Twice a Princess

by Susan Meier

  Her letter of resignation was written. Not only was she a complete failure as a matchmaker without the crone's magic, but also seeing Jerry O'Riley and his wife when she delivered their picnic lunch had driven her to tears. They were so sweetly in love, and so appreciative of their happiness, it broke Merry's heart.

  Merry knew she and Alexander could have this kind of love because, in their own ways, they were as desperate as Jerry and Wendy had been. Even though she and Alexander had only spent a few afternoons and evenings together, it was easy to see they understood each other. Each had a wall. Each had fears. Each lived with the reality of his or her own private prison. Hers was growing up as a princess, making her mistakes for an entire kingdom to see and critique. His was being too wealthy to trust that another woman wouldn't hurt him as his first love had. She knew that if they ever made love it would be explosive. Not because of their chemistry, though they had it in abundance, but because they truly cared for and understood each other.

  But she couldn't have the love that called to her. She was promised to somebody else. And though she had thought accepting whatever Alexander could give her would make memories she could cherish for a lifetime, she now knew it would only sadden her for her loss.

  It was time to leave.

  "What are you doing!"

  Merry looked up from her packing to see Alexander standing in her doorway. Dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, as if he'd decided to take the day off, he looked adorable. Strong, powerful, decisive, and yet casual and comfortable. So darned warm and real and wonderful that tears filled her eyes. She wanted what Jerry and Wendy had. She wanted to fall asleep cuddled next to him at night and awaken beside him in the morning.

  And she couldn't.

  She drew a long breath, blinked away her tears and smiled.

  "The real question is what are you doing? My door was locked. How did you get in here?"

  Alexander sighed. "I still have master keys."

  Merry shook her head at her forgetfulness. She was the one who'd hired him when he'd masqueraded as a handyman. Still, there was no sense delaying the inevitable discussion discussion. "I'm throwing in the towel. My Aunt Merry had talents that I don't have. So I'm giving you a break and letting you replace me."

  "What?"

  "I'm going home."

  Though Merry had thought this news would please Alexander, for a few seconds he seemed speechless.

  He took several cautious steps into her bedroom and four times opened his mouth to speak, but clamped it shut again.

  "I thought my leaving would make you happy. You didn't want to hire me. The resort's numbers are bad. Two days ago, I told you a story about a curse that you don't believe. You think I'm a nutcase." She paused and opened her hands in surrender. "You should be dancing on the. table, happy that I'm leaving."

  He combed his fingers through his hair. "All right," he said, then raked his fingers through his hair again, as if stalling for time to figure out what to say. "I didn't buy the curse story in the literal sense of the word. But it is possible that you had a difficult seven years that seemed like a curse. So technically, you didn't lie."

  Merry laughed. "Oh, Alexander, I don't even know what to say to that."

  "Then don't say anything and just hear me out. I gave you a rough time when you first signed on as manager. Typically, when I get a new employee they have sixty days before I start calling their screwups screwups. I didn't give you that sixty days."

  Merry frowned. "You're giving me a probation period?"

  "Yes."

  Merry turned back to her packing. "I don't know what good you think that will do. but you don't need to offer it. I'm okay with having failed. I'm learning to accept my limits and still be happy."

  "You don't look happy and I think that's because it's hard to accept your limits when you didn't really fail. I'm to blame for your doing poorly. I know I added to your learning curve by being demanding. So if you stay, I'll keep my nose out of the resort business and let you do anything you want to do."

  She shook her head. "Thanks, but no thanks. Like I said, I'm learning to gracefully accept my limits. But even if I wasn't. I made a promise to my dad to come home as soon as I could."

  Alexander frowned, then he said, "You're going home to get married, right?"

  She nodded.

  "And from what you told me last night, this is an arranged marriage?"

  She nodded again.

  "You're doing something you're not sure is entirely right for you out of a sense of duty and responsibility."

  "Yes, Alexander," she said, avoiding looking at him by stuffing her new clothes into a suitcase.

