‘You went to the airport?’ Libby interrupted.
‘Of course.’
Incredible. Remembering her manners, she turned to look at Lucinda who, having closed the door, was creeping on tip-toes across the room to give them some space.
‘Lucaj – this is Lucinda, my cousin –’
But Lucaj only had eyes for Libby, and nothing would distract him. Staring at her as if he would never let her go, he dipped his head and kissed her, and it was such a tender, cherishing kiss, her tears came back again.
‘And I’ve got something for you,’ Lucaj announced, drawing a gasp from her chest, from her heart, when he produced her four-leaf clover on its chain. ‘You must have lost it at some point during the night,’ he murmured discreetly.
Libby clutched the chain tightly in her fist. ‘I can never thank you enough. You can’t imagine what this means to me.’
‘That’s just of the many things about you, Libby Lancaster, that I have every intention of finding out.’Lucaj’s eyes burned with such passion as he stared down at her that she couldn’t help but remember every detail from the previous night, and the moment he felt her relax against him, Lucaj kissed her again.
‘This is one ‘one night stand’ that is going to run and run,’ he predicted when he finally lifted his head to stare into Libby’s eyes.
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean, that while I was at the airport I took the chance to file a flight plan for Molokov, and I rather hoped you might join me there tonight.’
‘But I can’t.’ Libby glanced at Lucinda who, having thought better of hiding in the bedroom, had retraced her steps and was on the point of slipping out of the door.
‘Yes, you can,’ Lucinda yelled before closing the door behind her.
‘You’d regret it,’ Libby said, shaking her head.
‘Why would I regret it?’ Lucaj demanded, frowning.
‘Because there are girls like Lucinda – and then there are girls like me.’
‘Exactly,’ he said. ‘And I know which I prefer. You’re a very beautiful and intriguing woman, Libby Lancaster. And, please forgive me for rushing you, but we have to hurry if we’re going to make our flight slot.’
Libby still held back. ‘You’re taking rather a lot for granted, aren’t you?’
‘Am I?’
‘And now you’re not playing fair, she complained in a shaking voice as Lucaj dragged her back into his arms.
‘Who said playing fair had anything to do with this?’ he demanded as he set about reminding her of their passionate night together in every way that he could. ‘When I see something I want, I go for it, Libby. I don’t hesitate, or question my judgement. I strike boldly, and then I see everything through to the end.’
‘How long before the end?’ she murmured, carelessly voicing her thoughts out loud.
‘Try forever,’ Lucaj suggested.
‘That’s a long time,’ she said in a voice that was half laughter and half fear of being hurt.
‘Not long enough for me,’ Lucaj assured her, his gaze clear and steady on her face.
‘And, how’s this for a prediction? We’ll be back at the Chatsfield within the year, after the wedding of the year.’
‘Are you a fortune teller now?’ She tried to sound playful, but her pulse was going wild.
‘No. But I am a man who knows what he wants – and who recognises the prize when he sees it.’
‘So, what are you saying?’ Libby’s mouth was dry with fear and her fists were clenched, while her heart was racing out of control.
‘I’m saying that I want time to get to know you better, Libby Lancaster. I’m saying that I’ve never felt like this before about anyone in my life. I love you, Libby – and I know that must sound crazy because we’ve only just met, but I’m a decisive man, and I owe my success to my ability to spot opportunities and make instant decisions.’
‘So I’m an opportunity now?’ Libby teased.
‘You’re one hell of an opportunity,’ Lucaj confirmed, ‘and I’ve made an instant decision. I just need to know you feel the same.’
‘You are serious,’ she breathed.
‘Never more so. Well? Will you throw in your lot with a crazy playboy prince who needs –’
‘Don’t you dare say ‘organising’, she warned him.’
‘I was about to say, who needs you at my side every day – and who is more than ready to swap the title of playboy prince for husband.’
‘You do mean it,’ she said.
‘You sound very serious.’ Lucaj’s lips pressed down in a wry grin as he stared at her. ‘Is that a bad sign?’
She sounded serious, because she wanted to smile and she didn’t dare to in case she broke the spell. More than smile, she wanted to shout and jump for joy, because crazy was infectious tonight.
