His Royal Pleasure

by Leanne Banks

  “I really don’t have any information,” she said for the fifteenth time to the young reporter sniffing for blood. He stood on her front porch as immovable as the posts supporting the roof while she tried to hold her fragile self together.

  “But surely, Ms. Kendall,” he continued with an ingratiating smile, “you must know something of Prince Alexander. After all, he’s been in your residence for—”

  Chad chose that moment to stomp up the stairs. Another man in a suit followed not far behind.

  Chad looked at the reporter and frowned. “Where’s Al?”

  Katherine bared her teeth in what she hoped looked like a smile. “He’s gone.” She bit her lip at the hollowness in her voice.

  “Gone?”

  “You were also acquainted with Prince Alexander?” asked the reporter, sensing new prey. “What can you tell us about him? His personality?” The young man flexed his pen over his pad. “His favorite foods? Anything?”

  “Well, if you’re talking about Al Sanders, his coffee tastes like crap.” Then Chad looked as if he’d swallowed a whole lemon. “A prince?” He looked at Katherine and laughed uncertainly. “A prince? That’s rich.” He laughed again. “Big Napoleon. What a bunch of bull—”

  Katherine winced. “Chad, there’s something I need to tell you.”

  He chuckled, shaking his head. “Well, it can’t get any better than this.”

  The man in the suit reached the porch. He was tall and dark. If pressed, Katherine would say he bore a faint resemblance to Alex. Her stomach tightened.

  He gave a brief bow. “Ms. Kendall, my name is Jacques Merrick. I handle Prince Alexander’s press relations. May I assist you?”

  She felt a surge of relief at the same time she began to feel the threat of tears. She managed a nod. “Yes, thank you very much.”

  Chad looked from Jacques to the reporter to Katherine and narrowed his eyes. “Hey, what is—”

  Katherine cleared her throat, but her voice was still shaky. “Come inside,” she said desperately. “I’ll fix you some breakfast and tell you all about it.” She pulled his arm.

  “Ms. Kendall,” Jacques said, “is there a restaurant or bar?” He moved his shoulders in a Gallic shrug. “Something?”

  “The grill is in the community building, but there’s a better selection of restaurants on the mainland. And the ferry will be leaving soon,” she added hopefully.

  “Yeah,” Chad said, and snickered. “And there’s always Chuck’s.”

  Watching the calculating look in Jacques’s eyes, Katherine rammed her elbow in Chad’s ribs.

  Jacques turned to the reporter. “I have known the prince all my life, and I would be happy to give you information for your story. As a matter of fact, I happen to have some photographs in my hotel room. Shall we go?”

  The command again. Katherine wondered if all the Merricks were autocratic. She felt a swift clench of worry that she’d trusted Jacques too easily. “Mr. Merrick,” she said, and moved back a few steps to afford some privacy.

  He shot her an impatient look. “Yes?”

  “You will,” she paused and whispered, “protect Alexander’s image, won’t you?”

  He looked offended. “Of course. It is my duty to serve the royal family, and Prince Alexander is my cousin.”

  She sighed, still unsure. The statement sounded a little cold. “But are you Alex’s friend?”

  He raised an eyebrow, then shook his head. “Prince Alexander does not have many friends. His position doesn’t allow for it. But you may rest assured,” he said more gently, “that I will protect his reputation with my life. I have also been instructed to deflect the media from you.”

  She nodded, somehow reassured and unhappy at the same time, and watched Jacques lead the young reporter down the steps.

  One week later Alex called. His voice hit her with the force of a body blow. It took Katherine a full minute to find her own voice.

  “Katherine,” said Alex, his voice edged with concern. “Are you all right?”

  Her throat tightened. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be all right again. She swallowed hard. “I’m fine, and you?”

  “I’m working again. Funny thing, though, thoughts of a red-haired American beauty creep in at the oddest moments.”

  Her heart twisted. “It will pass,” she assured him.

  His laugh was a harsh and unhappy sound. “If you believe that, then you’re terribly naive. Tell me, do you ever think of me?”

