“I’ve spent time with Lee. She broke down and told me everything.”
“I-I don’t think I understand.” There was a distinct tremor in her voice.
“You’re an intelligent woman. I think you do.”
A long, telling silence ensued.
“Please don’t be angry with her, Raoul. She was only doing what Luciano and I asked her to do.”
Luciano.
Raoul relaxed, falling back on the pillow in complete joy. So that was what Lee had been hiding from him. She’d been afraid to tell him there was another man in Sophie’s life. Dieu merci. He couldn’t help but admire her more for her caring, and her discretion.
“If you and I handle this right, there’s no reason why you and Luciano can’t be married before too much longer.”
Sophie let out a cry of happiness. Then he heard muffled sounds which meant she was informing her lover.
“Raoul?” She came back on the line. “You’re not furious with me?”
“Far from it.”
“Truly? I pray this means you’re interested in someone else too.”
“Yes.” Most definitely yes.
“But this is fantastique!”
“We have Lee to thank for everything.”
“I know. I admit I used her shamefully, but I felt so trapped and knew you must feel that way too. Lee didn’t want to do it. It doesn’t surprise me she couldn’t go through with the plan.”
“You’re lucky to have such a devoted friend.”
“She’s extraordinary.”
His eyes closed tightly. “I agree. Don’t worry about anything. I’ll accompany Lee back to Nyon. By Monday I would expect your parents to have called off our wedding. Enjoy your weekend. Á bientôt, Sophie.”
“Wait, Raoul! How is that going to happen now?”
“Read tomorrow’s headlines and you’ll find out. Ciao.”
“Wait! Raoul-”
He hung up, then looked in the directory for the number of the Alex Grill and made the call. Journalists lurked in the hotel foyer waiting for celebrities to pass through.
When Reception answered, he made reservations at eight for His Royal Highness Prince Raoul Mertier Bergeret D’Arillac and guest. Would they please put the best champagne in the house on ice?
Within five minutes the word would be out that he was dining in the village. Fortunately Lee had been around Sophie long enough not to be unnerved by reporters. At least he hoped she wouldn’t be too dismayed by the barrage of questions and camera flashes. Tonight he was pulling out all the stops, something he’d never done in his life.
He turned off his cellphone and reached for the house phone. It took a minute before Lee picked up.
“Hello?” She sounded out of breath. No doubt she’d been in the shower.
“Lee-what are you wearing to town?”
He heard her hesitate. “I only brought two outfits with me so I don’t have much of a choice. It’s either what I had on this morning, or the black sweater and trousers I arrived in yesterday.”
“Would you wear the latter? I have a reason for asking.”
“All right,” she said in a subdued voice.
“Are you about ready?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I’ll see you downstairs in a few minutes.”
As soon as she’d hung up, he phoned the kitchen. “Greta? Do you know where you put my mother’s black cable knit cardigan with the gold family coat of arms emblazoned on the breast pocket? She left it here on her last visit.”
His father had had it made for his mother, but she’d never worn it in public because she’d felt the crest made it too ostentatious. With Lee’s gossamer hair, she would look stunning in it while they walked around town.
“Yes,” the older woman said tentatively. “It’s in the storage closet near the base of the back staircase.”
“Merci.”
Raoul cast off his turtleneck and walked over to the closet to slip on a white fleece pullover. It was the only article of sportswear he owned that had the initials of His Royal Highness monogrammed near the right shoulder. He’d worn it once for an official family photograph.
He tucked the hem into the waistband of his jeans. When he’d pocketed his phone and wallet, he hurried down the stairs, eager to join the woman who’d transformed his life in the last twenty hours.
The woman in the mirror staring back at Lee had the same face as always, but she was a different person inside. In a few minutes her whole life would change when she stepped out of the chalet as Raoul’s girlfriend. Once the news broke, she’d be labeled that woman.
For Sophie and Luciano’s sake, Lee could handle it. By next week she’d be in Jackson, far away from any gossip that could hurt her. But she had a pit in her stomach over Raoul, who would have to bear the brunt of disgrace with no place to run.
No matter how he’d brushed off her concerns, he risked ruining his own life and everything his family stood for. Lee loved him too much to let him throw ev-
“Lee?” The rap on the bedroom door startled her. “I’ve put the gear we’re going to return in the car. Are you ready?”
Help me, her heart cried.
She walked over to the door and opened it. Her breath caught. The elegant white pullover that could only belong to Raoul with those royal initials provided the perfect foil for his brilliant blue eyes. Combined with his striking features and stature, he looked every inch the prince he was.
“Would you come in for a minute and shut the door?”
He scrutinized her thoroughly before moving inside, nudging the door closed with his boot. “What’s wrong?”
“I know we talked everything over, but we can’t go through with this. Look-I’m not backing out because of me. I already agreed to help. But-”
“Then there’s no problem,” he muttered in a forbidding voice she didn’t recognize.
“I’m afraid for you, Raoul. I’ve lived in Switzerland long enough to know you’re loved and revered by the people. There has to be another way to do this. Why don’t you and Sophie meet and discuss everything? You could call your parents together and plead with them to consider another solution so no one gets hurt.”
