She finished with the second piecrust and started on the third. ‘‘My sister Katherine is busy tracking a lead right now, but I’m sure that Serena and Elizabeth will come to Hope eventually. We have to coordinate our schedules. Right now they’re busy with personal appearances.’’
‘‘Do you have any of those planned?’’
‘‘I have one on Saturday in Los Angeles. It’s a large fund-raiser for a local cancer center. But other than that, I’m free until after the first of the year.’’
‘‘Well, whenever your sisters arrive, they’ll be welcome here.’’
‘‘That would be too many of us,’’ Alex said. ‘‘I think they’ll be better off at a hotel.’’
Betty gave her a quick, knowing look but didn’t say anything, except to direct her to pour the prepared pumpkin filling into the piecrusts. ‘‘Then we bake,’’ the older woman said, ‘‘and tomorrow we’ll taste them.’’
‘‘Couldn’t we taste one tonight and make sure that they’re all right?’’
‘‘Have a little faith.’’
‘‘Oh, I have plenty of faith,’’ Alex murmured as she placed the three pies into the oven. ‘‘I’m just not so sure about my crust-making abilities.’’
*
‘‘Just promise,’’ Alex insisted several hours later as she and Mitch relaxed in the living room after dinner.
He made an X over his heart. ‘‘I promise I won’t laugh at you tomorrow if your pumpkin pies are gross.’’
She reached behind her and grabbed one of the small, decorative cushions in the corner of the couch and threatened him with it. ‘‘I did not say they would be gross. I said I was the tiniest bit concerned about how they might taste and I wanted you to promise to be gentle.’’
His brown eyes darkened with an emotion that had nothing to do with her pies. ‘‘I will always be gentle with you, Alex.’’
How did he do that? she wondered as her thighs began to tremble and her heart thundered wildly against her breastbone. With just a sultry tone and a few casual words he reduced her to a quivering mass. She felt like a heroine from a daytime drama. One of those wild women who do anything for passion. Which didn’t make sense. She was Princess Alexandra of Wynborough. She was neither passionate nor wild. So why was she so different when she was with Mitch?
‘‘What are you thinking?’’ he asked. ‘‘You have the oddest expression on your face.’’
She shook her head. ‘‘Nothing really.’’
‘‘Liar.’’
‘‘All right. How about if I say that it’s personal?’’
‘‘That I’ll accept.’’ He took a sip of his brandy, then grinned. ‘‘So, what were you thinking?’’
This time she actually smacked him with the small, fluffy cushion. He had the nerve to laugh at her. ‘‘Yeah, like that’s going to hurt.’’
‘‘You could at least pretend to be intimidated,’’ she grumbled. ‘‘Need I remind you that I do have the power to behead you.’’
‘‘Cheap talk. I’m starting to think you’re not even a real princess.’’
She sat angled toward him, their knees bumping. A couple of floor lamps provided subdued lighting, as did the crackling fire. As she inhaled the sweet scent of wood smoke, Alex promised herself that no matter what happened, she would always remember this night. The way Mitch sat so close to her, the sensual, unspoken but very real promise between them. She wanted to hold all her memories from the ranch in a special place in her brain so she wouldn’t lose a single detail. For reasons she didn’t quite understand, she sensed that they were going to be a very important part of her life and not anything she would want to forget.
His gaze settled on her face. ‘‘But you are a real princess, aren’t you. No matter that I wish you weren’t.’’
His comment surprised her. ‘‘Why would you wish that?’’
His only answer was a shrug.
Alex wasn’t sure what to make of that. Her royal status shouldn’t matter to him, unless he was talking about her invasion of his house. If she hadn’t been royalty, there would have been no reason for her to have stayed this long. Except she didn’t think that was what he meant.
‘‘I’m glad you’re going to be here for Thanksgiving,’’ he said. ‘‘My folks wanted me to come up to Washington and stay with them, but I’d already decided I couldn’t get away. You’re going to save me from a very solitary dinner.’’
