Can't Buy Me Love

by Abigail Drake

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  Romancing the Princess

  Bridie Hall

  Other Titles by Bridie Hall

  My Summer Roommate

  Letting Go

  On the Slopes

  Romancing the Princess

  Copyright © 2017 Bridie Hall

  All rights reserved.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Sebastian

  The room was little more than a broom closet and completely unfit to make-out with the future queen in, but Sebastian didn’t care. Luckily, the ancient palace was full of hidden places and twisted corridors so they could escape from their everyday duties and steal a few moments alone. They weren’t supposed to. They weren’t married yet. The old Queen was a stickler about archaic ‘dating’ rules. She annoyed Seb beyond belief. But she was Alix’s grandmother and he had to respect her simply because he adored Alix.

  “God, it feels so good just being close to you,” Alix said, sighing contentedly, then kissing his mouth.

  “Why don’t you sneak out tonight and come to my apartment?” Seb suggested. “No one has to know where you spend the night.”

  “Don’t you think the dozen or so people surrounding me constantly would notice my disappearance for an entire night?” She giggled. “I love that you want me so much you are willing to risk the Queen’s wrath, though.”

  Although Alix hated most of the rules and court etiquette, she was well aware she was the future queen and had to set a good example. She’d told him several times that she’d prefer to live the life of an ordinary girl with all the freedoms that would bring. Still, she’d never cause a scandal because it would hurt her grandma, Queen Sophia.

  Seb couldn’t understand where Alix’s love and loyalty for the Queen came from. All he could see was a prudish old hag who’d been on his case ever since he’d arrived to the palace months before. The Queen didn’t approve of him because he was American, not an aristocrat, too frank, not frank enough, a man, too old at thirty to still be single, not mature enough for Alix. The list was never-ending and her reproaches and comments (because the Queen did not complain, she merely commented and suggested) annoyed him to no end. But he put up with it for Alix’s sake. If it meant he could marry her, he’d be best friends with a dragon.

  “Isn’t it ridiculous that we’re grown-up and we have to hide like this?” he said. “I feel like a hormone-ridden teenager again.”

  His apartment and the princess’s quarters at the palace were on opposite ends of the enormous building. And despite them being engaged, the etiquette didn’t allow for them to spend time together without chaperones being present, much less spend the night in the same bed. But etiquette couldn’t quench his overwhelming need to constantly touch, kiss and hug Alix. To hell with rules. He wanted to feel her up and hear her breathlessness when he kissed her silly. He wanted her to moan his name and bite his lip. He wanted so much that he was starting to lose his mind.

  “It’s romantic, too, though. Don’t you think?” Alix said but then fell silent when heavy footsteps went past the door outside.

  Alix’s hand under his shirt made him not care whether it was romantic or just plain awkward. He pushed her up against the wall and regretted the dim lighting because he couldn’t see her eyes go all feverish. He wanted to make love to her right then and there. It’d been almost a week since they last managed to escape to another such room and make love on the carpet in front of a fire place that Alix had expertly lit. A week without making love to Alix was much too long.

  “Seb,” Alix whispered.

  “Mhm?” He nuzzled her neck, his hands roaming down her backside and hips.

  “Seb, we must stop.”

  When he groaned frustrated, she laughed.

  “Why must we stop?” he asked, not caring that he sounded like a petulant ten-year-old.

  “Remember that meeting with the legal advisors? It’s in about half an hour. It wouldn’t do to show up with a hickey and swollen lips from making out as though we were hormone-driven teenagers.”

  He knew she was right if he wanted to gain the Queen’s respect. Although he would probably never get it, no matter how much he sacrificed for it. So maybe it was pointless to try so hard to win her over. Maybe it would be best to stay here with Alix … Her lips were so soft and tempting. And her body … Mmm.

  Damn. “You’re right. But only because meeting with them will allow me to marry you.” He kissed her mouth once again slowly, gently. “And once we’re married … no one will stop me from dragging you to my bed and keeping you there for as long as I want.”

  Her soft laughter tickled his heart. “I think the Queen would consider that an abduction of the future queen and would have you banished from the country,” she said, amusement ringing in her voice.

  “Then I’ll just wait till you’re queen.”

  “I’ll have so many duties then I probably won’t see you for days on end.”

  She was teasing him, so he tried to stifle his worry. “Are you trying to get me not to marry you?”

  She gazed up at him and her eyes glinted in the dimness. She caressed his cheek and said, “I love you, Sebastian. You know I’ll make time to be with you, queen or not.”

  He tried to hide his relief and not look too lovesick. “I know.”

  ****

  Seb had almost forgotten about the meeting with Alix and the Queen’s legal advisors. Preparations for the royal wedding had taken up most of his time. He hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in days, possibly weeks. His newly appointed butler Jerome was ashen-faced with worry that he wouldn’t manage to instill all the royal etiquette in Seb’s head by the time he would stand waiting for his princess at the altar. Seb would probably worry too if he weren’t so in love with Alix that his crazy feelings trumped all anxiety. Still, it was worth minding his step because the mean old queen had the power to chuck him on his butt out the palace door. A commoner, she’d called him as if he were dirt.

