Twice a Princess

by Susan Meier

  Of course he would. So since he wasn't, that had to mean he wasn't spiriting her away. He had asked her along to work.

  Great.

  Really.

  She wanted to prove to him that he didn't need Merry Montrose.

  She was glad, she told herself repeatedly during the limo ride, that he no longer seemed interested in her. And during the quick walk from the curb to their downtown Atlanta hotel, she used the phrase as a mantra.

  The clerk at the front desk directed Alexander to a private elevator and Alexander motioned for Merry to walk with him. They stepped into the plush car, he pressed the only button and they were whisked skyward to a penthouse suite.

  The door opened on a room with thick off-white carpeting. The space was furnished with a long cherrywood table and chairs. Behind that, a beige print sofa and two mauve chairs were arranged around a round coffee table, making a comfortable sitting area in front of the window. A galley kitchen sat on the right. To the left was a door that probably led to sleeping quarters.

  Seeing the setup—not a conference room, but a hotel suite—Merry's heart stopped. He had tricked her! He'd stayed silent through the entire flight and drive to the hotel so he wouldn't have to explain where they were going.

  "What the heck do you think you're doing?"

  "I told you. We're about to have a meeting."

  "In a hotel room?"

  "It's a suite and I booked it so I could get Mr. Rodriquez off his home turf."

  Merry glanced around, not even slightly convinced. "I'm not supposed to think you brought me here for a weekend getaway?"

  "A weekend getaway?"

  "Stop pretending you don't know what I'm talking about!"

  "I don't."

  She gaped at him. Did he think she was stupid? "You have to be kidding!"

  "I didn't get where I am by kidding."

  The tone of his voice made her frown and she narrowed her eyes as she studied him. Standing ramrod straight, an odd undercurrent of something that seemed like anger simmered through his entire demeanor. He looked like a force to be reckoned with.

  No. She didn't think he'd gotten where he was by kidding. Which meant she was wrong again. They were definitely here for a meeting.

  Alexander removed a few file folders from his briefcase. "These are the property files if you care to review them before he gets here."

  "Sure. Good idea," Merry said. As resort manager she was the person who knew what guests needed to be comfortable and what the employees needed to do their jobs. So yes, she should be familiar with the property files. She reached for the first folder. When she saw it contained a financial statement, she nearly closed it, but her eyes caught the bottom-line numbers. Mr. Rodriquez was losing money. Lots of money.

  She almost said something. Then she remembered that every time she'd opened her mouth today she'd been wrong. Without comment, she closed that file and reached for another, curious now to see where Mr. Rodriquez was making costly mistakes with his resort.

  A few minutes later Norman Rodriquez arrived. A short man in his late fifties or early sixties with thick dark hair and round brown eyes, he wore cargo shorts and a print shirt. To Merry, he looked more like a hotel-lobby worker than its owner.

  Alexander didn't waste time on preliminaries. After he introduced Merry, he directed everyone to the uncomfortable-looking table rather than the thick sofa and chairs, and the negotiations began.

  Norman, as he insisted everyone call him, talked about his resort and its many attractions. Alexander countered with the kinds of changes he would have to make to upgrade the grounds and the buildings. Norman offered to put Alexander in touch with a contractor who could do the work for next to nothing, but Alexander simply said he'd pick his own people.

  The cooler Alexander was with Norman, the more agitated Norman became, until the hotel owner seemed to understand that he was here only to sell the property. He and Alexander would not be friends.

  "I was hoping for an arrangement where I could be something like a silent partner and receive a percentage of the profits from your new resort."

  "I don't have partners."

  "Just like that? No negotiating."

  "No."

  He said it with such quiet assurance that Merry was taken aback, until she realized that was a part of Alexander's personality. He worked well with people, but he didn't have partners. He enjoyed romance, but didn't fall in love. Once again, she was struck by how alone he was.