‘‘I’m glad. I would hate to think that I was intruding on a carefully planned event.’’
‘‘Not likely. Betty makes most of the meal beforehand. Last year John was around, but this year I was going to be all on my own.’’
Alex frowned. ‘‘I hadn’t thought of this before, but I just realized that your brother is going to miss a very important family holiday. Would he really stay away and not even call you or your parents?’’
Mitch shrugged. ‘‘He might. John has his own demons to deal with. I gave up judging him a long time ago.’’
There was something in Mitch’s tone, a whisper of discontent, or was it anger? ‘‘Don’t the two of you get along?’’
Mitch was silent for a long time. He shifted so his head rested against the back of the sofa and his long legs stretched out in front of him. The movement meant they weren’t touching anymore, and Alex tried hard not to feel abandoned. She could see that Mitch had lost himself in the past.
‘‘We get along fine…now,’’ he said slowly. ‘‘Since our late teens, we’ve been pretty close. But there were a lot of years I hated the sight of him.’’
She couldn’t imagine hating one of her sisters. ‘‘Why?’’
‘‘Because I was afraid.’’ He rested his hands on his flat belly and drew in a deep breath. ‘‘I was four when my parents adopted John. They had explained to me that they wanted to give me a brother or sister but that they couldn’t. I found out later that my mom had had some troubles during delivery and the doctors recommended she not have another baby. So they decided to adopt another child.’’
‘‘Why would that frighten you?’’
‘‘I thought they were replacing me. I thought they thought I wasn’t good enough, that they’d adopted John because they didn’t think I would be able to handle the responsibility of the ranch. He was there as backup in case I screwed up.’’
‘‘Did you ever discuss this with them?’’
He shook his head. ‘‘Eventually I figured out that they’d really wanted another child, and that they thought a boy would be more fun for me. I let all the ambivalence go.’’
‘‘Are you sure?’’ Alex asked before she could stop herself. Then she pressed her fingertips to her mouth. ‘‘Sorry, that just slipped out. You don’t have to answer that question.’’
‘‘I know, but it’s a good point. Sometimes I still work the thought over in my mind and wonder if I’m good enough. But not very often and never for long. I do a good job here, and I know my parents are proud of me.’’
More important, he was proud of himself. But this time Alex managed to hold the words back.
‘‘I worry about John,’’ Mitch admitted. ‘‘No matter how my folks tried to make him feel like one of the family, he’s never completely fit in. Even as a kid he seemed to be searching for something else.’’
‘‘Is that why he disappears?’’
‘‘I guess. Something out there keeps calling to him, and he keeps leaving to find it.’’
Was John her long-lost brother, searching for his true identity, or was he just a man with a case of wanderlust? She didn’t have the answer, and she wasn’t even sure she wanted one. As much as she needed her future settled, Alex wasn’t in any hurry to leave the ranch…and Mitch.
‘‘We are so much alike,’’ she mused. ‘‘You and I,’’ she added when he glanced at her and raised his eyebrows.
‘‘What are you talking about? Little lady, we couldn’t be more different.’’
‘‘You’re wrong,’’ she told him. �
�‘Of course we’re different in that respect. You’re mostly wrong and I’m mostly right.’’
The low growl in his throat warned her of the attack just microseconds before he launched himself at her. She shrieked and tried to scramble off the sofa, but he already had her pinned. His long, strong body held her firmly in place while his fingers searched out and found ticklish spots on her ribs.
‘‘Stop,’’ she gasped, trying to push him away. She laughed and yelped and squirmed, but nothing helped.
‘‘You’re just wasting energy, darlin’. I was on the rodeo circuit. If I can wrestle a two-thousand-pound steer to the ground, one skinny, redheaded princess isn’t going to be much of a problem.’’
She pushed at him, but it was like shoving against the side of a mountain. He didn’t budge. ‘‘Violence is the refuge of the incompetent,’’ she said.
‘‘Uh-huh. That’s pretty high-and-mighty coming from someone so completely out of control of the situation.’’ He tickled her ribs again.
