by Susan Meier
"I'm so sorry about this. Alexander. Thank God you have a sense of humor because it really has been a long time since I played." She smiled prettily. "But I think golf is more fun when I play poorly. I haven't laughed this much in years."
From the sparkle in her eyes, Alexander could see the truth in that. Sitting in the grass, not afraid of staining her pristine white shorts, laughing like a child, she was absolutely gorgeous. And her laughter was contagious. Particularly since her game was funny. He also imagined he didn't look anything short of hilarious, falling to the ground to duck her shot. Chuckling himself, Alexander took the few steps to the tee and sat beside her.
"I'm awful."
"You're rusty," he said, unable to quell the need to comfort her.
She laced him and sincerely said. "Thank you very much for your patience."
"It's my pleasure." He gave the reply automatically, but he suddenly realized he meant it. She was funny, fun. And he hadn't laughed this much in years, either.
With their faces only inches apart, Alexander knew he could kiss her. Her violet eyes very clearly communicated that she expected him to kiss her. Not in the saucy, demanding way of the old Princess Meredith, but in a sweet, nearly innocent way that had him wanting to believe she really had changed.
Half seduced, half angry with himself for again believing she had changed, he pulled away. But not rudely as he had the day before. Being careful not to do something he would have to apologize for, upsetting the balance of power again, he rose from the tee like a man who didn't get the hint.
"Now that you've had a rest," he said, as he unobtrusively got himself away from her. "Your shot should be easier."
She smiled, then nodded as if she appreciated the second chance he had given her, and Alexander didn't know what to believe anymore.
Particularly since he suddenly felt like the villain. She was a nice woman with a sense of humor working to please her boss. While he kept trying to trick her.
But she never once slipped. She hardly even wavered.
Maybe it was time to believe what Lissa kept say.. Princess Meredith had changed.
That afternoon Alexander took Merry sailing, then invited her to have dinner with him. After the meal he had catered in his villa, he directed Merry to the sofa. Soft music filtered from speakers hidden in the wall. Soft Gulf breezes flowed in through the open sliding glass door. Three glasses of wine had relaxed Alexander, but Merry was too confused to be comfortable.
Alexander had seemed surprised that she hadn't lost her temper on the golf course. The few times he'd laughed with her, Merry had the feeling he never al-lowed himself that simple pleasure, and it gave her great joy to be the one who broke the ice for him.
And that scared her.
She was really falling for him. Not just because he was the only man she knew who could be romantic on a golf course. Alexander Rochelle was simply a wonderful man. She knew from his dealings at the resort that he was smart and crafty, but she also knew he was fair. Generous with both his guests and his employees.
She knew he lived the life of a loner, and though it was by his own choice, she now saw his was a difficult life. Yet he never complained. He knew how to make the best of whatever situation he was in. He was funny, romantic and so darned good-looking he made her heart hurt.
And he liked her, too. Though Merry knew he'd fought his feelings, their mutual attraction had won. He couldn't deny he liked her company and he liked her. Her reward for not storming away when he'd initially rejected her, for giving him a second chance, and for being patient, had been a wonderful day outside and a gorgeous formal dinner. Now she suspected she was about to experience what would be the most romantic lovemaking of her life.
So why was she nervous?
Without a word, Alexander took the wineglass from her hand and set it on the table in front of his black leather sofa.
Edgy, she glanced around at the red-and-black decor of his villa. "This is really an interesting way you've decorated."
He smiled and inched closer. "So you've said at least four times."
"I'm just nervous."
He cupped her face in his hands and asked, "Why?" But he didn't give her a chance to answer. Instead he pressed his mouth to hers and kissed her as gently and thoroughly as a longtime lover. Heat exploded in her middle. Her arms were heavy and listless when she raised them to wrap them around his shoulders.
He released her mouth and trailed kisses from her cheek down her neck to her collarbone. "You're not afraid of me are you?"
More afraid than he'd ever know. But she couldn't tell him that. "No."
His tongue traced the neck of her T-shirt. "Good."
Shivery urgency consumed her. Like a fire, it heated her skin and melted her bones. She'd never wanted a man the way she wanted Alexander, but for the first time since she met him she began to feel this relationship was a mistake. Not because she wanted to deny her sexuality, but because she knew she'd never feel this way about Prince Alec.
Alexander was the kind of man who would set a standard and it was unfair to Prince Alec to compare him to something he could never reach. It would be better for her not to experience the highest standard and give Prince Alec the benefit of the doubt, and not force her husband to live in the shadow of another man.
She took a long breath. Swallowed. "Alexander." She surprised herself when her voice was nothing but a wisp of sound.
He stopped. "Yes?"
She licked her lips. "I can't do this."
Chapter Five
The next morning Alexander was furious. Not with Merry for rejecting him, but with himself, for always giving her the benefit of the doubt. No, if he really thought this through, Merry was behaving perfectly in character.
So he intended to work from his villa, but when he opened his briefcase to retrieve the documents he needed to prepare for negotiations for a new resort, he didn't have copies of the deeds for the three properties he was considering.
