Affair with the Princess
Page 13
“Are you sure, Your Highness, that it’s for the best?”
Oh, God, not him, too. She sighed deeply and rubbed at the ache that had begun to throb in her temples. Couldn’t anyone stay out of her business? “Wilson, you don’t even like him.”
“Perhaps I was a bit hasty when I drew that conclusion. And regardless of how I feel about him, he makes you happy.”
But for how long? How long would it be before he broke her heart again?
Besides, she didn’t have the energy for another argument about her love life. “I’m going to take a shower, then crawl in bed and sleep for a month. It would be fabulous if you’d not disturb me.”
One brow tipped up. “For a month?”
She shrugged. “At least a solid ten or twelve hours.”
He nodded, then backed out of the room. “As you wish, Your Highness.”
He disapproved. He would never say it, of course, but she could tell. Why couldn’t everyone trust that she knew what she was doing?
Sophie locked herself in the bathroom, stripped to the skin, turned the shower on as hot as she could stand and stood there until the water ran cold. It was meant to relax her, but as she stepped out and toweled off, she felt just as tense and miserable as before. It felt as if something was missing, as though someone had reached deep inside her, grabbed hold of whatever it was that made her a whole person and snatched it away.
It was a sensation she remembered all too well. The same thing she’d felt the first time Alex had walked out of her life.
But to be fair, he hadn’t walked so much as been shoved.
She wrapped herself up in a towel and stepped into her bedroom. The sun had set and the room was dark, so she switched on the lamp beside her bed. And nearly jumped out of her own skin when she noticed the dark figure standing across the room by the window.
In the instant it took to realize it was Alex, her heart had bottomed out all the way to the balls of her feet, then slammed upward to catch in her throat.
He turned to her, looking…actually, she couldn’t say for sure how he looked. His face was expressionless.
“I was beginning to think you were never coming out,” he said. “I guess you royals have no concept of water conservation.”
She clutched the towel to her chest. This was odd to the point of being surreal. “I’m sure you didn’t come here to discuss the environment. In fact, I’m curious as to how you managed to get past Wilson.”
He tucked his hands into the pockets of his slacks and took a step toward her. “Gunpoint. He’s tied up in the pantry.”
She shot him a disbelieving look.
“Okay,” he admitted with a shrug. “He let me in.”
She might have been in the shower a long time, but certainly not the ten to twelve uninterrupted hours she had requested. Meaning she and Wilson were going to have to have a talk about following instructions, and him keeping his nose out of her business.
She glanced at the clock on the bedside table. “You’re going to miss your flight.”
“I’m not going to miss my flight, because I’m not planning on leaving.”
Surely he didn’t mean to say that he was staying for her. She lifted her chin, giving him the coldest look she could manage, when on the inside she was falling to pieces.
“Aren’t you going to ask me why?”
She was afraid to. And whatever the reason, it didn’t really make a difference.
He sighed. “You’re not going to make this easy, are you?”
She raised her chin another notch and struggled to keep her voice even. “What do you want from me, Alex?”
“I came here to apologize.”
Her heart did a swift backward flip. “For?”
“For calling you unlovable. Because you’re not.” He took a step toward her. “Ask me how I know that.” When she didn’t say anything he said, “Go ahead, ask me.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I love you.” He stepped closer, until he was right in front of her, and it took everything in her not to launch herself into his arms. “And I’m not going to let you run away from me again.
“Ten years ago I should have come after you, but I let my pride get in the way. And that’s a mistake I’m not going to make again.”
He reached out, touched her face, and that was all it took. Her heart slammed the wall of her chest and her knees turned to mush. And when he tugged her to him, she melted into his arms. She buried her face against his shirt, breathed him in. Clinging as if she never wanted to let go.
How could something so wrong feel so…perfect?
“You used me,” she reminded him.
“And you used me. But at this point, does it really matter?”
No, not really. She looked up at him, into his eyes. “I hurt you, Alex, and I never once said I was sorry. And I am. I’m so, so sorry.”
He smiled. “You’re forgiven.”
She laid her head on his chest, felt his heart beating against her cheek. “What if it doesn’t work?”
He held her tight, stroked her damp hair. “How will we know if we don’t try?”
“I’m stubborn and incorrigible. I drive everyone crazy.”
He cupped her chin and tipped her face up to his. “Yeah, but all the things you do that drive me crazy are the things I love most about you.” He lowered his head and kissed her. A sweet brush of his lips that was filled with affection and love. “You’re perfect just the way you are.”
She had waited all her life to hear someone say that. And she believed that he meant it. “I love you, Alex. I’ve never loved anyone but you.”
He grinned down at her. “I know.”
She laughed. “And you call me self-centered.”
“Well,” he said with a shrug, “you can’t say we don’t have anything in common.”
“You know that this relationship could be a logistical nightmare. Transcontinental dating?”
“Then I’ll have to move here.”
“Oh, Alex, I can’t ask you to make a sacrifice like that.”
“You didn’t ask. And it’s not a sacrifice. In fact, I’ve been considering it ever since I got here. And for the record, I have no interest in dating you.”
She frowned. “You don’t?”
“For ten years, deep down I’ve known you’re the one for me. And with all that time to make up, I think we should skip the dating altogether, and move right on to living together.”
“Where?”
“Here, the palace. It’s up to you.”
“I’m not sure how the family will take that. It wouldn’t be considered proper.”
He sighed. “All right, then I guess you’ll just have to marry me instead.”
She was so stunned, her jaw nearly fell out of joint. “But you just got unmarried.”
“I was never really married to her. Not in my heart. Unless you don’t want to marry me.”
Despite everything she’d said in recent years about never tying herself down to one person, about not wanting to sacrifice her freedom, being with Alex forever was no sacrifice. In fact, she couldn’t think of a more perfect way to spend the rest of her life.
She smiled up at him. “Why don’t you ask me and find out?”
He actually dropped on one knee, right there on her bedroom carpet, and took her hand in his. “Sophia Renee Agustus Mead, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
“Yes,” she said, with more joy than she ever thought possible filling her heart. “I will.”
He smiled up at her. “Well, it’s about damn time.”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-2285-8
AN AFFAIR WITH THE PRINCESS
Copyright © 2008 by Michelle Celmer
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