His handsome features hardened. “You don’t understand. Even if Sophie’s parents wanted to let her marry Luciano, royal protocol wouldn’t allow them to dissolve our engagement without clear justification.”
Lee was so shocked to hear him mention Luciano’s name she barely assimilated the rest.
“You know about him?”
“I just got off the phone with the Princess.”
She shook her head. “That means you’ve told her what you’re going to do, and she’s still willing to let you destroy your life for her?” Lee cried out, aghast.
Sophie’s revelation about Luciano must have devastated Raoul. He had to be in terrible pain right now.
“She realizes it’s the only way out for both of us,” he said in his deep voice.
“I can’t believe it.” Lee’s eyes implored him. “Raoul-your life will never be the same again. This is all my fault!” Her eyes glistened over. “Oh, why did I ever come to Zermatt?”
“Thank God you did,” he said emotionally. “As I told you at Roger’s, Sophie knew what she was doing.” His eyes seemed to pierce her soul. “If you’d been on the phone and had heard her cry of happiness as she told Luciano the good news, you would know I can’t disappoint her now.”
It was too much. She looked away from him. “If you’re this determined to do this there must be another woman you could find to help you.”
“I know several from the past who would pretend to be my latest lover without giving it a second thought.”
He’d had other lovers. Of course he had. There was probably someone here in Zermatt who’d expected to be with him this weekend! Why did it hurt so much?
“But, as Sophie’s best friend, you’re the only woman on the planet her parents will take seriously. They’ll know you and I had special access to each ot
her through their daughter, and will assume we’ve been meeting secretly.”
She shuddered. “That’s horrible.”
“It has to be horrible to give her father a reason to sever all ties with me.”
“He’ll denounce you!” she almost shouted. “You really think you can live with that when all of it’s untrue?”
“We both want Sophie to be happy, otherwise you would never have come to Zermatt in the first place.”
Lee couldn’t argue with those facts.
“But it’s so unfair!” she groaned the words.
“Life’s unfair, as you’ve found out.” He grasped her hands and held them against his chest. “Look at me,” he whispered.
Slowly she raised her eyes to his.
“I need you, Lee.”
She tried not to be affected by his words, but it was impossible when she could feel his whole being calling out to her. She’d been the messenger, now she had to finish playing the part to the bitter end.
“If you’re sure,” she whispered back.
His eyes darkened. “I’ve never been so certain of anything in my life.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
“W HAT can I show you, Your Highness?”
The attractive saleswoman in the boutique could scarcely contain her excitement. The same thing happened no matter where Raoul took Lee. Everyone recognized the Prince, but it was the female population that went crazy over him.
Lee had thought the attention bad enough when she’d gone out in public with Sophie, but nothing could compare to this. Journalists and tourists alike hounded him along the street, yet he took it all in stride and was cordial. At the hotel, where they ate a raclette lunch, people applauded as he escorted Lee out to the terrace.
“We’ve been to half a dozen shops, but none of them had a dress to match her eyes.” His gaze fastened on Lee. “They’re lavender or violet, depending on the light.”
The clerk had been concentrating so hard on Raoul it took her a minute before she realized she was supposed to be looking at Lee. After his personal observation, Lee felt equally dazed. Her legs were about as substantial as mush.
“We do have a dress. It just came in. Follow me.”
When they reached the fitting room Lee noticed how the other woman kept staring at the black cardigan Raoul had thrown over her shoulders earlier to keep warm.
“I’ll be right back, mademoiselle.”
Left alone, Lee removed it before taking off her other clothes, wondering what was so fascinating. Raoul had muttered something about his mother accidentally leaving it behind after a visit. She gasped the second she realized the D’Arillac royal crest had been embroidered on the pocket.
Hundreds of people would have recognized it. To be wearing such a garment would show the world Raoul had put his personal claim on her. Short of kissing her in public, he couldn’t have done anything that would have conveyed his disregard of his fiancée as completely.
Already there’d been a moment after lunch when he’d helped her up from the table and his lips had grazed her cheek. The contact had sent scorching heat to her face. The tabloids would love that kind of press. She could be thankful they hadn’t caught a photo of him kissing her senseless in Roger’s kitchen.
“Here we are, mademoiselle. I showed this dress to the Prince. He said it’s perfect. In fact he would like to see you in it, and suggested these heels to match.”
Lee took the articles from her. “Thank you. I won’t need any help.”
As soon as the other woman walked away, Lee put it on. The purple affair with spaghetti straps, an Italian creation in a soft crêpe de Chine, was stunning. The lines made the most of her figure without being immodest. But she couldn’t face Raoul right now. There’d been too much intimacy already.
She dressed quickly in her other clothes and walked out to the counter. “It’s all very lovely,” she murmured, avoiding Raoul’s eyes.
“You need hose, mademoiselle?”
“Yes, and a slip.”
