by Carlyn Cade
His response indicated that royal blood might just run hotter than peasant blood. His arms went around her, one hand cradling her head while his spread fingers caressed her hair.
“Stacia, I...” He kissed her again.
The fire blazing between them became more intense, one exploding kiss after another. He laid her gently on the blanket, his lips never leaving hers. When the kiss ended, he raised up slightly and pushed her hair from her face. “Such beauty,” he whispered. Then he kissed her again, his hands wandering the curves of her body pressed against him.
Suddenly, Clay bolted upright to a sitting position. “I can’t do this,” he gasped.
“Why?” Stacia asked. “Don’t you have protection?”
He grinned. “That’s not the problem. I just think I might be making love with the wrong woman.”
“So, I’m good enough to be seen with, but not good enough to have sex with? Isn’t it usually the other way around?” Stacia flung out, sitting upright and crossing her arms indignantly.
Clay chuckled and touched the tip of her nose. “Not so, my sweet. But you see, I like to know the woman before I make love with her, and I don’t recognize this Stacia at all, as tantalizingly sexy as she is.”
“I thought you wanted this. Last night you said –”
“I didn’t say I wanted a woman to throw herself at me. You’ve become...” He hesitated. “One of the women my mother warned me about.” Clay laughed. “I can get as many women like that as I want, but you know what? I don’t want any of them.”
“But –” she protested.
“I’m very fond – notice I didn’t say love for your benefit only – of the original, authentic Stacia. She’s sweet, gorgeous and nice, and the greatest thing about her is she’s completely honest and totally real. There’s nothing fake about her. After all, how many women would admit they hadn’t slept with any guy, even if they were angry? I respect that. I’m even fond of her red-haired temper.” He took her hands into his. “And I know when the real Stacia falls in love, I only hope I’m the lucky one to receive her love...and share sex with her.” He stood up and pulled her to her feet. “Do you want to go back now?”
She nodded, too overwhelmed to speak. She should be embarrassed, or furious, that he’d refused her sexual ploys, but she was too happy he’d made things right again by knowing the correct thing to say. Their relationship and their comfort with each other were still intact. And for now, that was enough.
♥♥
“Where are you?” the frantic voice of Stacia’s assistant wailed over the phone later that afternoon. “The media’s going crazy. Everyone’s sighting you and the prince somewhere, day after day. The headlines scream that you’re either in Australia, Paris or Jamaica or, I suspect, Timbuktu. You have like a thousand messages.” Jamie stopped to breathe. “So where are you?”
“Switzerland,” Stacia answered calmly, almost sorry she’d initiated her call home.
“Switzerland? How did you get there? Are you with the prince? Please tell me what’s going on. No...wait. I have to tell you something.” Jamie regained her composure. “This is quite urgent. Hal’s called here a number of times, begging me to tell him how to reach you. I keep saying I don’t know where you are either, but he keeps calling back constantly. Doesn’t your cell phone work over there? I’ve left you messages.”
“I guess I forgot to turn it on or to check my messages. Sorry,” Stacia apologized.
“He must be quite a distraction,” Jamie mumbled, rushing on. “It seems Sterling and Keyes are having some difficulty with the preliminary work they have to do before London Affair starts filming. They need you to come home as soon as possible – or sooner as Mr. Sterling said. And the studio has called several, no, make that many times since you disappeared and wants to know where to send the script, so you can start learning your lines.”
“Whew,” Stacia said. “Sounds like you’ve been very busy, even without me around to bug you.”
“That’s my job. Are you having a good time?”
“Wonderful. I’ve found the perfect Shangri-la where the paparazzi can’t find me.”
“Or anyone else,” Jamie muttered. “When are you coming home?”
“I’ll try to leave today, if possible.”
“What should I tell people who call?”
“That I’m relaxing, so I’ll be in top shape to start my new film.” Stacia heard a knock at her door. She walked over to answer it with the phone in her hand. “Gotta go,” she said when she discovered it was Clay. “I’ll call you when my plans are finalized.” She pushed the “off” button and tossed the phone on the sofa.
“What plans?” Clay inquired.
“I have to leave for home immediately. Jamie said Nathan and Arthur need me for some preliminary work, and the studio is evidently going crazy worrying about whether I’ll have time to memorize my lines.”
“You mean you’re ready to brave the jungle of paparazzi reporting once more?”
“Speaking of that, evidently our picture has been in all the papers again. It seems they can’t find us.”
“I know,” he said. “Father mentions the headlines daily. I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want to upset you.”
She walked into her bedroom. “I’m going to start packing. How do I get a plane out of this paradise?”
Clay stuck his head around the corner of the door frame. “Leave that to me.” He picked up his phone and made a call. “Okay,” he said when he’d finished. “The jet will be ready in an hour. It’ll take you to London.”
She started folding the clothes in her suitcase that were crumbled in a heap after the morning’s scavenger hunt for the right outfit. “You’re wonderful, you know, in more ways than one. And thanks for not taking advantage of me in the woods.”