‘I’m serious, Libby – me, the great cynic, who has laughed in the face of love at first sight more times than I can remember. From the moment I saw you at the front desk, that was it. And the way I feel now?’ Lucaj stared down at his chest as if his heart were the offender. ‘This ache inside me is either indigestion, or a bad case of love. We have to be together, Libby. I have to know everything there is to know about you. Nothing else matters to me but you, so you’ll have the future of a country on your conscience, or you’ll come with me. Which is it to be?’
‘Blackmail now?’ Libby stared with love into Lucaj’s eyes.
‘I’ll stop at nothing,’ he confirmed.
Her heart was beating like crazy, but she had to be sure. ‘If this is just your way of inviting me to share your royal straightjacket until the flame between us burns out, my answer must be no.’
‘I was thinking of us staying together until we’re two little old people, still holding hands, still with lots to talk about, and with a happy future to look forward to, as well as a rosy past to share.’
‘That’s a compelling picture,’ Libby admitted searching his eyes. ‘And you’re a romantic,’ she added softly, ‘Who would have guessed?’
‘You’ve got everything to learn about me.’
‘Good and bad,’ Libby agreed wryly.
Lucaj slanted her one of his wicked smiles. ‘Just so long as you don’t expect me to be a saint in the bedroom.’
‘Lucky for you, the insatiable satyr type’s my preference, so you definitely get a bye where that’s concerned.’ A slow smile was creeping onto her lips as she dared to believe that what she felt for Lucaj wasn’t as crazy as she’d thought.
‘So, you’ll come with me?’
‘I’d have to speak to Lucinda first,’ she murmured thoughtfully.
‘Lucinda?’
‘To make sure she can spare me,’ Libby explained.
‘I think Lucinda’s already given you her answer to that question.’
‘You still think I was holding her back?’ she asked with concern.
‘You were and are the best of friends to Lucinda, but now it’s time to let Lucinda live her life as you’re going to live yours. It’s your turn now, Libby. It’s your turn to fly – literally – as I’m inviting you to come with me when I fly home to the beautiful principality of Molokov. I want to introduce you to my people –’
‘As the playboy prince’s latest squeeze? I don’t think so, Lucaj.’
‘No. As the woman their prince loves, and is very proud of.’
She was tempted, but this was crazy, and she was always so sensible…
Gently peeling back her fingers, Lucaj removed the four-leaf clover and its chain from her hand. ‘We have excellent silversmiths in Molokov. We’ll get the chain repaired while we’re there, and when we return to London I’ll show you round the children’s hospital. We could do with someone with your organisational skills sitting on our steering committee.’
‘You certainly know how to lay on the pressure, don’t you, Lucaj?’
‘I know how to fight for something I know is right for both of us.’
‘Are you offeri
ng me a job?’
‘For life. Will you accept it, Libby?’
‘I think you’re crazy – but maybe we both are, because I love you too.’
‘Join my world, Libby Lancaster and there’s a whole lot more crazy to come. What do you say?’
She looked at Lucaj’s outstretched hand, and taking the single step it took to reach him, she gripped it tightly.
Epilogue
As it turned out, Lucaj was indeed a fortune-teller. Less than one year later they returned to the Chatsfield Hotel just as he’d promised. It was the start of the amazing world tour honeymoon Lucaj had planned for his bride. The formal ceremony was held in Molokov, but Lucaj was as spontaneous and as exciting as ever, and while Libby generally managed to remain level headed and organised, in spite of all the tumultuous changes in her life. After the necessary grandeur of their wedding, she laughed as the guests in the grand ballroom at the palace applauded when Lucaj grabbed her hand and hurried Libby away from their wedding breakfast without even giving his bride chance to change her gown.
The royal chauffeur was waiting to whisk them to the airport, where Lucaj piloted his private jet to London where, he had explained, their luggage was already waiting for them at their usual suite in the Chatsfield.
‘Our usual suite?’ Libby queried.
‘It is now.’
Libby frowned. ‘But you have a penthouse in London.’
‘There are always staff around, and I want you all to myself. And, call me sentimental, but I want us to start our married life where we first met, and I want to go on meeting at the Chatsfield whenever we need a break, or just when we’re feeling hot for each other –’
‘Are we going to live there permanently?’ Libby suggested with a wicked smile.
