“Only two hundred and fifty thousand people. Our main language is German, but we also speak Russian and French.”
“Do you speak all of those languages?”
“Yes.”
“Clever girl.”
“It is part of my heritage and for most Europeans, languages come naturally. English is our second language.”
“Why did you take a fine arts degree at university?”
“When you arrive, you will realize Challoner is a very beautiful country steeped in history with many classical buildings, statues and art galleries. Tourism is the country’s main source of revenue. It is important that I’m familiar with the arts as well as political sciences.”
Jack was quiet and seemed lost in thought. She took the opportunity to study his features as if she couldn’t stop drinking him in. The straight chiseled nose and strong, slanting cheekbones, his face bronzed by the wind and sun. His long, sensitive fingers holding the elegant wine glass were toughened by the rough work he did to make a living. Their lives were literally poles apart. How could she ever think anything could come from a relationship with him?
“It is winter there, Jack. Did you bring warm clothes?”
He grinned. “Yeah. I remembered at the last moment when I was packing.”
She placed her serviette on the table, the signal for the attendant to clear the plates. “I’m sure my parents will arrange suitable clothing for you if you don’t have it.”
“You mean, like a dinner suit?”
She hesitated. She hadn’t thought about him not being able to afford the necessary suits to wear. “You won’t need to attend formal functions,” she said quickly, afraid she would embarrass him.
“Oh, but I want to.” Stubbornness was written across his face.
“It’s not required,” she said, equally as stubborn.
“What’s the problem, princess? Afraid I will show you up with my bad manners and ill-fitting clothes?”
“I’m not going to get into another argument with you.” She rose from her chair and Jack stood also. They glared at each other across the table.
“I told you on the island that you were a snob. Nothing has changed,” he said, tossing his serviette on to the table.
“And you are an uncouth, ignorant, common…man. You should thank your lucky stars you weren’t thrown into prison for a very long time.”
“What?”
“You seduced me—a royal princess.”
“And you loved every moment of it. In fact, if you’d had your way, you would be pregnant now with a royal bastard.”
“Oh. Oh.” Lara was mad. “This is a large enough plane for you to keep out of my way for the rest of the flight so please make sure you do,” she said icily.
“It will be my pleasure, Your High and Mightiness.” He left her standing at the table and entered the door to the gymnasium, slamming it behind him.
Both of them managed to avoid the other for the remainder of the flight with Lara reading umpteen magazines, while he spent an eternity working out in the gym. She then had to wait for him to shower before she could prepare for bed.
The stop in Singapore to refuel the plane and change crews was very brief, and as they took off for Challoner, she settled into her large double bed aware the crew had set up sleeping quarters for Jack in the forward cabin.
Before going to sleep, she took out her new journal that she had arranged for one of the security men to buy the previous day. She had gone hot and cold when she realized she had left her other journal under the armchair cushion in Jack’s cottage. Panicking, she wondered who she could ask to retrieve it, knowing in the wrong hands it would be dynamite. Then common sense prevailed. Housework wasn’t Jack’s forté and the journal wasn’t likely to be found for years. People wouldn’t even know who she was then.
She began to write.
I am so mad with Jack, I could throw him out of this plane.
Just when I think we are getting on okay, he lashes at me with that barbed tongue of his. He has a major hang up now he has found out who I am and honestly, I don’t care that he’s a fisherman. In fact, I’m glad. I love him as he is. If only we didn’t ricochet between rowing like crazy and wanting to make love.
I’ll never be able to hold out against him if he keeps looking at me the way he does. Oh, he makes my toes curl!
There are difficult times ahead, dear diary. I don’t know how Jack and I are going to manage.
Welcome to my world, Jack Lucas.
Six
“Are we going straight to the palace?”
Jack swung himself into the chair opposite her aware they would shortly be landing at Challoner. He had spent the last two hours on the flight deck talking to the pilot and first officer and had enjoyed their company. It also meant Lara and he could continue to avoid one another and the possibility of having more rows. But the time had come to be civil, particularly since they would be spending so much time together during the next three weeks.
She looked up from the book she was reading. “Yes. But there’s no need to change.”
“I wasn’t going to.” Jack pursed his lips.
He didn’t mean to be uncooperative but straight away her comment had irritated him. He consciously relaxed his shoulders trying to shake the tension from them following the hours spent in the aircraft. He hadn’t been to Europe before, never having the need. All of his long haul trips had involved visits to Japan, China and Indonesia as part of his negotiations for the many businesses under his control, particularly the lucrative areas of aqua-culture and export trade. Although he had his own private jet and worked on his computer during most of these flights, he still found that time passed slowly and tediously.
Lara appeared to ignore his glib comment. “I’ve received a call from the queen and she has asked us to join the king and her for luncheon. It will be about ten o’clock in the morning when we land so this will give us time to shower and change.”
Watching her put into place her ever-so-cool façade was quite fascinating. The original Ice Princess. Yet he knew he could break through those barriers with a few words, or a touch of his hand on that soft cheek or the caress of his lips against her elegant neck.