Before long she had her packages. Raoul ushered her out to the street amidst a barrage of camera flashes. Some reporter in the crowd called out, “Prince Raoul? Is the rumor true that you’re not marrying Princess Sophie after all?”
Lee cringed, but he just smiled and waved before helping her into the car.
Once they were on their way, he glanced at her. “You couldn’t have gotten much sleep last night. I have to assume that’s the reason you wouldn’t give me a preview in the shop, so let’s get you home for a nap.”
“That sounds good.”
“I thought it would. You can sleep until seven-thirty. We have dinner reservations at the Alex at eight. Afterward, I’m planning to dance the night away with you.”
At the thought of being in his arms again she felt her heart take up a furious tattoo.
“Don’t look so alarmed,” he muttered. “It’s the thing to do at night in Zermatt.”
“I-I haven’t danced in a long time.” Her voice faltered.
“The place will be so packed all you’ll have to do is hold on to me and I’ll take care of the rest.”
That was what she was afraid of.
Six hours later, after a sumptuous dinner from the grill followed by champagne, Raoul guided her into a disco bar. It wasn’t Lee’s scene, but it was exactly the kind of place Sophie would have loved because the music ‘rocked’.
Once again Lee heard whispers as people recognized Raoul. The manager was all smiles and arranged the best table for them, but her companion seemed totally oblivious. He relieved her of the chic white wool dress coat he’d bought for her while she’d been in the fitting room.
In the next instant he spirited her on to the floor, drawing her arms behind his neck before sliding his hands around her hips to rest against her back.
There wasn’t a centimeter of air between them. Lee trembled so hard, he had to feel it. They might as well have been making love standing up.
“I told you there was nothing to this kind of dancing,” he said in a husky tone. The warmth of his breath on her temple shot sparks of desire through her system, electrifying her.
“You warned me it would be crowded, but I didn’t realize we wouldn’t be able to breathe.”
He chuckled softly. “That’s the whole idea.” His hands roved over her back where skin met skin. “Have I told you yet how sensational you look in this dress? I’m the envy of every man here.”
Lee had been thinking the same thing about Raoul. He looked drop-dead gorgeous in his tux, a breed apart from any other man. The women in the room couldn’t keep their eyes off him.
“Thank you for the compliment.”
She lost track of time as one dance turned into another. It was the only legitimate excuse she had to cling to him. But as the night worn on she realized this was too dangerous a game to play. It was vital she put distance between them.
“Raoul?”
“Umm?”
“Do you think we could leave now?”
“You’re not enjoying yourself?”
If only you knew.
“It’s not that, but I couldn’t sleep this afternoon and-”
“And now you’re exhausted. That’s fine. We’ll go.”
People made a path for him as he drew her through the crowd to the exit. Until more flashes went off, blinding her, she’d forgotten the paparazzi. They never let up, not even at two in the morning.
She was a throbbing mass of emotions on their drive back to the chalet. “Today has been like a page out of a fairy tale. I feel like Cinderella who got her dance with the Prince.” She had to keep things on a light note or she might break down and tell him how she really felt.
“How have you liked your role so far?”
He was letting her know not to get too carried away.
“Knowing it’s temporary, I’ll be honest and tell Your Highness that I’ve loved every second of it. But the thought of it being on a permanent basis is ludicrous. Your world and mine are so far
apart as to be beyond comprehension.”
After the slightest hesitation she heard him say, “Nevertheless the enchantment isn’t over yet, and you still have both glass slippers.”
In other words, he intended for the public charade to go on through tomorrow night as well. But it wasn’t necessary. She was convinced they’d given the reporters more than enough material for Sophie’s family to call off the engagement. In one day Raoul had destroyed all the good he’d spent his life building.
As for Lee, any more time in his company would only bring about her final destruction. However, tonight was not the time to tell him she was through playing the role of his lover. Otherwise he’d insist on another one of his talks, where she always came out the loser. She couldn’t risk that.
Still high on the feel of his arms around her, Lee’s only salvation was to run inside when they arrived, and go to bed without stopping for a breath.
When they drew up behind the chalet, she saw another car parked there. Beyond it she spied Philippe, descending the outside staircase from the loft.
She heaved a sigh. “I’m glad your friends are home safely.”
“Me too,” Raoul murmured before levering himself from the car. As he came around to open her door she heard the two men greet each other.
Relieved because Raoul had been distracted for the moment, Lee nodded to Philippe, then slipped past them and darted into the house. She couldn’t reach her bedroom fast enough.
CHAPTER NINE
R AOUL let out a groan as he watched Lee’s whiteclad figure disappear in the darkness. This wasn’t how he’d planned the night to end. Inside he rebelled against Philippe’s timing until he saw the smile that lit up his friend’s face.
With it came the dawning realization of what it meant. Raoul’s heart did a violent kick. “The news is out?”
Philippe let go with a cry of excitement. “I not only heard it-I saw it with my own eyes on TV! It’s the major story on every network! They all say the same thing. ‘A beautiful blond American woman appears to have captured the heart of Prince Raoul. There’s no official word yet, but it’s rumored that he and Princess Sophie will not be getting married after all.’”
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