Of course, he was. Jules reached the top of the hill and continued along the paved path through the park. “It’s been a lovely evening. Please don’t spoil it by teasing me.”
“I’m serious.” The determined set of his chin made him look formidable. A lot like his father. But she remained unnerved by that. “If La Rueca places in the top five, the resulting publicity will boost my boatyard’s reputation and raise the island’s standing in the eyes of the yachting world. To do that I need you steering the boat.”
“Wait.” What he said confused her. “You said you were confident in the boat. In your crew.”
“That was before I saw you sail. I need you, Julianna.”
His words smacked into her like an unwieldy suitcase on wheels a porter couldn’t handle and nearly knocked her on her backside. No one had ever needed her before.
“I’m floored. Flabbergasted. Flattered.” Jules bit her lip to stop from rambling. She needed to be sensible about this, not emotional. “But we both know I can’t race with you. The Med Cup is right before the wedding. Enrique and my father are unlikely to change their minds and allow me to compete, even with you.”
“This will be our secret.”
Jules considered what he was saying…for a nanosecond. “That’s…that’s…”
“Doable.”
“Insane,” she countered. “If I get caught—”
“We’ll make sure you aren’t.”
A mix of conflicting emotion battled inside Jules. Part of her wanted to grab the moment and make the most of the opportunity. But common sense kept her feet planted firmly on the ground, er, path. She forced herself to keep walking toward the grotto.
“We’re not talking about a midnight sail with the two of us. I’d have to practice with a crew in daylight. They’d figure out I’m not a boy the first time I said anything.” Coming up with a list of reasons this was a bad idea was too easy. “Let’s not forget the race officials. A crew roster will be necessary. We can’t overlook the media coverage. The press will have a field day if my identity is discovered.”
“For someone who’s never sailed on the ocean you sure know a lot about what’s involved with racing.”
“I’ve raced in lakes, and I’ve followed various racing circuits for years. I know enough…” Her voice raised an octave. She took a calming breath. It didn’t help. “Enough to know that with me at the helm, the odds are you’ll lose. I’m not experienced enough.”
“Are you trying to convince me?” he asked. “Or yourself.”
“You.”
“I say you’re qualified enough. I want you to be my helmsman.”
She felt as if she’d entered a different dimension, an alternative universe. Perhaps this was a dream and La Isla de la Aurora didn’t exist. She would wake up in her room at the castle in Aliestle, not engaged. “Consider what you’re saying, Alejandro. You’re crazy if you want to risk the Med Cup on someone like me.”
“Maybe I’m crazy. Certifiably insane. But I know what I saw tonight out on the water. No one else handles La Rueca as well as you.”
“Have them practice more,” she said. “It’s late. I must get back to the palace before the sun rises.”
She quickened her pace, leaving Alejandro behind. The sooner she reached the grotto, the better. She couldn’t listen to him anymore. It hurt too much to think racing on the ocean was even a possibility. That had never crossed her mind given her father’s restrictions.
The footsteps behind her drew closer. “Don’t run away.”
“I’m heading in the wrong direction if I wanted to do that.”
“Stop.”
Jules did. She owed him that much for tonight’s sail.
He placed his hand on her shoulder.
She gasped, not expecting him to touch her.
“Please,” he said. “Consider what I’m saying.”
Warmth ebbed from the point of contact. She struggled against the urge to lean into him, to soak up his strength and confidence. She wanted to, but couldn’t. She shrugged away from his hand and counted to twenty in French. “I’ve considered it. No.”
“Racing will make you happy.” He wasn’t giving up for some reason. “You love to sail.”
“I love to sail, but it isn’t my entire life.” Jules didn’t dare look at Alejandro. She couldn’t allow herself to be swayed, even if she was tempted. “I have a duty to my family and country. That is more important than some…hobby.”
The word used derisively by her father tasted bitter on her tongue. Sailing was a pastime, but it represented the freedom to live as she wanted and a tangible connection to the mother she didn’t remember.
“I can’t risk upsetting Enrique.” The reality of her situation couldn’t be ignored. “If he finds out—”
“Do you really think Enrique’s going to send you back to Aliestle and walk away from a hundred-million-dollar dowry because you went sailing?”
Her jaw dropped. So did her heart. Splat.
Jules knew her father had set aside a large amount of money for her dowry, but not that much. She closed her mouth. She’d always known suitors were after the money, not her. Still the truth stung. “I…can’t.”
“Yes, you can,” he urged. “It’ll be worth the risk.”
“For you, maybe. Not for me.” If Enrique didn’t marry her, she’d find herself trapped in a worse marriage, in an old-fashioned country with archaic, suffocating traditions. Her efforts to help Brandt and Aliestle would be futile. Plus, she had her children to consider. “I would love to race. But I can’t do all the things I want to do. I must consider the consequences.”
“Consider the consequences if you don’t race.”
The word no sat on the tip of Jules’s tongue. That word would end further discussion. But her heart wasn’t ready to do that yet. She wanted to know what racing might feel like. But reality kept poking at her, reminding her what was at stake. “There are no consequences if I don’t race.”
Alejandro held her hand. “Your happiness, Julianna.”
