Yes, but you didn’t tell me you’re the young man who cavorted naked in the pool at Andi’s hotel and got her fired!
Fired? Huh?
I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I never got Andi fired from anything.
Maybe not directly, but circuitously you did. She was working a shift that afternoon and couldn’t get any work done because the crowds had built up so crazy huge once you showed up there and stripped down. Andi had taken a drink order and couldn’t get past the crowd, so she decided to take a quick picture of you to cheer me up. You see, my husband had just left me and I was a little blue.
Aha... so that’s how she had a picture of him. An eyewitness, she was...
So to get this straight, Andi saw me there? She was working at that pool? But you said I got her fired. How could that be?
Well, after she took the picture, her boss cornered her and demanded she turn in her apron and her electronic ordering pad, and he fired her for violating a guest’s privacy.
By guest, you mean me?
The one and only. Andi had been saving money to pay for her grad school, so after she lost that job, she went into a real funk. She couldn’t find another well-paying job that worked around her school hours. And she couldn’t afford to pay for her classes. She spent months plopped on the sofa, binge watching shows on Netflix. Finally I talked her into just taking off and traveling. Was the best thing she could’ve done.
So she’s not mad at me for what happened since it all worked out?
Oh, she’s mad at you, all right. But I think she’ll get over it.
Zander pondered that one. No way in hell would she get over it, at least not without some serious ass-kissing apologizing on his part. But it was all finally starting to make sense. That was why she was so crazy weird around him. She was pissed at him! He was sort of relieved—at least now he knew she wasn’t a veritable crackpot. She was just a raging female with a memory like an elephant. No big deal to overcome that one...
Begging your pardon, Peggy, but I’m under the impression that your daughter hates me because of this.
I’d say that’s a fair assessment of the situation.
And would you say that Andi is one to hold grudges for a long time?
Are you kidding? She’s still not talking to my second husband, and he dumped me ten years ago.
Great. Zander knew he had his work cut out for him.
Thank you for this information. You don’t know how enlightening it’s been.
Oh we haven’t even gotten to the enlightenment part yet. I wanted to talk to you about that little naked stunt you pulled. What on earth were you thinking? Don’t you know that things like that don’t happen in a vacuum? That people like me will end up seeing you naked? (Even though I ought to thank you, since I really needed the laughs I got out of it). I’d imagine your mother was downright apoplectic with that one. You’re too old to be acting like an irresponsible schoolboy. You’ve got a country to help run!
Of course Zander knew that wasn’t ever going to be the case, but it wasn’t worth engaging in that conversation. And what was with her laughing at him in the picture? She thought he was hilarious starkers?
Yes, Peggy, you’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m absolutely embarrassed that you’ve seen me naked. Well, actually I don’t think being naked is such a big deal, but I am sorry if other people are embarrassed about seeing me naked. I promise I won’t do that again.
With that he shut off his phone and buried his face in the cushion of his chair, groaning loudly, completely forgetting his brother was still sitting right there.
“You’re pretty engrossed in whatever it is you’re doing there,” Topher said, his eyebrow lifted in curiosity. “A new girlfriend after all?”
Zander scrubbed his face with his hands. “It’s way more complicated than that. No. I don’t know what this is. I just know that what I did affected someone else in a bad way, and I need to make amends.”
Now the only problem was how he could do that when the two of them weren’t even in communication with one another. Dammit.
Chapter Thirteen
COWS, cows, and more cows. Andi had been on the train for a couple of hours and had seen so many bovines that she was hankering for a bowl of ice cream. Maybe her very own dairy. Must be enough maids-a-milking around this place to handle all the cows in Switzerland, she thought. The phrase how now, brown cow kept running through her head.
But what a gorgeous country. She stared out the window of her train at a captivating bluebird sky. In the distance, snow-blanketed mountain peaks punctuated the sky. In the foreground, a riot of multicolored wildflowers contended with brilliant green-carpeted meadows in which the world’s happiest cows hung out, looking like fat, happy cows.