He strode to his office in the hotel complex, grabbed the appropriate file and retraced his steps, only interested in getting out unnoticed. But as he bounded through the lobby, Lissa spotted him. From the alert expression that came to her face he knew she recognized something was wrong.
She didn't stop him on his way out of the hotel, but after he'd had enough time to reach his villa and toss his file folder onto his dining room table, there was a knock at his door and he knew she had followed him.
Apparently, Princess Meredith's godmother didn't mind risking her life.
"What?" he asked as he opened his door to her.
"That's exactly what I was going to ask you. What happened? For the first time in her life, the princess is quiet and you look about as happy as a bear with a thorn in its paw."
Alexander sighed. "Why don't you go talk to her?"
"I did. She thinks she's running from a crush on an American businessman. You know what's really happening here. That's why I came to you for the story."
"Ha!" he said, granting her entry only because he didn't want anyone overhearing this conversation. "As far as I'm concerned you could be in league with the enemy, so if you think I'm going to give you a complete description of her skipping out on me last night, you're nuts."
"She ran out on you?"
"I'm not saying it again."
Lissa frowned. "Did she run out like a thief escaping a burglary or like Cinderella leaving the ball?"
He stared at her. "You are nuts."
"Just humor me," she said, taking a seat on Alexander's black leather sofa. "Was she eager to get out because she didn't want to be with you anymore or eager to get out because she did want to be with you but knew she shouldn't?"
Realizing he wasn't getting rid of this persistent old bat unless he humored her, Alexander said, "When she left she was…" He paused and thought for a minute. "Quiet. Subdued in a way I've never seen her before."
"That's exactly how she was with me this morning." Lissa frowned, obviously thinking t
hings through. "What were you doing when she ran out?"
He sighed. He didn't really want to tell her this, but now that she was here and they were talking, he could admit to himself that he did need to make sense of what had happened. Lissa was the only person he could talk to. "Actually, we were sitting right where you are." He paused, then added, "Kissing."
"She ran when you were kissing her?"
Alexander began to pace. "As if her feet were on fire."
Lissa considered that, then asked, "Did she say anything?"
"Just before she ran she said, 'I'm sorry'."
"And you assumed that meant she was sorry she didn't like you?"
"And you don't?"
"Alexander, the woman is promised to someone else. She wasn't supposed to be kissing anybody, let alone kissing somebody she really likes."
He stopped pacing and gaped at Lissa. "She couldn't kiss me because she was being loyal to me?"
Lissa laughed. "Yes!"
"The only way I'd buy that would be if she hadn't slept with anyone else in the past seven years."
"I'd stake my life on it."
Alexander fell to the sofa. "Right."
Lissa smiled confidently. "I wasn't kidding. I would stake my life on the bet that your princess hasn't slept with anybody in the past seven years."
"If she's so damned loyal, then why did she try to seduce me by my pool the first night she was here?"
Unimpressed by his revelation, Lissa shrugged.
"When Meredith first got here, she told me she would love to have a casual fling with you. But I think now that she's getting to know you she realizes she can't. Probably because she really likes you."
"Right. People always reject prospective lovers because they really like them."
"They do if they think they're falling in love, and they're promised to somebody else."
He sighed. "Look, I can believe that she's 'evolved' enough to feel guilty about cheating on Prince Alec," he said talking about himself as if he were a third person because, in a sense, he was. "But she can't have real feelings for me as Alexander. She hasn't known me long enough."
"Some people fall in love more quickly than others."
He laughed and shook his head. "You forget, we're talking about Princess Meredith. The woman to whom I am betrothed."
"She's changed."
"But our situation hasn't." He stopped long enough to sort through his explanation. If he said this right he might convince Lissa to butt out. "When Merry and I marry, she won't be my wife in this relationship as much as she will be Silestia's representative to my country. Just as my parents continually bartered personal things to get what they needed for their countries, Merry and I won't talk, we'll negotiate. And she knows that as well as I do. So all this is pointless. She'll never have real feelings for me. Our destiny precludes it."
"I don't agree." At Alexander's confused look, Lissa added, "Think about it, Alec. She already likes you enough that she feels spending too much time with you could lead to cheating on her betrothed. Who knows how her feelings would grow if you gave her the next week or so to get to know you."
"Without telling her who I am?"
"You can't. That ruins everything." She sighed. "Look, if I'm wrong, when she finds out who you are what you believed all along will happen. You and Merry will have your marriage of negotiation. But if I'm right, if spending time with the real you causes Merry to fall in love with you, then there's a good chance your arrangement could be something else all together."
His eyes narrowed. "You mean a real marriage?"
Lissa shrugged. "Maybe."
He laughed skeptically. "I doubt it."
"What are you afraid of, Alexander? That Merry will prove herself to you, or that Merry will fall in love with you? Either way, she won't be the bad guy anymore. You will, because you can't stop punishing her for something she did over a decade ago."
