Cordina's Royal Family Collection

by Nora Roberts

  “I’m surprised anyone can put his hands on anything now. Okay, I’ll see to it in a minute. Tell me why you’re not out soaking up the sun while you have the chance.” She smiled and tucked a pencil behind her ear. “Hasn’t anyone warned you what a slave driver I am? You show up at the theater, you go to work.”

  “That’s what I’m counting on.” His voice was deep and resonant. Still, she wanted him to practice the lazy drawl of his character until it was second nature. “Look, I don’t want to sound green, but this place …” He lifted his palms a bit dramatically and took in more than her office. “It’s amazing. Being here’s amazing. I can soak up sun anytime. If I can’t rehearse, I can unpack crates.”

  “You don’t sound green, you sound psychotic.” With a laugh, she stood. “And I know just what you mean. Crates, it is. God knows we’ve got plenty of them. Now why don’t we—”

  Her door swung open again, this time without a knock. Bennett grinned at her. “They told me I’d find you locked in here and snarling.”

  “I’m not snarling. Yet.” She got up immediately and opened her arms for a hug. “Prince Bennett, Russ Talbot.”

  Russ hesitated between offering a hand, bowing or standing still. “I’m never sure how to greet princes.”

  “We say hello,” Bennett told him. “I hated missing the dinner last night and meeting your troupe.”

  “What you missed was seeing how many pretty actresses you could flirt with.” Eve picked up her clipboard.

  “There’s that.” He shot his grin at Russ. “Are there many?”

  “Enough.”

  “I knew I could count on Eve. In any case, I’ve come to take you away from all this.”

  “Fine.” She looked up from her notations. “Come back in two hours.”

  “Two hours?”

  “Better make it three,” she corrected after a glance at her clipboard.

  “Eve, you’ll wear yourself out.”

  “Wear myself out?” Laughing, she nudged him out into the hall with her. “I haven’t even started yet. I could use the lift, though, if it’s not putting you out. Say”—she looked at her watch—“five-thirty?”

  “All right if—”

  “Unless you’d like to stay. We’re about to uncrate boxes.”

  “I’ll be back.” He gave her a quick kiss before he started down the corridor. “Nice meeting you, Talbot.”

  “That’s the first time I’ve ever seen royalty get the bum’s rush.”

  Eve sent Russ a smile. “Much as I love him, he’d be in the way.”

  “Not much like his brother,” Russ commented.

  “Ben?” Eve shook her head as they walked in the opposite direction. “No. No, he’s not.”

  “Gets a lot of press.”

  She couldn’t prevent the chuckle. “Bennett would tell you it’s all true.”

  “Is it?”

  She glanced at him. Her voice cooled a bit. “Possibly.”

  “Sorry.” Russ dipped his hands into his pockets. “I didn’t mean to pry. It’s just—well, it’s interesting, and I’m as susceptible as anyone. It’s weird you being so tight with them. We didn’t have many royal highnesses in Montclair, New Jersey.”

  “They’re just people.” She stopped at the door to one of the storerooms. “No, of course they’re not. But they are people, and nice ones. You’ll see that for yourself in the next few weeks.”

  Then she opened the door, stepped back and moaned. Russ peered in around her shoulder at the stacks of trunks and crates. “Looks like we could use some help.”

  “You go call out the marines,” Eve told him, and pushed up her sleeves. “I’ll get started.”

  * * *

  Within three hours Eve had the beginnings of order and a long list of things to be done. With the help of Russ and a couple of stagehands, the crates were uncarted or stacked for storage until their contents were needed. She worked methodically, as was her style, and lifted and grunted as much as the men who worked with her. After twenty minutes, Russ had stopped telling her not to lift that, not to shove this. She was, he’d discovered, as strong as the rest of them.

  By five she was sweaty, smudged and ruffled, but far from displeased.

  “Russ, go home.” She leaned against one of the crates and wished fleetingly for something long and cool.

  “What about you?”

  “I’ve nearly done all I can for the moment, and I don’t want my actors too exhausted to rehearse.” She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. “You’ve been a big help. The rest of this is really up to me and the crew.”

  He dried the sweat on his face with a sleeve before giving her a look of amused admiration. “I don’t know many producers who get their hands dirty.”

  Eve turned her palms up and wrinkled her nose at the smears of dust. “Apparently this producer does. Ten o’clock call tomorrow. Be fresh.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Any messages for the rest of the troupe?”

  “The same. Tell them to enjoy the evening, but any hangovers tomorrow morning won’t be sympathized with.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind. Don’t work too hard.”