  Always. Katherine rubbed her hand against her forehead. It was difficult to keep from pouring out her heart to him. Difficult, but necessary. “It doesn’t matter if I think of you, Alex. When you were here, we both knew you would leave. It was inevitable.”

  A long silence passed. “We never discussed the future.”

  “Because,” she said as much for herself as him, “there is no future for us.”

  On the other end of the line, Alex grew uneasy. He had returned to Moreno only to find he’d left the best of himself with Katherine. He wanted her with him, with a wanting that edged toward desperate need. “Why not? Moreno has airports. Your school isn’t in session. You could visit. If you’re worried about privacy, I have a chalet in—”

  “Stop it.” She took a deep breath. “This is crazy. We live in different worlds. Barring that, I have responsibilities here. I’m still trying to find a buyer. And as for your private chalet—” Katherine shook her head “—I’m not cut out for clandestine affairs.”

  He was stunned and incredibly hurt. “How can you say that? Nothing between us could ever be clandestine.”

  Katherine fought back the feelings he was rousing inside her. His voice made her feel that she was coming apart when she’d worked so hard to pull herself together. “Oh, Alex, you’re fooling yourself. Everything,” she said, her voice trembling, “everything about our time together was clandestine. I didn’t even know your name in the beginning. We hid our involvement from everyone.”

  “We hid our involvement so we could have privacy and so you would be protected once I left.” He managed a deep breath. “If the secrecy bothers you, I can make arrangements for a press release, and everyone will know. I wasn’t ashamed, chérie, just selfish. I wanted you all to myself. I still want you all to myself.”

  Katherine felt as if she’d just stepped off a high cliff. The intensity of his feelings frightened her. It was too close to what she felt. “I know it seems that we had something—”

  “Seems! Had?” His composure slipped, and something like panic ripped through Alex. “Au contraire, Katherine. Have you forgotten so quickly?” Gripping the phone with a tight fist, he fought the feeling of being lost. “Have you forgotten the way we fit together? The way we can almost read each other’s minds?”

  Katherine closed her eyes. This was torture. “I’m not right for you. Yes. We had a very special time together, but it can’t go on. I’m no blue blood, no princess or duchess. It was hard enough when you left the first time, but I couldn’t bear it if it happened again. And what happens,” she asked, feeling the agony squeeze her voice into something tiny and desperate, “when I embarrass you? Or worse,” she said, voicing her worst fear, “when you grow tired of me?”

  He said something terse and graphic in French. “You could never embarrass me. And I wouldn’t grow tired of you.”

  The silence lengthened, and Katherine felt the distance between them grow. His world and hers. It was more than different countries, more than a different language. It was different attitudes ingrained in both of them since birth.

  “Find someone else, Alex.” She flinched at her suggestion, but doggedly kept on. “Someone better suited to your background. Someone who understands your duties. Someone sophisticated and tougher than I am.”

  Alex couldn’t believe her. Her suggestion was like a slap in the face, so horrible it seemed unreal. “That would be difficult,” he said, feeling his chest tighten. “I love you.”

  She almost broke down then. She’d been s
o miserable without him, and to hear that he loved her twisted her inside out. Hearing his voice and the possibility that she could snatch a little more time with him was the most painful thing she’d ever experienced. The burning in her eyes grew worse. She felt the wetness threaten, then seep out the corners of her closed eyes.

  “It’s for the best, Alex,” she said, hearing the fragility in her voice. “Some things are impossible.”

  He fought against her rationale even though he understood it. At one point he’d thought they couldn’t be together. Now, he couldn’t imagine not having her in his life. “But it is possible. We could be together. Why can’t you see?”

  “Because I don’t want to be with you.” A wayward sob escaped, and Katherine damned her slip. “I don’t want to be a part of your life,” she lied desperately, and wondered if lightning would strike her dead for it. Her heart contracted in protest. There was nothing more she could say. Even if she had thought of something, the painful lump in her throat would have prevented it.