“I’ll find happiness.”
“Life on the island will be good for you, but Enrique is self-involved. He’ll most likely ignore you.”
“Ignoring me will be better than trying to control me,” she admitted. “And I’ll be happy once I have children. I’ve always wanted to be a mother. Children will bring me great happiness and joy. I’ll devote myself to being the best mother I can be. That will make me very happy.”
“Will children be enough?”
They had to be.
“I’m sorry, Alejandro.” Julianna pulled her hand out of his. “I must find contentment in the life I’m meant to live. If I believe I can or should have more, that will make the days unbearable.”
“You’re a wonderful, brave woman.”
“If I was brave, I’d say yes even though it would be a really bad idea.”
“It could be sheer brilliance.”
“Or an utter disaster.”
“You want to.” Alejandro gazed into her eyes. “I can tell.”
Her pulse skittered. She flushed. She did want to. More than anything. “I told you. It doesn’t matter what I want. I can’t.”
“What’s really stopping you?”
“Common sense.” She raised her hand in the air to accentuate each point. “Duty. Obligation.”
“Royal duty doesn’t mean making yourself a slave.”
“It’s not slavery, but a responsibility to build something better.”
“I’m trying to build something better here on the island. But you can’t pretend to be something you’re not,” Alejandro said. “However much we love people or have loved them, we still have to be the person we are meant to be. Follow your heart,” his voice dipped, low and hypnotic.
Emotion clogged her throat. She’d followed her heart once. Tonight. The thought of doing so again made her mouth water. “I…”
“Say yes,” he encouraged. “You won’t regret racing.”
&
nbsp; Oh, she would regret it. Jules had no doubt.
But tonight’s glimpse of freedom had spoiled her and made her feel carefree and alive. She wasn’t ready for that feeling to end.
“Yes.” Her answer went against everything she’d been raised to do or be. She needed to reel herself in and set clear boundaries to temper this recklessness. She remembered her plan from this morning. “I’m saying yes for the same reason I sailed tonight. Once I marry Enrique, things will change. I must honor my husband and my marriage. I will step fully into my role of the crown princess who will one day be queen.”
“The people of La Isla de la Aurora have no idea how fortunate they are to have you as their future queen.”
“Let’s make sure I’m not caught so one day I can be their queen.”
“That’s the number one priority,” Alejandro said. “I’ll take every precaution to keep your identity a secret. I have as much to lose with this as you do.”
His words didn’t make any sense. This had nothing to do with him. “What do you mean?”
Alejandro hesitated.
“I want to know what you have to lose,” she said.
“My freedom,” he admitted. “Once you and Enrique marry and have children, I’ll be free from all royal obligations. I can concentrate on business and not have to worry about any more princely duties.”
Enrique had said Alejandro didn’t want to be royalty anymore. She’d thought Enrique had been exaggerating. Maybe that was what Alejandro had meant about being the person he needed to be. “You really want to turn your back on all your duties?”
“Yes.”
She admired his being true to himself while dealing with some of the same burdens she had as a royal, but his wanting to break off completely from his obligations and birthright saddened her. Yet she had to admit, she was a tad envious. Alejandro would sail off into the sunset and do what he wanted, whereas she would carry the weight of two countries’ expectations on her shoulders for the rest of her life.
At least she knew he would do everything in his power to keep them from getting caught. “I guess we both have something to lose.”
“We’re in this together, Julianna.”
Yes, they were, but the knowledge left her feeling unsettled. Being out here alone with him did, too. His nearness disturbed her. His lips captured her attention. She still felt an overwhelming urge to kiss him. Even if he was the last man she should kiss.
Keep walking. Julianna saw the grotto up ahead. “We’d better get into the tunnel before someone sees us out here.”
“No one will see us.” Alejandro spoke with confidence. “I own this place.”
“What place?”
He motioned to the land surrounding them. “The dock. The park. Everything you see.”
She tried to reconcile this new piece of information with what she knew about him. Enrique had made Alejandro sound as if only sailing mattered to him. “You’re a boatbuilder and a real estate investor?”
He nodded. “My goal is to turn the island into a travel hotspot. Most of the tourist traffic goes to other islands along the coast of Spain. La Isla de la Aurora doesn’t have enough quality hotels, resorts and marinas to attract the big spenders. My father and brother have a more low-key vision of how to improve the economy. But the Med Cup has helped attract the yachting crowd. Now I have to get the travel industry onboard.”
Impressive. And unexpected. He was so much more than she’d originally thought. Not that anything he owned or said or did should matter to her.
But it did. A lot.
She chewed on the inside of her cheek.
“As I mentioned, La Rueca’s result in the Med Cup could help that happen sooner,” he said. “If we finish well.”
We. The realization of what she’d agreed to hit her full force. Pressure to do well. Practice time. Being with Alejandro, a man she was attracted to. One who would be related to her when they finished racing. Oh, what a tangled web she was weaving. No way would she be able to escape unscathed.
“This isn’t going to work.” Doubts slammed into her like a rogue wave. “Someone at the palace will notice I’m not around if we have to practice a lot.”