  He was still buttoning up his jacket as he reached the palace library door. He knocked and when he recognized the Queen’s voice inviting him to enter, his chest squeezed. He hadn’t realized the Queen would be present too.

  A little less poised, he pushed the door open and was struck by how much the scene in front of him resembled a corporate meeting at his old job. Except for the regal environment of the centuries old palace. And the gorgeous brunette sitting at the end of the long desk, winking at him.

  The Queen frowned when she caught him wink back at Alix. God, would she ever lighten up? Couldn’t she understand that Alixandra was not just future queen but also his future wife? Like, he had the right to wink at his wife, right? Jesus.

  “Good of you to join us,” a grey, desiccated man said. He sat next to Alixandra, with two more suits on his other side and the Queen standing next to the desk like a Doric column.

  “Of course,” Seb murmured and bowed slightly, just as Jerome had instructed. Seb glanced around but saw no chair ready for him. He would have to stand? He was certain this was another ploy of the Queen’s to humiliate him. Oh, well.

  One of the other two men now spoke in a lulling drone that had Seb struggling to keep his tired eyes open. “As you all know, we are gathered here to read the provisions of the prenuptial agreement between Her Highness, Princess Alixandra Marie Charlotte of Norrone and Mr. Sebastian Joseph Stratford of … Chicago.” The man looked dubiously at him and Seb was tempted to roll his eyes. So what if he didn’t own a country? His billionaire family could easily buy one but he preferred to invest the money in creating new jobs. Not that he had much say anymore since he’d had to give up his CEO position in on
e of the family companies.

  The man returned to the papers and started reading again. Seb already knew what was in there. Alix had told him about the share of her fortune he would get if they divorced and he couldn’t care less about it. He wasn’t in it for the money. In fact, he’d be pretty happy to let the Queen take all the money and the royal duties so Alix would be free to do what she wished. But that was not how it worked. So he stood patiently listening to the details of the prenup for almost half an hour. When the royal family had six hundred years of history, there were many items to cover. From the thinning pile of papers in front of the lawyer, Seb supposed they were nearing the end. He’d pretty much zoned out, thinking about honeymoon with Alix, until the tedious voice brought him back to the present all of a sudden.

  “In case of a separation or divorce, the child or children conceived during this marriage shall remain in the care of the royal household in order to continue receiving proper education and training for their future roles in the royal family.”

  This, they hadn’t talked about. Seb’s eyes flew to Alix. She smiled but when she noticed his perplexed expression, a thin line formed between her eyes and her lips parted as if she was about to say something.

  “Is there a problem, Mr. Stratford?” the old man asked. The lawyer who’d been interrupted blinked at Seb as if he’d just woken from sleep.

  “We’ve discussed the money matters prior to this meeting,” Seb said, staring at the men, too afraid to glance at the Queen or even Alix. “But we haven’t talked about any of this.” He waved his hand to indicate the recently read provisions.

  “That would be because these articles are set and cannot be changed,” the old man said, patiently and not unkindly. “You must understand the care the royal family must take of their heirs.”

  “But these would be my children too. How about shared custody? Not that I plan to divorce you.” He smiled at Alix but her pinched expression didn’t reassure him. Had she known about this? Was that why she hadn’t mentioned it because she knew the rules were fixed?

  Of course she had known it. But how could she allow it? This was supposed to be a union of love, mutual understanding and agreement. Letting his children be raised by surly tutors and governesses was against everything he believed in. He’d been raised by his parents. Busy as they had been, they always found the time for him and Jarrod. Nothing could replace parental love, no royal coaches or even the Queen herself. So how could Alix demand of him to sign this?

  “So I’m just a means to gain an heir and to hell with me afterwards?” Seb’s words were clipped with anger and he could feel the heat rise to his cheeks. The tie was suffocating him, the suit as uncomfortable as if he’d worn someone else’s skin.

  “Mr. Stratford!” The Queen’s level, cold tone was lethal. Her blue eyes pierced him with disapproval and warning.

  “Your Highness, with all due respect,” he bowed to the Queen, “but this is my future family we are discussing here.”

  The sound of the three lawyers’ gasps was the only thing that interrupted the deathly stillness of the library.

  “No, Mr. Stratford,” the Queen said coolly, “this is my family we are discussing here.”

  Seb opened his mouth to protest and then he shut it with an audible snap. Alix had explained it to him time and again that the rules which applied to the royal family were quite different to the rules which applied to the rest of the world. He wasn’t daft. He didn’t want to question the Queen’s authority, but he had rights too. And he be damned if he would let a bunch of medieval lawyers trample them.

  “Can we have a word in private?” he asked Alix, begging her with his eyes.