‘‘No!’’ She wiggled and squirmed, but it was no use. All she could do was try to capture his hands in hers and hold them. Unfortunately, he pulled free of her easily.
‘‘Dammit, Mitch, let me go.’’
He raised his eyebrows in mock astonishment. ‘‘Was that profanity I heard falling from those royal lips?’’
‘‘Yes, and you’re going to hear more.’’ She glared at him. ‘‘And I’m not skinny.’’
‘‘Did I say skinny?’’
Her bangs were in her eyes. She pushed them out of the way. ‘‘You did.’’
‘‘I apologize. You’re slender, but in the most delightful way. All your curves are exactly as they should be.’’
‘‘You would be the one to know,’’ she grumbled.
His smile turned wolfish. ‘‘I would be, wouldn’t I?’’
They looked at each other. When he wasn’t tickling her, she found that she liked being pinned by him. His legs tangled with hers and his mouth was so close, it wouldn’t be difficult at all to kiss him. The thought made her shiver and sort of melt inside.
Was it her imagination or was he thinking the same thing? His eyes seemed so dilated, they were nearly black. Had his breathing increased?
‘‘Tell me how we’re alike,’’ he said.
‘‘What?’’
‘‘You told me that we were very much alike. I want to know how we’re the same.’’
Is that what he’d been thinking? While she’d been lost in the moment of their closeness, he’d been remembering a snippet of conversation? Obviously she would never understand men.
She started to straighten, but he didn’t move. ‘‘Aren’t you going to let me up?’’
‘‘No.’’
‘‘Oh.’’ She blinked. ‘‘All right.’’ She took a couple of seconds to try to remember what she’d been thinking when she made the comment about them being similar in nature.
‘‘We’re both the oldest,’’ she said. ‘‘We have a strong sense of tradition and of doing the right thing. We believe in the past, but we also look to the future.’’
‘‘I see. If you put it that way, I guess you’re right. I just never saw myself as anything like royalty.’’
He chuckled, but suddenly Alex didn’t find his comment funny.
‘‘Why do you keep doing that?’’ she asked. ‘‘Why do you keep talking about me being a princess?’’
‘‘Because you are.’’
‘‘I know that. But the way you say it, it’s almost as if you’re reminding yourself.’’
His humor faded. ‘‘Maybe I am.’’
‘‘Why? Am I so very different? Can’t you treat me like any other woman in your life?’’
‘‘But you’re not like them.’’
He wasn’t making any sense. ‘‘What am I doing wrong?’’ she demanded. ‘‘Tell me how I’m different.’’
‘‘You just are.’’
‘‘That’s not an answer.’’
‘‘It’s the best I can do.’’
‘‘So you’ll never treat me like everyone else.’’
His mouth pulled into a straight line. ‘‘What do you want to know, Alex? What’s the point here?’’
‘‘I don’t know. I just wish—’’ She drew in a deep breath. ‘‘I wish you didn’t think of me as different. I wish you wouldn’t always worry about the whole princess issue.’’
‘‘I don’t.’’
‘‘Of course you do. Everything is different because of who I am and how you think you should treat me.’’
‘‘It’s not as different as you think.’’
She knew she was acting like an eight-year-old, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. ‘‘So if I wasn’t a princess, everything about our relationship would be the same?’’
He hesitated long enough for her to know that she’d hit on some truth.
‘‘What?’’ she asked. ‘‘What would be different?’’
He started to pull away. She grabbed on to his arms. ‘‘Mitch, tell me.’’
‘‘You think you’re so damn smart, don’t you?’’ He glared at her. ‘‘All right, princess, try this one on for size. If you weren’t my guest and my responsibility, not to mention royalty, I would toss you over my shoulder, carry you down the hall to my bedroom and make love with you until this time next week.’’