Lucaj laughed. ‘The Chatsfield is a special place for me, because it’s the place we first met.’
‘At the front desk with me tearing my hair out, do you mean? Or later at the bar when I tossed a glass of lemonade over you?’
‘It was all good for me. Luckily for you, I recognised those little gestures as quirky love tokens from the crazy girl who stole my heart.’
‘ – And who was probably madly in love with you already. And who is definitely madly in love with you now.’
Lucaj had to take a moment to check in with the control tower at London Heathrow as he prepared to land the jet, and then he went on to explain what they both already knew. ‘My fate was sealed when you invited me up to inspect the suite.’
‘The suite you already knew your way around, as it was your suite,’ Libby pointed out. ‘Just like you said, you’ll stop at nothing, will you, Lucaj?’
‘To get what I want? To get what I know is right?’ Lucaj smiled enigmatically. ‘No. And, by the way, I’ve taken our suite on permanent lease, so any time we feel like renewing our wedding vows, we’ve got room service on tap.’
‘Not like the palace, then?’ Libby was teasing and smiling, but her new life as a princess had certainly taken some getting used to.
‘There are no affairs of state for me to deal with at the Chatsfield,’ Lucaj explained as he landed the jet smoothly. ‘There’s just this long-running affair with my wife.’
Spotting the limousine with diplomatic plates waiting for them on the tarmac, Libby was suddenly jolted back to reality. ‘But I’m still wearing my wedding dress.’
‘So?’ He shook his head as he taxied into their appointed space. ‘Don’t worry about your gown – I’ll strip it off as soon as we get to the Chatsfield.’
‘And in the meantime?’
‘I don’t think a bride arriving in a limousine at the Chatsfield in her wedding dress is going to cause much of a stir, somehow.’
And he was right, though the sophisticated clientele at the Chatsfield could be forgiven for standing back to stare when a striking looking couple – the bridegroom, who had thankfully left his full military dress, complete with royal sash and glittering sabre back in Molokov and was now wearing jeans and a casual shirt, hand in hand with his beautiful bride, whose tiara was askew, and who had her nine foot diamante flower- and lace-bedecked train bundled up in her arms – raced across the lobby before squashing themselves determinedly into the lift. It took three attempts for Libby to control her dress and veil so the doors would shut, but finally, blissfully, they slid to. By the time they slid open again, Lucaj had opened every button on the back of Libby’s elaborate wedding dress, and her veil was off, and her tiara was in her hand.
‘After you,’ Lucaj said politely, but no sooner had she walked past him than he swept her into his arms, and strode the rest of the way at speed. Slipping the key card into the door, he backed his way into a sitting room zinging with the scent of spring flowers.
‘It looks amazing!’ Lizzie had never seen so many beautifully arranged floral displays – well, not since her wedding ceremony in Molokov.
‘All for you,’ Lucaj murmured, slipping Libby’s wedding gown from her shoulders. ‘But nowhere near as beautiful as you.’
‘Lucaj,’ Libby remonstrated in her usual down to earth way – while she still could, as Lucaj was dropping kisses on her neck – ‘I’m not beautiful.’
Straightening up, Lucaj shook his head. ‘You are the most beautiful woman in the world, both inside and out. You’re my wife, and I love you with all my heart. And,’ he added as a final deciding factor. ‘Am I ever wrong?’
Libby had quite a lot to say about that, but Lucaj stopped her with his fingertips on her lips. ‘I’ve got a better idea. Let’s not stand here debating this. We’ve got the rest of our lives to do that.’
‘So…?’ she prompted.
The tension between them rose to unsustainable, and then Lucaj said, ‘So, let’s go to bed.’
If you enjoyed this book,
look out for Susan Stephens’ next Modern Romance
His Forbidden Diamond
August 2014.
ISBN: 978-1-474-00056-7
The Prince in the Royal Suite
© Copyright © 2014 by Harlequin Books S.A.
Special thanks and acknowledgement are given to Susan Stephens for her contribution to The Chatsfield series.
Published in Great Britain in 2014
Harlequin (UK) Limited
Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
This ebook is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated, without the prior consent of the publisher, in any form or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
® and TM are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.
www.millsandboon.co.uk
The Prince in the Royal Suite Page 5