Soon she realized the train was already chugging its way through the romantic landscape of Monaforte, just as stunning as that of Switzerland. Andi had assumed it wouldn’t be a remarkable country, just because of a certain citizen of that nation who seemed to irk her without even trying.
Who knew the place was so beautiful? Even if one of the princes is a complete jerk.
She knew she was being completely childish about Zander, but she couldn’t help it. The man made her sooooooo mad.
She’d hoped to get a few hours of sleep on the train ride, but she couldn’t stop staring at the countryside as it rattled by. What a fantastic little country this was.
~*~
Pippa was jumping up and down and waving her arms, her trademark long braid bouncing with each up and down. She was holding a sign with Andi’s name on it and a large smiley face as Andi made her way through the train station. Andi blushed, especially since she’d spent the better part of the past year in total anonymity; she was unaccustomed to anyone making a fuss over her. She heard an announcement in Italian over the loudspeakers, and it brought her back to the train station in Rome. For a second her stomach dropped at the thought of seeing Zander, so handsome in that charcoal-gray suit and hot-pink dress shirt. Not every guy can pull off hot pink, but it worked with Zander’s dark hair and blue eyes. Oy, that man was occupying too damned much real estate in her brain. Or was it her fantasies?
Pippa ran over and wrapped her friend in an excited hug. “I am so glad you’re here! I was so hoping you’d want to come spend some time in Monaforte, and I just know you’re going to have an amazing time!”
“I’m just happy to see you again,” Andi said. “It feels like it’s been ages, but I guess it’s only been a couple of months.”
Pippa grabbed her hand. “Come along! We’ve got catching up to do, and I need your help to get ready for this party.”
Andi laughed, knowing she was hardly the hostess with the mostess. She probably hadn’t entertained in years, and then it was probably a few cases of Natty Boh in her mom’s basement during her high school years when her mom and husband number God-knows-what was out of town. She had a sneaking feeling Pippa’s idea of a party and hers differed radically.
“I’m at your service, for what it’s worth. Though to be honest, I might be better helping with the cleanup afterward.”
Pippa rolled her eyes. “Don’t be silly! I wouldn’t make my number one houseguest clean after my party!”
“I’m your premier guest? What an honor. Hope you don’t mind that I have one dress and it’s a basic black tee-shirt fabric. Hope that doesn’t make me look like the hired help.”
“Nonsense. You’ll be beautiful. But you’re welcome to raid my closet if you’d like some variety. I’m sure you’re pretty sick of wearing the same outfits from that damned backpack of yours.”
Andi laughed. “Ya think?” She shook her head. “I love being free and able to come and go as I please. It makes life so simple when you have simple choices. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss occasionally dressing up and being a girlie girl every now and then.”
“In that case, first stop after lunch is my walk-in closet. If you can’t find about twenty dresse
s you’ll want to wear, then you are more than welcome to put on that stretch cotton dress. And I promise I won’t be ashamed.”
Andi put her hand to her forehead as if hiding from embarrassment. “It’s a deal.”
~*~
Three hours later, after a luxurious lunch of mussels and tuna ceviche at a seaside café, they pulled up in Pippa’s Jaguar convertible to what was beyond doubt the largest home Andi had ever seen in person. This wasn’t a home; it was a compound: a buttery yellow, sprawling Italian-style villa set up from the water and connected by a very steep staircase that led to a sandy beach along a protected cove.
“Oh. My. God. Pippa! This is where you live? You’re sure this isn’t a palace?”
Pippa laughed. “I’m afraid I forget it’s a bit much. One of the reasons I really appreciate the reality check I get when I work in Africa. I have been blessed to come from much, but I also don’t take it for granted. I think it makes me feel all the more responsible as a citizen of this world, knowing I have so much while others have so little.”
Andi patted her on the head. “I knew I liked you for a reason.”
They exchanged smiles.
“Well, come on! Let me give you the grand tour.”