“Who was taking advantage of whom?” Clay walked over and wrapped his arms around her so they were face-to-face. “When do I get a second chance?” he asked.
“Long distance – that would be a feat.” She wished she could keep standing there looking up at him for the rest of the day, or forever for that matter, but she couldn’t if she wanted to make her plane. She took his finger, lifted it to her lips and gave it a little kiss. She walked into the bathroom and began gathering her cosmetics.
“This is the twenty-first century, remember?” Clay called out. “It only takes hours for me to get to Hollywood. A call in the morning, and I can be at your doorstep by evening.”
She walked back into the bedroom and placed her cosmetic case and curling iron into her suitcase. “That does sound nice. I’d love to have you come visit me. But with shooting the picture and everything, I’m going to be pretty busy.”
“Then how about before you start filming? How about a couple days from now?”
“Are you serious?”
“I wouldn’t be able to stay long,” he said. “I have to do another ice sculpture exhibit, in Louisville, Kentucky this time, about a week from now. That should coincide with the time you begin filming.”
“I have to memorize my lines. Maybe you could help me.” She started to close her suitcase.
“I was wondering, Stacia, are you going to wear those shoes and that outfit on the plane?”
She peeked down at her tank top. “I forgot what I was even wearing,” she said.
“Well, I rather hoped you’d save that little outfit to wear again for me privately...and my second chance.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. He was stretched out sideways across her bed of lavender and pink ruffles, his head propped on his hand, and he had the begging expression of a big puppy dog on his face. How could she resist? “If it’s that important to you, I’ll change into something else.”
“Pack that little green thing you’re wearing carefully, will you? I haven’t finished admiring you in it. Take good care of it when you get home because I wouldn’t want anything to happen to it.” He grinned and stood up. “I’ll wait in the living room so you c
an finish without any interruption.”
She changed clothes and finished her packing. A few minutes later, she walked into the living room with her suitcase and set it on the floor. “Shall we say good-bye here?” she asked.
“I’m flying with you to London, and I’ll make sure you get on your flight home without being bothered too much by the paparazzi and your fans. You won’t even have to go into the airport. You can just go from one plane to the other. Customs will come to you.”
“You really know your way around, don’t you?”
“I try.”
“And succeed nicely, or so I’ve noticed.”
“Not always,” he said. “Not this morning.”
“This morning you were my hero. I’ll always be grateful for that.”
Clay checked his watch. “We’d better get started,” he said.
“Do I have time to say good-bye and thank your parents?”
“If we hurry.”
♥♥
The limo took Stacia and Clay from the castle’s front door to the king’s jet. When they entered the cabin, a man emerged from the cockpit.
“Everything’s been checked,” he said, “and it’s ready for takeoff.”
As the man left the plane, Stacia wondered why the pilot was leaving, but when Clay closed the entry door and locked it, she realized she was standing next to the pilot. “I should have guessed,” she commented. “Is there any end to your talent and expertise?”
“I still have a few surprises left – just like you.” He grinned at her.
“Are you ever going to let me forget that?”
“About as soon as I forget I’m expecting a second chance.” His grin grew wider. “Come on,” he said and led the way to the cockpit. “You can be my co-pilot.” He motioned to the seat beside the one he slid into.
She sat down as he directed and stared at the maze of buttons, levers and gauges that made up the instrument panel. “Flying a plane is a lot more complicated than driving a car,” she remarked.
“Not really,” he said. “It takes so many hours to get your wings that by the time you’re finished you’re very familiar with the plane and how it operates.” He put on his headphones and nodded to her to do the same. “Of course, it helps to remember, ‘Never be too cock-sure in the cock-pit.’ That was the motto of my flight instructor.”
Stacia laughed. “That sounds like very good advice,” she said as she put on her headset.
Clay radioed the control tower, made last final checks and soon they were airborne.
“What an incredible view you get from here,” Stacia said. “No wonder people like to be pilots. If I was one, I’d want to fly all over the world, just to see the scenery.”
“Your slightest wish is but mine to please you. Where do you want to go first?”
“For today, London will have to do.”
♥♥
Their conversation continued until the city of London came into view. Then Clay became quiet, and she quit talking too. Her silence was partly due to the fact that she didn’t want to bother him while he was busy at the controls. But mostly, she suddenly realized she didn’t want to go home and make a movie, she wanted to go back to SwissDen with Clay. She felt a tear run down her cheek.
Clay glanced over at her, his face equally grim. “Are you feeling like I am?” He brushed away another tear on her face that had followed the first one. “I don’t want you to leave,” he said simply, then turned his concentration to landing the plane.
When the engines were stilled, he took off his headset and seat belt while Stacia did the same. Clay stood up and pulled her to a standing position beside him. Then he gathered her in his arms and kissed her.
It was a passionate kiss that seemed to her to be as jet-propelled as the plane in which they were standing. A romantic kiss drawing Clay and her together in the cockpit of a plane parked in the airport of one of the most romantic cities in the world. A loving kiss, tender and sweet, that left her with no doubt of his feelings for her, and she hoped she was able to send the message to him that she was falling in love too.