  Apparently recognizing Alexander was an immovable object, Norman finally named his price. Because it was three times what Merry believed the hotel and surrounding properties to be worth, she almost spit out her soft drink.

  Alexander simply said, "No."

  "Look, I know the hotel's losing money, but the way you intend to run it, you're going to make a bundle. I want a piece of that."

  "There's no reason for you to get a piece of that."

  Merry gulped at the tone of Alexander's voice. She'd seen him be imposing and intimidating many times, but she'd rarely seen him angry. But by all indicators, if Norman didn't stop pushing, she was about to see Alexander pushed over that edge again.

  "Come on," Rodriquez wheedled. "There's not another property like it in the area."

  "There are three properties like it and I'm talking with the owners for all three. Yours is the one I want, but I could make do with either of the other two. Now, would you like to give me a realistic number, or should I move on?"

  Rodriquez drew a breath and cursed softly. But he finally gave a number. It was still a bit higher than Merry thought the property was worth, so she was surprised when Alexander agreed.

  Without saying anything further, Norman Rodriquez packed up and left. He might not have gotten what he wanted, but he most certainly received more than he deserved. While Alexander had snared the property he needed for a price he obviously considered fair. It was the most perfect example of win/win she'd ever seen.

  Forgetting she wasn't talking to Alexander, Merry spun away from the door and faced him. "That was great! You were great."

  Alexander began sliding files into his briefcase. "Now do you see why I wanted him off his home turf?"

  Merry thought for a minute, then shook her head. "No."

  "Because people don't cave in front of their employees and Rodriquez needed to cave. His original number was too high. His expectations were outrageous. But, more than that, he needs this sale. He needs this money."

  Merry had been reaching for a file to help him rebut stopped short. "You brought us here for his benefit?"

  "You thought I did it for mine?"

  "Yes!"

  "Well, you were wrong." He turned and walked to the small table beside the sofa and picked up the phone. He hit one button and said, "Send up dinner, please."

  "Dinner?"

  "I assumed you ate a late breakfast at the Greenhouse Cafe."

  "Yes."

  "But neither one of us had lunch and it's—" he glanced at his watch "—almost seven."

  Merry looked out the window and realized evening had descended. She pressed her hand to her stomach. "I forgot!"

  "This is why I like doing what I do," he said, closing his briefcase with a snap. He walked with it to the door. "I lose myself."

  Merry said nothing and he continued speaking as he returned to the table. "I didn't like who I was when I first came to America," he admitted quietly, seriously. "So I appreciated the opportunity to get lost in my projects, to forget who I was, where I came from. But an interesting thing happened. The more I got lost in my work, the more I realized I was becoming the person I wanted to be."

  Merry understood that completely. Working at La Torchere had at first only been a way to make her matches, but her job had quickly turned into a way to for—if only for a little while—that she was a crone. Running the resort had given Merry her first sense of pride in herself. That more than anything else was what had changed her, but before she could tell Alexander that, their mea
l arrived. The waitstaff laid utensils and covered dishes on the table, and stayed to continue serving.

  Merry and Alexander ate duck and drank wine, but he didn't talk much and certainly didn't say anything personal in front of the hotel employees. Merry didn't really expect that he would, but after tempting her with tidbits of his life, he had her dying of curiosity.

  As the staff cleared the table. Merry took a seat on the sofa, getting out of everyone's way because she was jittery. By the time the elevator door closed on the hotel employees, she was absolutely positive Alexander wouldn't open up again. He would be as silent on the trip from Atlanta as he had been on the plane ride from La Torchere.

  But Alexander didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave. He took the wine from the table and walked to the stereo system where he pushed a few buttons that sent soft music through the quiet night air. Then he meandered to the sofa, where Merry sat. "Would you like another glass of wine?"

  Merry almost declined. Not only were they a tad too comfortable, but also it was late. They should be going home. Still, she'd been curious about Alexander for so long that she couldn't pass up the chance that he might talk again.

