might enjoy some music with our dinner.”
As if on cue, the orchestra struck up a song.
“Nice,” she said.
Tanner poured two glasses of wine and handed one to Shey.
“To a magical night,” he toasted.
Shey reluctantly clinked glasses with him. “Tanner, we’ve been over this, you’re leaving for home soon. There can’t be too much magic.”
“Whenever I’m with you, there’s magic.”
“Oh, come on. Was that from the same book? Geesh, you definitely need to take it back to the bookstore. That was just lame.”
He chuckled. “Okay, flowery prose isn’t going to impress you. Tell me, Shey, what else can I do to make an impression on you?”
“Why would you want to make an impression on me? I just don’t get it.”
“Don’t you?” he asked, taking a sip of the wine and sighing his pleasure. “You’re an amazing woman.”
“And you’re a prince who’s looking for a wife. I’m not her, so what is this?”
“Two people enjoying each other’s company.” He took another sip. “Drink your wine.”
She did. It was as perfect as she’d expected. The rest of the meal was, as well. This was no cold-food picnic. The food was hot and five-star. No salmon this time, instead it was some beef dish, with potatoes and vegetables that were crisp and fresh. And dessert was a chocolate cake that would make any woman weep with the utter decadence of it.
They ate in companionable silence, enjoying the meal and the music.
“I don’t think I can have another bite,” Shey said. Despite herself, and her better sense, she’d enjoyed the food, the atmosphere and—she hated to admit it—the company.
“I’d like to pick up an earlier subject.”
“Which subject? Space exploration? I’m all for it. People need new horizons to explore. It’s the last frontier.”
“Not space…us.”
“Tanner, this has been a special night, let’s not ruin it by talking about things that will never happen. You’re leaving and I’d like to think we’ve become friends.”
“You’re right, I am leaving.”
Yeah, she’d known she was right. This was just his kiss-’em-then-leave-’em dinner.
“I figured. I mean, you’ve accepted you and Parker won’t work and you have duties in your country. I know I sniped at you, but I enjoyed that you sniped right back. I had a lot of fun.” She stood. “And dinner was a nice touch. But if you don’t mind, I’d like to go home now. I have to open the store tomorrow.”
“Shey—” he started.
“Nope, don’t say another word. Especially from whatever book you’ve been quoting from all night. Just a quick goodbye will do it.”
He stood as well. Stood an inch away from her. There was a challenge in his eye. And though Shey would have liked to back away, to distance herself from Tanner, she couldn’t.
“I am leaving, but not alone. I’d like to take you with me.” He reached into his pocket and withdrew a ring.
“Shey—”
“Don’t say it…not one word. I can’t believe you’d give me a ring you meant for Parker. As if you promised to go home with a fiancée and any woman would do.”
“I went out and bought this for you, and I assure you just any woman wouldn’t do.”
“Oh. Well, still, put it away.”
“I’ve learned a thing or two about you, Shey Carlson. You want the world to think you’re tough, but that hard shell is just protection because in reality, you’re all heart.”
She could feel her cheeks heat up. Blushing like some schoolgirl. This man was messing with her mind.
“You don’t know what you’re taking about,” she tried to growl, but it came out less than growly. As a matter of fact, it sounded sort of soft and tearful.
“Sure I do,” he said, all cocky and confident. “I’ve seen you with the people you help out with, with the people you work with, with your friends… You’re all heart, Shey. That’s what I see when you’re with them. You care. You cared enough to keep me from trying to talk Parker into something that would have made her miserable. You’re right, she’s not ready for royal life.”
She glanced at the ring, then back at him. “Well, neither am I.”
“You’re wrong. You have so much to offer. Remember what you said about Parker walking away from the
chance to give her causes a forum? You could do that. Could give so much. Most importantly, you could give your heart. Not just to my country, but to me. I want your heart, Shey.”
“Tanner, I can’t.” From mushy she was moving right on to weepy. Now, genuine tears filled her eyes. She could feel them, but she’d be darned if she’d let them fall.
“Answer me this,” he said. “Even though it’s happened fast, do you love me?”
She shrugged. “I won’t answer, because it doesn’t matter.”
“How can you say that?” he asked, running a hand along her cheek. “Love always matters, Shey.”
“Your people deserve a princess. Someone to represent them to the world. I can’t imagine that would be me.”
“I can imagine enough for both of us. Think about it, instead of feeding a few folks at your back door, you’d be able to promote programs that would feed a multitude. Rather than teaching one man to read, you can lend your support to programs that will teach many. Think about all you could do.”
“I don’t do those things for recognition, but because I know what it’s like to be down on your luck, to need a hand up.”
“I know that, but you’ll have a larger stage to offer those hand-ups. And you’d have me.” He paused a moment and added, “Maybe that’s the problem. Having me. Loving me.”
“That’s not the problem. Your saying that I should marry you because it will give me a forum to promote my causes to a larger audience, that’s the problem. Your thinking I should marry you because of all the good I could do if I were your wife and a princess.”
“That’s just a bonus. I’m saying you should marry me because I love you and can’t imagine a life without you. And if you’re honest with yourself, I think you’d have to admit you love me, as well.”
“You know I want you. I think I’ve more than proven that.” She couldn’t avoid admitting that, even if she couldn’t confess everything to him.
“Then say yes,” he said.
“I—”
“Shey, I tried to leave, but couldn’t.”
“You swore you’d go home with a fiancée, and you’re just trying to make good on that vow.”
“It’s not some promise to my father. It’s you. I want you with me. You’re right, I came looking for a fiancée. I came here looking for you. I just didn’t know it.”