  She glanced around as he left the storeroom. “Tell me about it.” Hands on hips, she decided she’d done about all the damage she could do for one day. Putting her back into it, she scooted one last box of bulbs into a corner. At the sound behind her, she dug into the pockets of her sweats and pulled out a set of keys.

  “Give these to Gary, will you? He’ll need to get in here first thing tomorrow.” Without looking, she chucked the keys.

  “I’d be happy to oblige if I knew who Gary was and where to find him.”

  “Oh.” Still stooped, she looked up at Alex. His light sweater and slacks were spotless, his hair unruffled and his shoes shined. She felt like a dustrag. “I thought you were one of the stagehands.”

  “No.” When she straightened, he tossed the keys back to her. “Eve, have you been in here shoving at these crates?”

  “I’ve been unpacking and, uh …” She linked her filthy hands behind her back. “Organizing.”

  “And moving things entirely too heavy to be moved by a woman.”

  “Now just a minute—”

  “Let’s say too heavy to be moved by someone of your size and build.”

  The rephrasing mollified only because her back ached. “I had help.”

  “Apparently not enough. If you need more, you’ve only to ask.”

  “We can manage, thanks. The worst of it’s done.” She attempted to clean off her hands on the front of her sweats. “I didn’t realize you were coming in today. Was there something we left out this morning?”

  He came farther into the room. She stood with her hands behind her back and her back against a crate. “We have no business to discuss.”

  “Well, then.” She caught herself moistening her lips. “I’d better get these keys to Gary and clean up before Bennett gets here.” She started forward, but he stood in her way.

  “Bennett was detained. I’ve come to take you home.”

  “That wasn’t necessary.” She moved to the side as he stepped forward. “I told Ben I’d take the lift if it was convenient.” He moved again, and she evaded. “I don’t expect to be driven around while I’m here. Renting a car’s simple enough.”

  She smelled like hot honey baked in the sun and waiting to be sampled. “Do you object to driving with me?”

  “No, of course not.” She rapped her heel on a crate, then stood her ground. “You’re stalking me.”

  “It would seem so.” He ran a fingertip down her cheek, and was pleased to detect the slightest tremor. “You’re filthy.”

  “Yes. I do have to clean up, so if you don’t want to wait, I can catch a ride with— A cab. I can take a cab.”

  “I can wait. It’s amazing that you manage to be beautiful even under all that dirt. Beautiful.” He rubbed his thumb over her lips. “Desirable.”

  “Alex. Alexander. I don’t know why
you’re … It’s difficult to understand why …”

  His hand curled loosely around her neck.

  “I wish you wouldn’t.”

  “Wouldn’t what?”

  “Try to seduce me.”

  “I don’t intend merely to try.”

  “This is ridiculous.” But when she tried to shift away, he blocked her again. “You don’t even like me, really, and I—well I’ve always …” His eyes were so dark, dark, amused and as hypnotic as the view from her window. “That is, I’ve always thought that …”

  “I don’t recall that you stuttered before.”

  “I didn’t. I don’t.” She passed a hand through her hair. “You’re making me very nervous.”

  “I know. It’s amazingly rewarding.”

  “Well, I don’t like it. No,” she said weakly, when he lowered his mouth to hers. This time it wasn’t wild or desperate, but soft and teasing. The hand she had lifted in protest fell limply to her side. She didn’t reach for him, didn’t touch him, but stood swaying … floating … drowning.

  The triumph should have moved through him. She was his now; he could feel it in the way her head fell back, her lips parted. At that moment she was completely open to him, his to fill with whatever needs moved through him. But instead of triumph came an ache, a need to stroke, protect, soothe. Promise. He wanted the thrill, and was left with the thirst.

  “Go wash your face,” he murmured, and stepped aside.

  Eve was out of the room faster than dignity allowed.

  * * *

  Eve took a hard look at herself in the mirror of the rest room backstage. She was making a fool of herself—and it was going to stop. For whatever reason of his own, Alexander had decided to play games. That didn’t mean she had to go along with it. He was making her feel foolish. Look foolish. She could tolerate a great deal, but not that. Pride was vital to her, pride in who she was, in what she’d made of and for herself. She wasn’t going to turn into a babbling idiot because Alexander had suddenly decided she’d make a good playmate. Or bedmate.

  That made her swallow quickly. Years before she’d hoped for his attention, even in her girlish way dreamed of it. She’d been stung by his disinterest, galled by his silent disapproval. She’d gotten over all of that. She scrubbed at her hands for the third time.

  Maybe the problem was that she’d begun to think of Alexander as a person again, as a man. Things would be better if she thought of him as His Royal Highness—a title, aloof, lofty and a bit cold.