Andi was in shock. The house and grounds just kept getting more beautiful with each turn they took. Just before the beach was a vast swimming pool with a swim-up bar obscured behind a waterfall. The pool, designed to blend with its natural setting, consisted of concentric sections of swimming areas that swirled on a serpentine Italian-glass-tiled path that reflected the sunlight and featured a raised hot tub in the center.
Grottoes had been created toward the deeper part of the pool, looking like something you’d find in a romantic Bali getaway. The pool itself was tiled in tiny iridescent squares of mother-of-pearl in cobalt, gray, and white.
Workers moved about seamlessly, a veritable hive of staff buzzing around, setting up bars and food stations and deadheading flowers and sweeping and whatever else they could do to make the place presentable. As if they had to do anything to achieve that goal. It made Andi feel bad that she rarely lifted a finger to vacuum when she was at home, figuring it would only get dirty and she’d have to do it all over again.
“I’m totally serious, you can hire me as a laborer and I’ll stick around for a while,” Andi said. “Maybe I can tend the garden or clean the pool?”
“How about you just spend as much time as you’d like to here as my guest and not worry about toiling in the hot sun?”
“You don’t need to twist my arm. Your wish is my command.”
“Then let’s go find some clothes for you. This party is going to start soon!”
~*~
Pippa’s closet practically had its own room, it was so large. Calling it a walk-in would be an understatement. She could easily fit a marching band inside the thing if she ever had a need to. Her clothes were organized by color and type: first shorts, hanging from skirt hangers and going from lightest to darkest color. Next came tanks, then skirts, pants, dresses. Her accessories seemed to have given birth to even more accessories, but they too were all sorted and organized, and jewelry was inside a long drawer in a glass-topped dresser so she could see all the earrings and rings available. Necklaces hung from the wall, as did bracelets.
And the wall of shoes almost made Andi cry. Andi’s most expensive pair of shoes was the hiking boots that were pretty much all she’d worn for a year, with the exception of the occasional black flats she’d worn in Rome recently. Heels were but a distant memory in her world.
“Name your poison, my dear,” Pippa said.
“I suppose I need to start with a dress and work my way down,” Andi said as she walked along the rows of hanging clothes. “Oooh, this is gorgeous,” she said, pulling out a flared, beaded bright purple silk shantung mini-skirt.
“Love that skirt. Try it with this,” Pippa said, holding out a crisp white crop top.
Andi slipped on the outfit and spun around, checking herself out in the large mirror on one wall. “This is simply perfect. Are you sure you don’t want to wear it?”
Her friend spread her arms out wide. “Are you kidding me? I’ve got more clothes to choose from than I’ll ever need. I can forego that outfit. It looks way better on you than me anyhow. Now to find some shoes.”
They perused her shoe selection until Andi settled on a pair of silver gladiator sandals.
Pippa put her hands on Andi’s shoulders, surveying the results.
“Oh, snap, you look so adorable. Now let’s get some real makeup on you and do something with your hair, and you’ll have them swooning over you. Not that they don’t already!” She gave her friend a hug.
“I’m not out to impress any men,” Andi said. “I’m just happy to finally clean up a bit and will be thrilled to make some new friends tonight. I feel like as I travel, instead of souvenirs I collect new friends. And some of those friends, like you, I think will remain a part of my life for a long time to come.”
“You’re going to make me all teary-eyed. So let’s get outside before my makeup runs.”
Chapter Fourteen
ZANDER thought he deserved a Royal Medal of Honor for his philanthropic efforts tonight. Not that he wasn’t having fun. He’d been enlisted by his friend Clementine Weltenham to be a fake date to Emma’s best friend, Caroline. The hope was that Clementine’s suddenly dense brother, Darcy, would finally realize he had feelings for Caroline, whom he’d met in America while traveling with Adrian. He was currently being a total fool and ignoring those feelings though. Just the thought of that was a mouthful. A veritable soap opera was unfolding on the shores of Monaforte.