He had been fascinated by their fiery exchanges earlier. She had come alive, her eyes sparkling into his and her cheeks pink with anger. He had met her only a few days ago and yet he knew her. He knew her…intimately.
“Do you have a suit to wear?”
He blinked, endeavoring to put his lustful thoughts aside. “Yes. I’ve brought a suit with me.”
“It will be a reasonably informal luncheon. My brother, Carl, will attend as well. The press office is leaking the word that you are more of a close friend of Carl’s than mine.”
He laughed. “The Princess Media Machine stepping up the action?”
Responding with a warm smile, she said, “The palace is very protective of me. I am the people’s favorite royal, which is why there was such an upset when it was thought you had kidnapped me.”
She made the statement without the slightest trace of ego giving Jack some idea of what he was in for. The royal favorite and he had the audacity to seduce her. Even if their affair had been successfully hidden from the media and, consequently, the people, he still had to face her family and palace officials.
“What are you thinking? You look bemused.” Her voice was soft as she stared at him.
Jack absentmindedly rubbed a hand over his jaw feeling the growth of day-old bristles. He really didn’t know how to answer her. How could he say he didn’t approve of this subterfuge? That as a grown woman, albeit a princess, she should be allowed to have whatever friends and relationships she liked? That it went against the grain for him to pretend he was a friend of the family, rather than her lover.
How could any nation still be so rigid and steeped in tradition to go to such lengths? He hadn’t told Lara that when he had reached his home in Port Margaret, he had spent several hours on the internet researching her country inclu
ding its history and the role her ancestors had played over the centuries. Then, because he was so curious, he had investigated other royal households in Lichtenstein, Spain, Denmark and the United Kingdom. On the surface, none of them appeared to be as strict as Challoner but then, he didn’t know what happened behind the closed palace doors.
“I was thinking how lovely you look,” he said and meant it. He was tired and knew he would suffer from jet lag and yet Lara was perfect, her features serene, her hair and makeup understated and elegant.
“You’re very forthright. It embarrasses me.” Faint color kissed her cheeks.
“Don’t worry. I’ll behave myself in front of your family.”
“I think you should relax and be yourself, Jack.”
He grinned. “If that was the case, I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off you and would ravish you on the banquet table in front of everyone.”
She surprised him by giggling as her cheeks grew pinker. “Have you forgiven me for getting you into this mess?”
“Lara, it’s not a mess. It’s a holiday, so don’t worry about me.” He caught her hand and lifted it to his lips. “It will do me good to behave myself for a change.”
~ * ~
A flurry of snowflakes greeted Lara as she emerged from the aircraft on the private runway a few miles from the palace and the city of Challoner. She quickly descended the steps to the tarmac and entered the waiting limousine, which carried the royal standard. Jack was close behind her and the length of his thigh touched hers as they settled into their seats in the back of the vehicle. There was a partition separating them from the driver allowing them privacy.
He shook the snow from his hair. “Phew. What a welcome. It’s freezing out there.”
She flicked back the hood of her white fake fur coat. Her throat was strangely tight and her eyes stung with unshed tears. She was home. For all that she had thought about coming home and the duties this involved in the role of a royal princess, she had missed Challoner and particularly missed her family. Soon she would see them.
“I told you it was winter,” she managed to reply, swallowing the sudden emotion.
His dark head touched her blonde one for a moment and her heart began to pound. “Yes, but you didn’t tell me it was going to be this cold, princess,” he whispered. Was he going to kiss her? No. He was drawing away.
“Jack, hold me for a moment. I’m nervous,” she whispered back. Had she really said that aloud? She couldn’t believe it.
His arms instantly surrounded her and pulled her to his chest as his head rested on hers. “Why? Are your parents so intimidating?”
“No. But then I’ve never brought a lover home to meet them before.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
She looked up at him, his sensual mouth so close. She needed him. Needed his strength and confidence but, mostly his physical presence.
He must have sensed it as his long fingers cupped her jaw and his tongue traced the soft fullness of her lips. His kiss, as his mouth moved over hers, was warm and firm. When he drew back, she was on fire from his touch.
“That will have to suffice for a while.” He smiled.
Too overcome to reply, she turned to look out the window. How could she have asked him to hold her? It was as if she lost control every time he came near. Perhaps he had cast a spell on her when they were on the island in the fairy tale cottage. It had been such a magical place, she would believe anything.
The snow had eased and she peered at the familiar countryside as the car made its stately way to the palace. The media hadn’t been informed of her arrival and she knew this was what her parents and the palace officials had wanted. She and Jack would be smuggled into the palace, surrounded by security guards and Jack’s strange visit would begin.
Thirty minutes later, the vehicle stopped in front of the Challoner palace. She greeted her aide, Rudolf Meinhart, and her maid, Greta, and introduced them to Jack. She tried to imagine the palace through his eyes. The massive doors that opened into a marble entrance hall, completely overpowering in its size. Ahead of them was a wide staircase leading to the upper floors. Everywhere the eye could see were long, daunting corridors with walls covered in tapestries and paintings of her ancestors.