  “I don’t believe you.” He couldn’t accept it, but he wondered if he’d been wrong. The doubt made his stomach turn. He’d laid himself bare for her, and she’d turned him down. His chest actually hurt. The hurt and disillusion were fresh, gaping wounds, but he had to try one more time. Like a warrior making a desperate last effort, he had to do it. “Tell me, mon amie,” he said roughly, “that you dream of me.”

  Her tears ran unchecked down her cheeks. She bit her lip hard, knowing this was the hardest thing she’d done in her life. Katherine couldn’t bear his distress, but she wouldn’t encourage him. “I’m sorry.”

  A lengthy silence followed. Full. So full of everything that had passed between them, the hopes, the laughter, the passion, until there was only a deep, soundless, eternal pain.

  His voice was so quiet, she barely heard him. “Call me if you change your mind. Au revoir, my Katherine.”

  The click vibrated inside her, and she held on for a long time after the line was disconnected, cuddling the phone to her ear. With trembling hands, Katherine finally hung up the phone. Then she laid her head on the kitchen table and wept, understanding what made people wish for death.

  Three days later she received a Federal Express letter offering her a position as educational consultant to Moreno.

  The offer caught her off guard. She shook her head, reluctantly admiring how Alex was trying to find a suitable way for her to live in Moreno. His persistence was disarming, but the sensible part of her assured her that if she went to Moreno, she’d just be throwing herself into a situation that was doomed from the start.

  She’d thought that time would lend her strength, that the days would numb her pain. So far, she’d been wrong. Her sense of loss was shattering. Chad commented on how distracted she was. She tried to make excuses, but she could see the worry in his eyes.

  Instead of growing stronger, she felt herself weakening, dying for just a glance of him, wishing for the sound of his voice. She threw out her collection of nail polish, cried at the sight of fireflies and couldn’t bear to look at marshmallows. She waited two days to refuse the offer, hoping for the peace that eluded her.

  It didn’t come, but she stiffened her resolve and managed to write the refusal. Sending it was just one more cut from the knife.

  The only positive news was an offer for the campground. When Katherine told Jasper, the relief in his voice reassured her that she’d done the right thing. The agreement was signed, and to Katherine’s amazement, the holding company had requested that Chad act as interim manager.

  She knew very little about the buyer, only that he agreed to maintain the property as a campground and had the money to expedite the sale.

  One evening, just as she was about to take a walk on the beach, the doorbell rang. Expecting one of the campers, Katherine opened the door. A young woman with full dark hair and dark eyes, dressed in a designer summer suit, stood on her porch with two men behind her. The young woman was looking at her with a curious, measuring air.

  “Katherine Kendall?” she said in a rich, cultured voice.

  Katherine nodded, instantly recognizing the faint accent. “Isabella.” She paused. “Princess Isabella with-three-other-names Merrick de Moreno.”

  The woman arched a dark eyebrow, and her lips slowly tilted into a smile. “Yes. I do believe I understand Alex’s distraction. May I come in?”

  Another order couched in a question. Katherine smiled in spite of herself and moved aside as Isabella instructed the two men to wait outside. She was getting used to this.

  She offered her unexpected guest a chair and some lemonade, then cut to the chase. “You’re not here for the camping, are you, Your Highness?”

  Isabella pulled a cigarette out of a gold case and lit it. “No, and please call me Isabella. Titles can be wearing.”

  Katherine wasn’t totally comfortable with this woman who seemed to know quite a bit about her, but she nodded. “Isabella.”

  She took a long drag from the cigarette and exhaled. “You can relax. I just want to know why you’ve ruined my brother.”

  Katherine felt the room turn sideways. She stared wide-eyed. “Ruined!”

  “Well, perhaps ruined is a bit dramatic. But it’s close. Alex was restless and unsettled before he went on vacation. Since he’s been back, he’s miserable.”

  Surprise ran through her. “Has he discussed this with you?” she asked doubtfully. It was difficult for her to imagine Alex willingly discussing his feelings.