  Obviously embarrassed, she glanced at the Queen first and apparently they exchanged a message that Seb couldn’t see because then Alix nodded at the three men and they started to get up. They were so nauseatingly well-bred they didn’t even let the chairs scrape on the hardwood floor as they pushed them back to stand. They filed out the door and closed it. Just as Seb thought the Queen would insist on staying, she moved.

  Her icy eyes measured him with an unreadable expression as she stopped in front of him. She probably had bones of steel and ice in her veins. He’d ascertained she had no heart when he first met her and she told Alix to stop the nonsense and drop him. As if he was a poorly chosen accessory or a garish tiara.

  “Two minutes, Mr. Stratford. There are things to be done if you are to be married tomorrow. We are on a tight schedule.”

  “Yes, Your Highness.” He realized he had no problem bowing to her. He was at least spared the chill of her gaze.

  It was after the doors closed behind the Queen that Seb felt real apprehension settle in his stomach. He gazed at the woman he loved like no other and she stared back with a hint of her grandmother in her blue eyes. Less icy but just as unyielding.

  “Alix? Did you know about this?”

  Her silence was answer enough. But then she dropped her gaze, and nodded, slowly.

  “You didn’t tell me because you hoped I wouldn’t pay attention and I would just sign whatever the hell those musty old pricks pushed under my nose.” His voice trembled with suppressed anger. “Right?”

  Her fingers played with the buttons on her jacket sleeve. The designer skirt and tailored jacket were nothing like the cut-off jeans and cropped top she had worn when they first met. But her poise, her regal posture and her beauty were without a doubt the same.

  At last, she said, “It’s not something I, or even the Queen, can change. This is regulated by laws and it takes years to change them even if we had enough voices in the parliament. It’s complicated, Seb, but it’s just a paper.”

  He walked to the desk, leaning onto it so he could look in her eyes. “It’s a paper that decides the fate of my children.” He wasn’t trying to pressure her into anything but he needed her to see how unfair this was.

  “If we divorce. Which we won’t.”

  At least they agreed on something.

  “You still can’t treat me like I have no rights,” he insisted.

  Alix stood up and rounded the table so she was right in front of him. Her hands on his chest made him want to shed the suit and shirt and solve this in a far more pleasurable way.

  “It’s the way things are done in these situations, Seb.” This time she sounded less imploring and more stubborn.

  “No, Alix, it’s the way you royals do things because you think you can wield your power any way you like.” The absurdity of having to debate the fate of his yet-unborn children in case of a divorce on the day before the actual wedding was getting to him.

  Alix sighed as if she too was starting to lose her patience. “Seb.” She caressed his cheek and that seemed the only sane, happy thing right now—the feel of her skin on his. But it wasn’t enough.

  “Admit it,” he said. “It’s just about power.” If he were honest, he was taunting her because he wanted to make her feel as helpless as he felt.

  She looked him in the eye, her forehead lined, and eyes darker with anger. “Is it really?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I’m thinking it bothers you that you have no say in it. That a woman gets a better deal.”

  Seb spluttered. “What? It’s not about that at all. It’s about our children, for fuck’s sake. I want to decide about their upbringing. I want to be part of their lives, even if … something totally crazy happens and we divorce. I want to be part of this family and I won’t let that old hag just throw me to the side as if I don’t matter at all.”

  “She’s my grandma and the Queen, not an old hag.” Alix’s eyes glimmered with warning.

  “Well, she’s been treating me like shit and I’m supposed to be your future husband. When she shows me some respect, I’ll show her all the respect she deserves.”

  “Supposed to be? So you’re now questioning our wedding?” She frowned and an expression flitted across her face that looked almost like fear. He didn’t want to hurt her b
ut she needed to see how he felt.

  “Perhaps I am, Alix. I’ve done everything you asked of me, everything the protocol demanded of me, everything the freaking butler demanded of me. But you won’t even consider changing the prenup that doesn’t affect just me but our children too? That’s hardly an equal union, is it?”

  Breathing hard and feeling slightly dizzy, he stormed out the door, nearly toppling the Queen standing just behind it. He paused long enough to bow to her to show her he knew she was eavesdropping, before he practically ran down the endless hallway and up the stairs to his room.

  Where the fuck had things gone so wrong? He’d moved continents for this woman, gave up his career for her, learned French and to come to this. He couldn’t stand it. There was a dull pain in his chest and he felt the need to yell or break something. But he just slammed the door behind him and then smashed his fist against the wall. The bloody thing was solid and the impact rattled his bones. Something in his hand gave way with a sickening crunch.

  Too distraught to care about the physical pain, he paced and tried to gather his thoughts. But the mix of anger, disappointment, hurt and just plain longing was too complex and confusing.

  He poured himself a glass of sherry. The palace, or at least his quarters, were beginning to feel like home. He’d been here for five months. If he thought of all the lessons and coaching he’d gone through, it felt more like a decade, but if he remembered the sweet, stolen moments with Alix, it was far too short. He wanted a lifetime with her. Every moment away from her was wasted. But could he forget his own principles to be with her? Could he go through with this wedding, knowing what the prenup robbed him of?