“Rudolf will take you to your suite and make sure your luggage is delivered to you, Jack.” She stood a little away from him on the first landing of the stairway.
He stepped closer. “I’m impressed so far. Where is your suite?” he asked with a wicked grin.
She glanced at Rudolf who was standing discreetly nearby and put a finger to her lips in a silencing gesture. “I’ll meet you here at twelve o’clock and we’ll go into lunch together. If you need anything delivered, just pick up the phone in your suite.”
“I want you. Can I get you delivered by picking up the phone?”
She lowered her lashes but a faint smile played around her lips. She turned and, with Greta following, made her way to her rooms.
Two hours later Lara opened the door to leave her apartment. I am really nervous, she thought. What must this being doing to Jack? This poor, gorgeous man, whipped away from his old boat and smelly fish and about to dine with European royalty. Oh help.
He was waiting for her on the landing where she’d previously left him. Her eyes almost fell out of her head as she stared at the elegant man in front of her. Looking vital and refreshed, his black hair gleamed under the lights of the massive chandelier above his head. He wore a charcoal gray suit that surely must be tailor-made and a pale blue-toned shirt with a darker blue tie. He was magnificent.
She glanced at her blue-knitted suit and elegant shoes, realizing she and Jack were color coordinated.
“Smart suit,” she said, by way of greeting.
“And the same to you, princess.”
“Um, Jack, when I present you to the king and queen and my brother, you give a slight bow of your head. Okay?”
“Thanks. Rudolf has already filled me in on the protocols,” he said with a casual shrug. “Are you allowed to hold my arm as we walk down the stairs?”
She placed her hand into the crook of his arm, feeling the fine material and the steel of hard muscles beneath her fingers.
“I certainly am. Thank you, Mr. Lucas.”
~ * ~
Jack fidgeted with the knot of his tie. He knew he shouldn’t but he was bored. This informal luncheon, as Lara had called it, had been anything but, and at the end of almost three hours he was decidedly uncomfortable and yes, very bored.
But, I’ve been well behaved, he thought, allowing himself a small congratulatory smile as the attentive butler poured him another coffee. I have been dutifully polite to King Johann and Queen Francesca and talked about nondescript topics with them and Lara’s brother, Crown Prince Carl. Boring topics such as the weather and how different it was from Australia. Of course, it was bloody well different. Australia was thousands of miles away at the other end of the earth, and as far as he was concerned, it might just as well be on another planet compared to his present environment.
Earlier he had been greeted warmly by the king and queen, although he’d decided he had better not step out of line. He wondered if they had dungeons here and whether he could be in danger of being locked away for the rest of his life for daring to defile a royal princess. King Johann was a slight, elegant man with a serious, intelligent face. He was quieter than the queen, who appeared to be the diplomat, making sure Jack was warmly welcomed. He could see where Lara had inherited her beauty as in her early fifties, Queen Francesca was still a very lovely woman with a slender figure and noble bearing.
He looked across at Lara who sat opposite him, next to Carl. She was pale and her face was strained. In fact, he’d found it hard not to keep looking at her throughout the long lunch. He was bewitched by her beauty and gentle manner but he worried for her and couldn’t determine why. She should be fine returning to the loving arms of her family. However, he had been surprised at the cool greeting she had r
eceived from her parents. Perhaps they were different when there wasn’t a stranger present or perhaps they were mad at her for breaking ranks and daring to live her life as she wanted. He didn’t know, but he didn’t like what he saw. Lara shouldn’t be treated in this almost callous way.
He studied Carl, who was a good-looking man and at thirty-three, was the same age as him. But, for all of Carl’s handsome features, there was a sulky petulance in his manner and signs of a weak character in the lines around his mouth and chin.
Jack fidgeted again, moving restlessly in the velvet upright chair. The five of them were seated in what he understood was the small salon, except it was huge. The king and queen sat at either end of the magnificent dining table, which was laden with silverware with a low display of yellow roses as a centerpiece. Servants had hovered nearby to serve the three course meal and accompanying wines. This probably accounted for the stilted conversation, because there was no way this family was going to discuss anything of a personal nature in front of the staff.
Even so, he didn’t understand why the king and queen hadn’t questioned him about his background and businesses. They were definitely keeping something from Lara and…so was he. Frowning, he decided he would explain things to her as soon as he could. That, in fact, he wasn’t the poor fisherman she thought he was, but was wealthy—substantially wealthy, even by this family’s standards.
He noticed Lara refused a port with her coffee, as she had refused the wines during the meal. He had done the same, not because he wouldn’t have enjoyed them, but he wanted to have all his faculties on red alert if he had to deal with any awkward questions. Carl, on the other hand, had freely indulged and was now motioning to the butler to refill his port glass. His cheeks were flushed from the amount of alcohol he had consumed and his voice was becoming louder by the moment.
As the last servant departed, Carl turned to Queen Francesca. “Mummy, I’m flying to Monaco tomorrow for a few days.”
Francesca looked reproachfully at her son. “Not again, surely. You were only there last week.”
Falling For Jack Page 8