Chapter Thirteen
He was certainly direct, Alex thought in numb disbelief as she tried to figure out if Mitch had really said he wanted to make love with her or if she’d imagined it. She prayed it was the former, rather than the latter, because the thought of him wanting her that much made her want to throw herself at him and beg him to show her exactly what happened between a man and a woman.
‘‘At least you didn’t hit me,’’ he said, then cast her a sideways glance. ‘‘I probably shouldn’t have said that, but you were pushing me for an answer, and that’s the only one I could think of.’’
Her excitement faded as quickly as it had flared. ‘‘It was just a line?’’ she asked, trying hard to keep the disappointment from her voice.
He sat up straight. ‘‘Of course not. What kind of jerk do you think I am?’’
‘‘I don’t think you’re a jerk at all. I just wasn’t sure what you meant.’’ She had the uncomfortable feeling that their conversation had just taken a turn for the worse.
‘‘I meant—’’ he shook his head ‘‘—hell, I don’t know what I meant. The truth is you tie me up in knots. You have from the first moment you sashayed onto this ranch, looking like a million bucks in your city clothes and that pitiful excuse for a car.’’
She bristled. The Jaguar had been a reckless purchase—one of the few she’d ever allowed herself in her life. ‘‘What’s wrong with my car?’’
‘‘Nothing. It’s beautiful and impractical and has no business being here.’’ He reached out and stroked her cheek. ‘‘Just like you, princess. Just like you.’’
‘‘Oh, Mitch.’’ She felt herself leaning toward him. ‘‘Is this crazy?’’
‘‘Only if you want me as much as I want you.’’
Wanting. What did it feel like exactly? Alex wasn’t sure she knew. She’d never talked about the sensation with anyone before, mostly because it had never been an issue in her life. She’d been so sure she would be married by now and that she would experience whatever passion was to be in her life as a married woman. But she hadn’t married, and so far her parents showed no signs of finding her a husband. Were they waiting for her?
The thought that she might have some control over her own destiny was so startling that she very nearly forgot about the tender touch of Mitch’s fingers against her cheek. Except the tingling reminded her. As did the ache in her breasts and the strong pulsing low in her stomach. Was this passion? The need to be very close to a specific man. The desire for him to hold her close and touch all of her, to teach her about lovemaking and let her explore him? Because if that was wanting, then she wanted
Mitch very much. She wanted him more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life.
‘‘It’s crazy,’’ she whispered, telling herself that she was nearly thirty and she’d been a virgin plenty long enough.
He cupped her face. She saw him swallow and felt the fire leap from him. It circled her body, then ignited more flames within her body. She trembled and felt an answering shudder from him.
‘‘I want you so bad, I can’t figure out if I’m in heaven or hell,’’ he told her. ‘‘But you’re not an ordinary woman.’’
When she would have spoken, he touched a finger to her mouth. ‘‘I’m not just talking about the whole princess thing,’’ he said. ‘‘You’re very special. We haven’t gone into details about our past love lives, but I suspect you’ve been real particular about who you’ve let in your bed.’’ His brown eyes darkened. ‘‘I respect that, Alex. I respect you.’’
The realization that they might actually do this… this…act together sent more heat flooding her. It also unleashed an entire herd of nerves. She couldn’t, could she? What if he figured out she was a virgin? Here Mitch was telling her that he would respect her in the morning, but that was based on his assumption that she’d been with other men. Or at least one other man. Thank goodness he didn’t consider her wildly experienced. Oh, why hadn’t she asked her mother more questions about sex? Make that any questions. Alex suddenly remembered she didn’t know much more than she’d read or that she and her sisters had speculated about years before when they’d all been innocent teenagers. For all she knew each of her sisters kept a stable of lovers and she was the only ignorant one in the bunch.
‘‘You’re awfully quiet,’’ he said. ‘‘Having a change of heart?’’
He kept his tone light, but she read the tension in his body. She knew Mitch well enough to believe that if she said she didn’t want to go through with this, he would understand completely. He would never pressure her or say anything unkind. But what about after? What if he figured out about her lack of experience? Would he think less of her?
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