  “I interrogated him one evening after dinner. He was reticent at first, but after a few White Russians, he started talking—” Isabella’s eyebrows wrinkled in confusion “—and singing something about ripping out his heart and stomping that sucker flat. He said some things I didn’t understand. Fireflies and water-balloon battles, something about the beach at night and how beautiful she was. When I asked who she was, he said ‘Katherine.’”

  Her heart clenched, and she stood. Sitting was suddenly impossible. “I gave him the firefly.” Katherine shrugged. “Children catch them, and he seemed to have missed out on the fun of childhood. I guess I tried to help him find that for a little while.”

  “Katherine, you gave my brother more than a firefly.”

  Katherine felt her cheeks heat. She wasn’t ashamed; she just felt what she’d shared with Alex was very private. “He didn’t—” she started, and faltered. Swallowing, she continued. “He didn’t discuss that, did he?”

  “No.”

  Relief coursed through her.

  “But we haven’t solved anything. Alex is miserable.”

  Feeling helpless, Katherine lifted her hands. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Say you’ll come to Moreno.”

  “No.”

  “Why not?” Isabella challenged. “You’re responsible for his unhappiness. The least you can do is visit him.”

  “I have responsibilities here. School starts in two and a half weeks.”

  “Then you may visit for two weeks.”

  Katherine shook her head in frustration. “You don’t understand. If I go, I’ll just be prolonging the agony for both of us. Nothing can ever come of this. I’ve been involved in one major mess with a politician, and I don’t want to do it again.”

  Isabella gave her statement a dismissing nod. “I know all about your unfortunate experience with your ex-husband. It’s a drop in the bucket compared to what our family has been through. Alex probably didn’t tell you about it because he feels he’s got to keep the record with the press spotless to make up for our father’s indiscretion.”

  “He mentioned something about bad choices that affected everyone,” said Katherine, remembering their conversations.

  Isabella sighed, flicked her ashes into the ashtray and told Katherine the story of her parents’ seven-year estrangement. Alex’s young mother had been crushed when a woman came forward claiming the prince had sired her young son. The press played up the embarrassing drama.

  “
Oh, no,” said Katherine, remembering her own humiliation.

  “Oh, yes. The truth came out that while Father hadn’t been responsible for producing this child, he had in fact had a lengthy affair with the woman.” Isabella paused. “After he’d married my mother.”

  Katherine felt a surge of sympathy for Isabella’s mother. She understood the feeling of betrayal. “It must have been terrible.”

  “It gets worse. My mother was pregnant and terribly hurt. She left my father. She took me and tried to take Alex, but my father wouldn’t allow it. After all, Alex was heir to the throne.” Isabella shook her head, a shadow coming over her face. “I always thought Alex got the worst of it. He was stuck with my father, who was miserable. Michellina and I got to live in the country with my mother. She was sad, but determined to make a happy life for us.”

  Katherine was confused. “But your parents are together now.”

  “Yes. It took them seven years to make up.” She rolled her eyes. “They’re both incredibly stubborn. Father had to court Mother all over again. The press loved that too.”

  Katherine’s heart twisted. “And Alex?”

  Sadness flickered across Isabella’s face. “You’re right about Alex missing his childhood. And now he has this misguided notion that he has to live a boring, unhappy life and save us from further scandal.”

  Katherine felt helpless. “I don’t see how I can help him.”

  “If you care for him, you can be his friend.” Isabella’s gaze flickered downward. “In his position he doesn’t have many.”

  Katherine sensed Isabella was speaking for herself too. She felt torn. Of course she badly wanted to go to Alex and make him smile and comfort him. She wanted to be there for him. But she was terrified. Going to Moreno meant she’d be risking everything. “Look at me.” Katherine opened her arms, fully aware of her khaki shorts and T-shirt. She knew what her hair looked like. “I’m not princess material.”

  Isabella gave her an assessing glance. “We can take care of your hair, cosmetics and wardrobe one day and leave the following day.”