“Don’t worry.” He tucked a stray strand of blond hair up into the wig and adjusted the cap on her head. “I’ll figure everything out. Trust me.”
Jules shivered with desire and apprehension. She would have to trust him in a way she’d never trusted anyone before.
“Do you really think we have a shot at doing well?” she asked.
One side of his mouth tipped up at the corner. “With you at the helm, we have a good shot at not only placing, but winning.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE SOUND OF voices woke Julianna. Lying in bed, she blinked open her eyes. Morning already. The bright sunlight made her shut her eyes again. But she’d glimpsed enough to know this wasn’t her room back in Aliestle. She hadn’t been dreaming.
Last night had been real. The sail. Alejandro.
A shiver ran down her spine.
She’d agreed to race, to be on his crew.
Somehow, she would have to be Enrique’s conventional princess-fiancée and Alejandro’s helmsman. And not let the two roles collide. Her temples throbbed thinking about trying to negotiate between the two different worlds without anyone figuring out what she was doing.
“The princess is sleeping, sir.” Yvette’s voice became more forceful. “I don’t want to wake her unless it’s necessary.”
“This is important,” a male voice Jules recognized as Brandt’s said.
She opened her eyes and raised herself up on her elbows.
Yvette wore the traditional castle housekeeper uniform—a black dress with white collar and apron. Her brown hair was braided and rolled into a tight bun. She had the door cracked and held onto it with white knuckles, as if to keep an intruder out. Jules pictured Brandt standing on the other side, trying to sway the young maid with a flirtatious smile.
“I’m awake, Yvette,” Jules said. “Send Brandt in.”
“The princess is no longer sleeping, sir.” Yvette opened the door all the way. “You may come in.”
Brandt strode in, looking every inch the crown prince in his navy suit, striped dress shirt and colorful tie. He laughed. “I was out clubbing most of the night yet you’re the one in bed. Must have been an exciting night watching TV?”
Jules shrugged. The night had been more exciting than she imagined. She hadn’t been able to fall asleep when she’d returned to the palace. Too many thoughts about Alejandro had been running through her brain. Each time she closed her eyes, she’d seen his handsome face, as if the features had been etched in her memory.
She watched her maid head into the bathroom. “What is so important?”
“Prince Enrique wants you downstairs now.”
Jules glanced at the clock. A quarter past ten. “Nothing is listed on my schedule.”
If so, Yvette would have never allowed her to sleep in. The maid always made sure Jules was ready on time for her scheduled events.
Brandt raised a brow. “It’s a surprise.”
Her brother sounded amused. That set off warning bells in her head. “Care to enlighten me about this surprise?”
“No.”
She tossed one of her pillows at him.
He batted it away. “Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. I’m only doing as requested. I assumed you’d rather have me wake you than Enrique.”
Alejandro would have been better. Especially if he woke her with long, slow kisses… She pushed the thought away as she fought a blush. Steering the boat was her responsibility, not kissing him. “I’ll get dressed.”
Brandt held up his hand as if to stop her. “That won’t be necessary.”
She drew back. “Excuse me?”
Mischief filled his eyes. “Enrique said a robe and slippers are fine.”
She made a face. “I don’t like the sound of this.”
“No worries,” Brandt said
. “Bring Yvette. She and I will ensure your reputation isn’t sullied.”
If Jules had been caught last night, her reputation would have been more than sullied. “You’ve been spending too much time with Father. It’s influencing your vocabulary.”
“I happen to like sullying young maidens.”
She rolled her eyes. “Give me five minutes. I’ll meet you in the hallway.”
“Don’t take any longer,” he cautioned. “Enrique said this is important.”
Worry shivered down her spine. Had Enrique found out about last night? But if that were the case, why wouldn’t he want her to dress before coming downstairs?
Brandt strode out of the room and closed the door behind him.
Jules slid out from under the covers and stood on the rug. Her simple white nightgown looked nothing like what a stylish princess would wear to bed. Her father forbade her to wear any sort of pajamas that were too pretty or feminine because she wasn’t married. Forget sexy lingerie. She felt lucky wearing underwire bras decorated with lace. The castle’s head housekeeper confiscated purchases she deemed inappropriate by King Alaric’s standards.
Yvette returned, holding a lavender-colored, terry-cloth robe and matching slippers. “ma’am.”
“I’d rather dress.”
“I don’t think there is time, ma’am.”
Jules heard the sympathy in Yvette’s voice. “Do you have any idea what’s going on downstairs?”
“No, Ma’am.” Yvette helped her into the thick robe. “But people have been arriving at the palace since early this morning. I’m surprised the noise didn’t wake you.”
Jules had been dead to the world once she’d quieted her thoughts of Alejandro and fallen asleep. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept so soundly. She didn’t remember any of her dreams. A rarity for her. “I didn’t hear a thing.”
“You must have been tired, ma’am.”
She nodded.
Lines creased Yvette’s forehead. “Are you feeling well, ma’am? Should I request a doctor be sent to the palace?”
“No worries, Yvette,” Jules said. “I’m not sick. Let’s go see what Enrique’s surprise is all about.”
Something good, she hoped. And something that had nothing to do with last night.
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