  "Sure."

  Alexander poured two glasses of wine and set them on the table, but he didn't join Merry on the sofa. Instead, he caught her hand and pulled her up and into his arms.

  "Dance with me."

  Merry didn't argue. Being pressed against Alexander's strong male form rendered her speechless. Her curves seemed to meld into him. Her blood hummed through her veins. She could happily curl against him and enjoy the feeling of being held in his arms, but she knew dancing with him was wrong.

  "This was supposed to be a business trip," Merry said, trying to slip away and failing because he tightened his grip. "That's the only reason I came."

  "You're still afraid of me?"

  "No."

  "That's basically what you told me last night."

  Her brow furrowed in confusion. "No. I never said I was afraid. I told you I couldn't fool around. And there's a reason for that."

  "You hardly know me."

  Oh, so that was what was going on! She pushed away and gazed into his soft blue eyes. That one comment explained the trip, the dinner and even his unexpected opening up to her. Alexander thought she'd run away the night before because she wasn't ready for what he wanted, and he'd assumed she wasn't ready because she really didn't know him.

  "So you brought me to this business meeting to show me your good points?"

  He laughed and expertly twirled them around, breaking their eye contact. "Essentially, yes. Were you impressed?"

  Merry couldn't lie. "Yes."

  "Good, because it's important that you know I don't back down and I don't often compromise."

  Her brow wrinkled in confusion. With an attitude like that it was a wonder any woman ever took him for a lover—even temporarily. He made romance sound like a professional wrestling match.

  She carefully said, "Alexander, I've always appreciated your abilities. I know you're smart. I know you're crafty. But that doesn't have anything to do with…"

  "You know a few of my good traits," Alexander said, interrupting her. "But you really didn't know me. Now I'm beginning to feel like you do."

  "You're saying," she said, sweeping her hand around to indicate the room, "how you do business, is all there is to know about you?"

  "It's not all, but it's the best part."

  "Maybe. But it's not the important part. The important part is how you feel inside, not what you do." She paused, and when he didn't reply, puzzle pieces fell together in her head. He said he'd learned not to trust at a young age. He said that was because someone had hurt him, and the puzzle piece that had been in front of her all along, but she hadn't seen until now was that his heartbreak must have been devastating for him to pour his life into his work.

  "Tell me about the woman who hurt you."

  Alexander almost groaned. Technically, Princess Meredith was asking him to tell her about herself. Normally he would have steered clear of this particular conversation, but with her pressed against him, causing him to experience physical responses that were making him crazy. Alexander decided it might be a good idea to give her his version of the story. If nothing else, he could remind himself why he shouldn't be getting too cozy with this woman who with a glance or a smile could make him forget she wasn't to be trusted.

  "She was a woman I wanted to marry," Alexander began, careful not to say betrothed or anything too obvious, as he tiptoed into the story of how she had hurt him. "One night she said terrible things to me, including that she didn't love me."

  "Let me get this straight," Merry said, giving him a confused look. "You were going to marry a woman who didn't love you?"

  "I was young."

  "But why would you marry someone who didn't love you?"

  Again, not wanting to admit he was in an arranged marriage for fear that would ring a bell of recognition for her, Alexander told only part of the truth. "She was very beautiful and I honestly believed there was enough physical attraction that love didn't matter. Though her temper tantrums were legend, I still believed we'd find a way to—" he almost said work together, but in the last second changed it to "—work things out."

  Merry gasped. "Oh, Alexander!"

  "I was naive." Realizing from her dismayed response that she understood the full import of how her bad behavior had affected other people, Alexander pressed on. "Until the night she told me I repulsed her."

  Merry groaned. "What a horrid woman!"

  "In fairness, we were both young and at the time I was an ugly duckling. I only grew into my looks in adulthood. And my family was in financial disaster, I wasn't a prize."

  "What she said was still cruel!"