His assignment at Pippa’s party was to be all over Caroline like white on rice so that when Darcy saw them entwined like lovers, he’d go ballistic and finally make up his mind to admit to Caroline he had feelings for her. Pretty easy job for Zander. He was a pro at wooing women. So much so he could do it in his sleep. For that matter, that’s often where he did his best wooing. Even though that meant he wasn’t actually asleep.
They’d just surfaced after a lengthy and most deliberate kiss, all in an effort to infuriate Darcy, who’d just arrived.
“Well, that ought to put the fear of God in him,” Zander said. “Wasn’t a bad kiss at all, if I do say so myself.” He buffed his nails on his chest.
“I’d like to believe I had a small part in the success of that kiss too,” Caroline said. “After all, I didn’t flail or choke and gag.” She winked at him.
“If you had, you’d have been my first.”
Caroline spluttered a laugh. “My guess is your first was when you were about ten. I must say, though, you’re a humble one, no doubt about it.” She looked him over, an appreciative gleam in her eyes. “Well, enough about taking credit, the question is, what to do now? Are we supposed to grope each other into the evening?”
“I’m game if you are,” Zander said with a cocky grin.
“Why don’t we keep to playing it up when he’s nearby rather than nonstop mashing?”
The two talked for a while and got a chance to eat as waiters in surfer shorts passed food to guests.
As sunset approached, Zander grew quiet.
“Hey,” Caroline said, poking him in his very firm stomach. “All of a sudden you stopped talking.” She followed his gaze across the pool to a table featuring a young woman with long, straight blond hair and the palest of blue eyes. She was engaged in conversation with Pippa, whose back was to them but was immediately identifiable because her curly dark brown hair was swept into a long plait that fell to her waist. “Someone you know?”
Zander squinted, trying to discern that what he was seeing was indeed what he was seeing. “Impossible. There’s simply no way.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Now’s time for my apology and rude exit,” he said, frowning. “You remember when I said I’d play this game until or if I happen to run into anyone in whom I might have a vested in
terest?”
Caroline nodded. “Yeeesss,” she said, cautiously drawing out the word to two syllables.
“That woman,” he said, pointing directly at the blonde, “is my vested interest. I’m so sorry to do this to you. And it’s been absolutely lovely making out with you, and I enjoyed the grope as well, but I have some very important business to attend to.” He reached out for Caroline’s hand and gently kissed the top of it. “I trust you’ll be fine getting home with Clementine?”
Caro shrugged. “I’m good,” she said, adding a halfhearted, “Go get ’em, Z.”
~*~
After getting out of the pool, Zander wove his way, dripping wet, between the throngs of people at the party. Naturally everyone pulled him in different directions to talk or laugh or just have a minute with royalty. Sometimes it bothered Zander to be so objectified, but usually he couldn’t care less. He was a happy-go-lucky man and generally content wherever he laid his head each night—both literally and figuratively, and for the most part, not much of anything bothered him. Except this whole—what did her mother call her? Andrea?—Andrea thing. It was stuck in his craw, and more than anything, he wanted to talk to her and straighten out all the confusion. And maybe even apologize. Preferably after he’d spent several hours getting to know her better in a carnal way. After all, he was a guy.
He’d gotten another glimpse of Andi as he was working his way past one of the bars set up near the pool. She was at the top of the steps, then walked across the length of the marble patio and into the house. God, once in there she could be anywhere. He might have to search for hours; the place was that big.
He walked through the solarium, grabbed a quick beer from Pippa’s fridge, saving him time in line at a bar, and moved through the formal dining room, all the while searching out that white-blond hair and those damned azure eyes that he was unable to forget.
In the next room some people were finishing up a round of pool just as he saw her leaned against the wall, a beer tipped up to her lips, looking sort of innocent and vulnerable and bloody sexy with her bare belly just taunting him like that. And those long, tanned legs, completely being wasted with her standing there when they could be busily wrapped around his waist.
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