When Alexander didn't answer, Lissa added, "Look, I know Merry hurt you. I know she embarrassed you. You would be perfectly within your rights not to give her a chance to mend her reputation. But I know you a little better than that. You're fair. And that's really what's bothering you. You know the fair thing to do right now is to give Merry a chance."
Alexander sighed.
Lissa moved to the door, but then turned to face him again. "Or would you rather return to Silestia and be seen as an ogre who won't forgive their beautiful princess bride for a mistake she made when she was just a kid?"
Merry sat in the sun at a small corner table in the Greenhouse Cafe. The cup of coffee at her right and half-eaten bagel at her left grew cold while she reviewed guest applications.
As a crone she'd had a knack for glancing at the forms filled out by newcomers to the resort and immediately seeing common interests. But today she couldn't find two people who even looked suited enough to share dinner, let alone become a potential love match. Worse, with the number of early departures steadily rising, she expected Alexander would, any day now, begin clamoring for the return of nonexistent Merry Montrose.
Princess Meredith's time was running out, but she couldn't bring in a new manager when the resort was losing guests and Alexander was pining for an old crone. Though she'd already interviewed four people and had somebody in mind, she had to get the early departure numbers down and prove to Alexander that Merry Montrose could be replaced before she actually hired someone.
Merry closed the folder and reached for a memo pad. Since matchmaking ideas didn't come to her automatically anymore, she decided to make a list of the things she'd done to create the twenty-one matches that had broken her curse. This should refresh her memory about how to get people together. Then the early departure numbers would fall. She could bring in her new manager and the new manager could please Alexander.
Alexander.
Just thinking his name made Merry's heart melt. She now knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that if she let herself relax with him, they could have a once-in-a-lifetime love. But she couldn't do it. She was betrothed. And he didn't really want a once-in-a-lifetime love. He needed one, but he didn't want one.
Walking her home from Rick and Cynthia's wedding, when she was still Merry Montrose, he'd told her someone had hurt him. He'd said he was cynical, though happy with his life the way it was. However, from the sadness in his eyes, she knew that wasn't true. He might be content or resigned, but he wasn't happy.
But that would only be her concern if she planned to spend her life with him. Since her betrothal to someone else precluded marrying Alexander, his misconception about the state of his life wasn't any of her business. Her business was getting Alexander's resort filled with happy guests and then returning to Silestia to marry Prince Alec.
"Grab your things."
Merry glanced up. When she saw Alexander standing by her table her heart stuttered. Dressed in a dark suit, with his hair neatly combed and his blue eyes serious and intent, he took her breath away. But because even noticing his attractiveness was wrong, she merely smiled at him.
"I'm sorry. I didn't hear what you said."
"I said gather your things. I'm flying to Atlanta this afternoon to meet with the owner of some property I'm considering for a resort in Georgia."
"What does that have to do with me?"
"You're going, too."
"But I…"
"Your aunt would have been happy to give me her opinion on whether the existing building could be remodeled to suit our needs. But if you don't think you're qualified…"
She bristled. The knowledge and experience she'd gained as manager of his resort was her first real source of pride and self-esteem. She was very good and no one could take that away from her. More than that, though, she had to prove to him that her "Aunt Merry" wasn't the only person who could run this resort. "I'm perfectly qualified."
"Fine. I'll meet you at the private airstrip in twenty minutes."
Assuming they were taking a day trip, Merry didn't pack. She changed into a blue suit and he
els, an outfit more suitable for a business meeting, and scurried to the airstrip. Alexander's new pilot, Mick, escorted her to the plane and seated her.
Glancing around, Merry noted that Alexander didn't own a fancy, homey jet as her father did. There was no bar. table or sleeping quarters. Instead, though the plush gray upholstered seats were roomy and comfortable, the plane was clearly more for efficiency than pleasure. So much like Alexander. His life was filled with possibilities and potential, but he was careful, cautious and only took what he really needed.
Still, that wasn't any of her business. She reached into her briefcase to get her list of matchmaking tricks so she'd have something to focus on to avoid talking to Alexander. If he had asked her along with him to lure her into a personal conversation, maybe dinner and then into bed, he would be sorely disappointed. She was engaged. And she was a hell of a lot stronger mentally than Alexander apparently thought she was if he believed he could trick her into a weekend getaway.
Alexander boarded the plane. "I see you made it."
Merry smiled politely and said, "Yes."
"Good."
He took the seat across the aisle and Merry shifted uncomfortably. Her suspicions about his reasons for bringing her along caused a frisson of alarm to dance along her skin, but she reminded herself that she could handle him. Unfortunately, the clean scent of his cologne drifted to her, bringing to mind how good it felt to be close to him, and she almost groaned. She liked him. Darn it! Her refusal to have anything to do with him wasn't about not being attracted. She was promised to someone else. He wasn't making things better for himself by pushing them together!
But through the short flight. Alexander didn't say a word, and Merry refused to initiate conversation because she was an engaged woman attracted to the man who seemed to be spiriting her away. Of course, if he really was spiriting her away, wouldn't he be talking? Flirting? If nothing else, glancing at her every once in a while?