  "Surely, you deserve one little vacation before you commit to all that."

  Merry looked up, finally understanding what he was doing. A little vacation could mean relaxation or it could mean exactly what she'd had in mind for him when she changed from a crone into a princess. "You want me to stay because you think you're going to talk me into bed."

  He chuckled. "I hadn't exactly intended to talk you into bed, per se…"

  She took a few steps to where he stood and studied his eyes. "Now, you're lying."

  He sighed. "I'm not lying."

  "So you're telling me you never intend to sleep with me."

  Damn but the woman made him crazy! He couldn't tell her he would never sleep with her. For Pete's sake, they would eventually marry. But even if couched, his admission in a very vague "someday" he would sleep with her, she'd leave.

  He sighed. "Look, how about if I promise we won't do anything you don't want to do in these next two weeks?"

  She searched his eyes. "Do you mean that?"

  "Yes, I mean that."

  He said it with all the sincerity he could muster, but she still shook her head and stepped away. "Sorry."

  He saw the determined set of her shoulders, considered that no one could have ever convinced him he'd be begging Princess Meredith to spend time with him, and finally said, "Okay, then, bring back your aunt."

  She stopped packing. "What?"

  "The only way I'm letting you out of the commitment to the resort is for you to bring back your aunt."

  "But she's…"

  "Tired? So you said. But I saw her the night she left. I know she was a bit out of sorts but she wasn't dying. Besides, this is a resort. If she wants rest, she can get it by the bushels here. Plus, I intend to hire an assistant for her."

  He waited for Merry to reply, but all she did was moisten her lips with her tongue. He watched the pretty pink tip as it gently glided along the shape of her mouth and felt the kind of stirring that it wasn't wise to feel in a bedroom with a woman to whom he had made a promise of purity.

  "I can't bring back my aunt."

  "Then you're bound by the three-week commitment you gave me at your first staff meeting. Keep that commitment or I sue."

  Merry laughed. "Fine. My father will be happy to pay whatever you want to get me home."

  "I don't want money. I want time. And if you don't think I can win that in a court of law, just watch how much of your time I'll eat up trying…"

  He read the expression on her face and knew that she recognized a lawsuit could consume months not weeks, so he pressed on. "The reason I need you or your aunt here is that I want to have a party. Something very elaborate. Something formal." He hadn't thought of it until just this second but he realized that a ball would be the perfect place to reveal his identity to her. "I want every guest who has a reservation for a week from Saturday to be informed that they are to be prepared to attend a ball."

  "A ball?" She laughed. "Alexander, aren't balls for royalty?"

  "We treat our guests like royalty." He paused, then smiled. "You do have the expertise to plan something like this, don't you?"

  She nodded.

  "Then grab a pen. I have some thoughts."

  Merry looked at him. "You want to start planning now?"

  "What better time than now? You're not leaving. I'm in the mood to
do this. So let's call the head chef and have him join us. We'll start with the menu."

  Merry opened her mouth to speak, but snapped it closed. Alexander smiled. It wasn't exactly a big victory, but at least he'd bought some time.

  Three hours later, the chef's eyes were glazed from the enormity of his new assignment, and Merry was ac comfortable in Alexander's company again. His all-business attitude had impressed her, but so had his knowledge of planning something so formal. In the end, she wondered why she had been surprised about Alexander's level of understanding. A man as wealthy and well-connected as Alexander had probably been invited to many receptions, balls and galas.

  Because it was late when they finished, it was growing dark and Merry was starving. Nonetheless, when Alexander asked her to join him for dinner, she refused.

  "I'm sorry. I have to go to my office. Now that I'm not quitting there are a million details I need to see to."

  "I'll walk you there."

  Merry almost sighed, but knew the best way to deal with Alexander was to give in to his demands because he wouldn't stop demanding until she did. And there wasn't much that could happen on a well-lit walk to the hotel.