When their kiss ended, she knew she couldn’t change the reality of the moment. She had to go home and finish her commitment. He opened the exit door, and she was certain her face was as sad as his when they descended the steps of his jet.
He led her to the American Airlines plane that was completing its boarding. Customs came and cleared her. She climbed the steps, and when she was at the top, she turned to wave at him and blew him a kiss, then walked inside and was welcomed by the First Class service manager and flight attendant.
When she was settled in her seat, she looked out the window and saw Clay’s plane across the runway from hers. Her plane started its roaring engines, and soon they were off speeding down the runway and flying upwards into the skies. She watched as the white jet with the cameo of snow-capped mountains on its tail grew smaller and smaller. A second later, it had disappeared as if it had never existed, just like her days at SwissDen.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“...I don’t know when I’ll be home, Elizabeth. I planned on staying at Grand-mère’s for a few days.” Dean was on the phone in the library. “I know you planned on going to the beach alone. But just this once, can’t you take the boys with you? You know how much they love to swim.”
Silence barricaded the room as he listened to his wife’s response. “I’m sure you can ask my sister to stay with the boys until I get back,” he finally replied. “That won’t be a problem for Diane. If it is, call me back, and I’ll come home.” Silence again. Dean ran his hand over his hair and walked toward the window. “All right then, I’ll see you in a week.” He slammed the phone down in frustration.
His grand-mère walked into the room. “What’s happening between you and Elizabeth these days, dear, or is that none of my business?”
Dean scratched his head. “I don’t know, Grand-mère, we’ve just grown apart. She wants to live her own life and is gone a good share of the time. She thinks she can write the great novel, but all the time it has to be done away from the boys and me. She claims she can’t write it at home, so she goes to our beach house a couple times a month and stays for long periods of time. And when we’re together, we fight a lot because she keeps insisting we send the boys to boarding school, and I want them home. It’s like she doesn’t want to be a part of our lives anymore.”
“And her, Dean?” Grand-mère pointed the end of her cane out the window at Victoria. “How does she fit into all of this?”
He sighed. “I’m in love, deeply, passionately, past all eons of time love. I knew it when Victoria walked into my office with her sister. For the first time in my life, I know how it feels to look at someone and think she’s the most beautiful woman in the world. I know what it is to love everything she loves, how it feels to shed tears when she does, but mostly I want her to be happy, to not ever have to cry a tear again. That’s why I brought her here. I knew you were the miracle worker she needed to get better.” Dean walked over to his grand-mère and hugged her.
“And Victoria? How does she feel about this?”
“She doesn’t know, and I won’t tell her until I’m free and she’s healed. But in the meantime, I don’t see what it hurts to spend time with her, under your supervision, of course. Who knows, maybe she’ll fall in love with me before I tell her I love her.”
“And when do you plan to tell Elizabeth?”
“About Victoria? Never. Ask her for a divorce? Soon. Very soon. As soon as I can figure out what’s best for the boys. I’d like them to live with Victoria and me...I guess I’m getting ahead of myself in my thinking.”
“You always did, dear, you always did...”
♥♥
The first thing Stacia did when she got home was to dig in her closet for a box big enough to hold her green tank top, black pants and stiletto heels. She placed the clothes inside the box carefully, covered them with the lid and stored them away on a shelf in her bedroom closet
, smiling as she remembered Clay’s instructions to save “that little outfit to wear again just for me.” Now everything is all ready for his second chance, if it ever occurs. Then, she crawled into bed and slept off her jet lag.
When she awoke, she went into her living room and opened the door to grab the day’s paper. Welcome Home! she thought, as she read the headline, GOODBYE, SWEET PRINCE! A photo of her throwing Clay a kiss at the top of the airplane steps in London was beneath the headline, and the story began, The lost is found...
How did the press happen to be there right then? Probably they just hung around the airport looking for anything they figured was newsworthy and had stumbled onto them.
Her phone rang, and she let the answering machine pick up. A sexy male voice said, “I waited for you to call me.”
She made a flying leap for the phone and tackled it. “Hi, I just got up,” she said, hoping she sounded as sexy to him as he did to her.
“I miss you already. SwissDen isn’t the same without you around tempting me.”
She wanted to say she wished she was there to tempt him, but decided on a more casual approach. “Those days were the best times of my life.”
“Well, don’t count out the rest of your life, because I’ve got some spectacular plans for our future.”
“How about if we just concentrate on the present for now? Are you still coming to visit me?” She plopped back onto her sofa cushions and stuck her bare feet on the coffee table right on top of her photo.
“In a few days like we planned, if it’s still okay?”
“I’d like to ask you to stay here with me. I have plenty of room, but...”
“I know. The paparazzi would love to catch us staying together.”
“Did my photo make the papers over there?” She wiggled her heels around on top of the newspaper until she succeeded in ripping it apart. Then she stuck her tongue out at the pieces.
“Yup. London, Paris, Switzerland, and every country around them. I thought I’d frame a copy of that kiss, until I could collect the real thing, that is.”