  The expression on Princess Meredith's face was priceless. Alexander wondered how she'd react if he told her she was criticizing herself, but he knew this wasn't the time to reveal his identity. If he told her who he was while she felt sorry for him, his position with her would be forever weakened.

  "Actually, this woman was much too young to realize how deeply she hurt me."

  To his surprise, Merry nodded knowingly. "All right. That is an excuse. Youth is full of folly. Lord knows. I made my share of mistakes."

  An odd sensation stole Alexander's breath. Her ad-mission felt like an apology and seemed to bridge the gap between the princess he knew and the Merry who had reentered his life. It explained why he liked this Merry when he hadn't liked the other. This one could admit she'd made mistakes.

  Dazed by her, Alexander bent his head and touched his lips to hers. Not in response to all the things he was feeling physically, but as a celebration of sorts. As he tasted her lush, sweet mouth, he slid his hands to her back and pulled her tightly against him, enjoying every brush and press of their bodies. Their situation might preclude him from loving her, but, as Lissa had suggested, that didn't mean there couldn't be more to their relationship than negotiations. With Merry's admission, they had the beginnings of a very shaky trust to go along with their powerful chemistry. For now, that was enough.

  Actually, it was much more than Alexander had ever dared hope they would have.

  He combed his fingers through her hair, then let them glide down her shoulders. He explored her size, her shape, everything he could discover while they stood fully clothed, enveloped in soft romantic music. This truly was a new beginning for them. He had heard it in her soft admission about making mistakes. He now felt it in her kiss.

  Pressed against Alexander, Merry was lost in a sea of sensation. Under the magnificent reverence of his touch, her skin blossomed to life. Like a thirsty flower begging for spring rain, she strained against him. Not at all sure she liked the intensity of their chemistry because it rendered her powerless. Still, Merry succumbed to it. Everything between them felt new, different. Even the kiss was different, as if Alexander had finally allowed himself to like her…not their chemistry, but her…

  The r
ealization froze her. Not because she wanted to protect herself, but because she suddenly realized that if she and Alexander went too far, these new feelings he had developed would cause him to be hurt.

  She pulled back, "Alexander…stop."

  He looked as bewitched as she felt and Merry knew that she was right. If they made love, and she was sure that was where they were headed, Alexander would be hurt. She stepped away. Out of his reach.

  "What's wrong?"

  Merry walked to the table and stood with her back to him while she caught her breath, then she faced him again. "Alexander, you think your flings are casual… But have you ever considered what would happen if you fell in love?"

  His features tightened. "I'm careful."

  "I can see that, but just for the sake of argument… What if you fell in love with me and asked me to marry you. What if I had to tell you no?" She caught his gaze. "You would be hurt."

  His sharpened features relaxed and he smiled at her. "That's not going to happen."

  "That's exactly what would happen." Merry drew a long fortifying breath before she said. "Alexander, I'm promised to another man." With the words out and her composure slipping, she pressed her lips together and gathered herself one more time before she said, "I would never do anything to hurt my betrothed and making love with another man would be a betrayal."

  "Merry, I'm…"

  "No, Alexander. Let me finish, I also don't want to be hurt myself. And making love with you would hurl me. I keep thinking about the pain I would feel going through my life remembering making love to you, while I was married to another man." She paused long enough to catch his gaze. "And whether you know it or not, losing me would hurt you, too. If we gave ourselves to each other, and then had to part, we'd both be hurt."

  Alexander stood dumbfounded, realizing she meant everything she said. Her emotion was so intense he almost confessed who he was, but he didn't because he was bewildered by the sadness in her voice. He knew the minute he admitted he was Prince Alec, her walls would go up and she wouldn't be honest with him. That meant if he wanted to know the reason for her sadness, he had to get the story before he told her he was her betrothed. Or else he would go through his life aware that his wife had been hurt, but he would never know by whom. The thought sent an unexpected lust for revenge through him.