  She locked her door behind her and turned up the cobblestone path, but Alexander caught her arm. "Let's walk by the beach."

  "But I have to get back."

  "In one of my many arguments to get you to stay, I offered you some time to rest and relax before your marriage. Just take it."

  She sighed and allowed herself to be led down the path to the beach. Luckily, she was still wearing the shorts, T-shirt and tennis shoes she'd been wearing when Alexander interrupted her that morning and she could walk on the soft white sand. With the moon rising and the sound of the surf echoing around them. Merry felt some of her tension ease.

  "You asked me the other day about my past and I wasn't really forthcoming with answers."

  She laughed and pushed a breeze-blown strand of hair from her face. "No kidding."

  "I'd like to tell you some things about me."

  Surprised, but cautious, Merry said, "Okay."

  "My parents had an unusual relationship. At the time they married, they were both…wealthy…and they went into the marriage with their own interests to consider."

  She laughed. "Sounds like my parents. They basically married to formalize a trade agreement."

  He peered at her. "Yes. That was very much like my parents' marriage. Anyway, because of some bad investment choices, my father lost most of their money."

  Merry grimaced. "Ouch."

  "And my mother wasn't happy."

  Merry squeezed her eyes shut as pain squeezed her heart. In their last meeting she had told him she was promised to someone else and didn't want to hurt him. Now, he was explaining his background so she would understand why he'd made the choices he'd made and realize he had no intention of ever falling in love. She need not worry about breaking his heart.

  He stopped walking and faced her. Merry refused to look at him so he caught her chin and tipped her face toward his. "Are you understanding what I'm telling you?"

  "Actually, Alexander, I am. You're explaining why you've chosen never to fall in love. After living with parents who had a miserable marriage, the run-in with your mean-spirited first love finished you off. I get it. You don't believe in love."

  "Yes, but there's more to it than that. I want you to know about my family."

  "I don't see why, since nothing you tell me is going to change my mind. I'm not going to get involved with you. I'm betrothed."

  She turned, ready to storm away from him, but he caught her arm. "I'm not asking you to break your engagement, only that you really give me a chance over these next few days."

  "Why?"

  "All I want is for you to get to know me."

  "I know you better than you think. For instance, I know this is locked," she said, tapping his heart. "But I know that if you do open up and let yourself love, the woman you choose is going to be very lucky because you're nicer, kinder, more generous than any man I have ever met. But I also know who you are doesn't concern me."

  With that she pivoted and began to walk away again. This time Alexander didn't attempt to stop her and instead walked with her. "Don't you even want to try?"

  Merry stopped walking and gaped at him. "To what end? So we can sleep together once? Maybe twice? I already know I could love you, Alexander. And if we make love I will love you. Then I will not only shortchange my husband, I'll spend the rest of my life pining for you."

  Angry that he could be so thickheaded, Merry ran the rest of the way to the hotel lobby. At the front desk, she asked for and received her messages. As she reviewed the ten or twelve pink slips, Lissa sidled up to Andi Jones, the young woman manning the desk.

  "Andi, how about taking a break?"

  Andi smiled. "Sure. You don't have to tell me twice."

  She left the front desk and Lissa caught Merry's hand. "Merry," she said softly. "The Phipps-Stovers are divorcing."

  Confused, because she hadn't really been listening, Merry glanced up. "What?"

  "The Phipps-Stovers are divorcing. You don't have twenty-one matches anymore. As of two o'clock this afternoon when the divorce papers were filed, you have twenty."

  Lissa looked absolutely stricken, which confused Merry all the more. "But they made the commitment."

  "Yes," Lissa agreed, "but the commitment had to last at least until your thirtieth birthday."

  Finally understanding what Lissa was saying, Merry quickly looked down at her hand and actually saw the knuckles wrinkle. The curse was back. She was becoming a crone!

  "Oh, my God." Her eyes filled with tears and she pressed her fingers to her mouth. She couldn't do this again. Not again! Seven years as a crone were bad enough. Even another day would be torture.

  "Merry, you need a twenty-first match before your thirtieth birthday or this curse becomes permanent. That only leaves you two weeks. But you can do it."

  Merry's eyes filled with tears. She'd been trying to make matches since she'd become a young princess and had been totally unsuccessful. Yes, as a crone she would get her magic back, but would it be enough in a hotel where no two people seemed to even get along, let alone look like a match made in heaven?

  The glass double doors swooshed open and Alexander walked into the lobby. "Merry, I…" he began, and though Merry longed to throw herself into his arms and weep, to get some of the comfort and understanding she knew he could give if he would simply open up, she knew she couldn't. He didn't believe in her curse. He thought her a liar. The man she instinctively knew would be the most wonderful listener and most patient partner, didn't like or trust her.

  She pushed past him and raced to the back door, then down the cobblestone path.

  Alexander made a move to follow her, but Lissa put her hand on his forearm and shook her head.

  Chapter Seven

  When Merry awakened the next morning, she glanced down at her hands and confirmed her worst fear. Thin, sagging skin covered her knuckles. A pale brown age spot had popped out near her wrist. She scrambled from her bed and ran to the minor. Sure enough, tiny lines had etched around her eyes. Today the changes to her appearance were small. But if her transformation from young woman to crone happened at the same rate as it had the last time, tomorrow they would be obvious to anyone who looked at her closely. In two more days, she would be hideous.

  She had only a few days—maybe four, but probably three—before she was Merry Montrose again, and two weeks to try to end the curse.

  The night before, she had been shocked and upset. This morning, she was energized by an absolute refusal to let a curse control her destiny. Seven hard years had finally taught her how to be a good princess and she wanted the chance to be the kind of royal her subjects could look up to. She wasn't going to panic or roll over and play dead. She'd made twenty good matches. She could make another one.

  She grabbed her phone and called the concierge desk. Recognizing Lissa's v
oice, she said. "Bring the guest list to my villa."

  Lissa said. "I'm on my way."

  Within five minutes. Merry heard the knock on her door. She opened it and Lissa waved the guest list at her. "Here you go."

  Not wasting a second. Merry grabbed the computer printout from her godmother's hands. "You and your darned curse!"

  Though Lissa looked repentant, she said, "You didn't leave me a lot of choice. You had alienated your father and new stepmother, hurt Prince Alec, and weren't very happy yourself. I'd tried talking to you, scolding you, withholding new gowns and vacations. But that only made you pout all the more. In the end, magic was the only thing I had left."

  "Well, magic might have worked for you, but I think that was the problem with the Phipps-Stovers."

  Lissa's brow wrinkled. "You do?"

  "Yes! It worked so well that I think it overshadowed reality, and two unsuited people got married."

  Lissa sighed her understanding. "That's why you asked for the guest list. You're not going to try to reunite the Phipps-Stovers."

  "Without magic, they didn't last. It wouldn't be fair to put them back together again."

  "Starting over with two new people doesn't panic you?" Lissa asked, a hint of confusion in her voice.

  Merry sighed, wondering what the heck had her godmother so baffled. Putting two new people together was the only logical way to approach this. "I don't have time to be panicked."

  Lissa strolled to She sliding glass doors and stared out at the bay. "That's actually my point. If you don't make that match before your birthday, you don't get another chance. If you're a crone on your birthday, you stay a crone."

  Since it was idiotic to waste precious time talking about how little of it she had, Merry went back to examining her guest list. "I more than remember that from my first go-around."

  Lissa looked out at the bay again. "I thought seven years gave you plenty of time. I never realized your fate would come down to the wire like this."

  Growing tired of a conversation that did nothing but rapidly deplete her dwindling minutes, Merry walked to Lissa and turned her godmother around until she was facing the villa door. "Much as I'd like to spend a good hour ranting and raving and shaking you silly for this moronic predicament you put me in,! have work to do."