  It didn’t come easy when she could still feel the way the warmth had transferred from his lips to hers.

  Why was he doing this? Eve stuffed her brush back into her bag. It was so totally out of character. For both of them, she realized. If she had written a play with Alexander as the lead, she would never have staged a scene like the one that had just occurred. No one would believe it.

  So why didn’t she ask him? Before she could laugh the idea off, it began to make sense. She was a blunt, no-nonsense woman; Alexander was a cautious diplomat. She’d put the question to him flat-out, then watch him dangle for words. Pleased with the plan, she swung back into the corridor.

  “An improvement,” Alexander said easily, and took her arm before she could evade it.

  “Thank you. I think we should talk.”

  “Good idea.” He pushed the stage door open and led her outside. “We can take a drive before we go home.”

  “It’s not necessary. It won’t take long.”

  “I’m sure it’s more than necessary for you to have some fresh air after being cooped up all day.” When he opened the door of the steel-gray Mercedes, Eve stopped.

  “What’s this?”

  “My car.”

  “But there’s no driver.”

  “Would you like to see my license?” When she continued to hesitate, he smiled. “Eve, you’re not afraid of being alone with me, are you?”

  “Of course not.” She tried to sound indignant, but looked restlessly over her shoulder. Two bodyguards, blank-faced and burly, stood at the car behind them. “Besides, you’re never really alone.”

  Alexander followed the direction of her gaze. The quick sensation of restraint didn’t reach his eyes. “Unfortunately some things other than fresh air are necessary.”

  What he felt didn’t reach his eyes, didn’t show on his face, but she thought she caught a trace of it in his voice. “You hate it.”

  He glanced back, surprised and more than a little wary that she’d seen what he so carefully tried to hide. “It’s a waste of time to hate the necessary.” Alexander gestured her into the car, shut the door behind her and rounded the hood. He didn’t glance at or acknowledge the guards. “Your seat belt,” he murmured as he started the engine.

  “What? Oh.” Eve stopped rehearsing her speech and pulled the harness into place. “I’ve always enjoyed driving around Cordina,” she began. Be friendly, she advised herself. Be casual, then zero in when he least expects it. “It’s such a lovely city. No skyscrapers, no steel-and-glass boxes.”

  “We continue to fight certain kinds of progress.” He eased into the light traffic. “Several times hotel chains have lobbied to build resorts. The advantages are there, of course, an increase in employment, tourism.”

  “No.” She shook her head as she studied the town. “It could never be worth it.”

  “This from the daughter of a builder?”

  “What Daddy’s built and where he’s built it has generally been a good thing. Houston’s … Houston’s different. A city like that needs to be developed.”

  “There are some on the council who would argue that Cordina needs to be developed.”

  “They’re wrong.” She turned to him. “Obviously your father feels the same way. What about you? When your turn comes, will you let them dig into the rock?”

  “No.” He turned away from the city and toward the sea. “Some things are meant to grow naturally. The palace is the highest building in the country. As long as a Bisset lives there, it will remain so.”

  “Is that ego?”

  “That is heritage.”

  And she could accept it. “We’re so different,” she said, half to herself. “You speak of heritage and you mean centuries of responsibility and tradition. When I think of it, I think of my father’s business and the headache someone’s going to be saddled with one day. Or I think of my mother’s Fabergé bowl. Heritage for me, and I suppose for most Americans, is tangible. You can hold it in your hand. For you it’s more nebulous, but a hundred times more binding.”

  For several moments he said nothing. She couldn’t know how deeply her words, her empathy had affected him. “You understand better than I expected.”

  She glanced at him quickly, then as quickly away. She couldn’t be moved. She didn’t dare allow it. “Why are you doing this?”

  “Doing what?”

  “Driving me along the beach, coming to the theater? Why did you kiss me that way?”

  “Which way?”

  She might have laughed if she hadn’t felt so adrift. “Any way. Why did you kiss me at all?”

  He considered as he looked for a private spot by the seawall. “The most obvious answer is that I wanted to.”

  “That’s not obvious at all. You never wanted to before.”

  “Women aren’t as perceptive as they would like the world to think.” He stopped the car, shut off the engine and slipped the keys into his pocket. “I’ve wanted to since the first time I saw you. Would you like to walk?”

  While she sat stunned, he got out and came around to her door.

  “You have to unhook your seat belt.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “I’m afraid it’s difficult to walk on the beach if you’re strapped to a car seat.”

  Eve fumbled with the lock, then sprang out of the car. “I meant what you just said wasn’t true. You hardly even looked at me, and when you did it was to scowl.”

  “I looked at you a great deal.” He to
ok her hand and began to walk toward the sand. Her fingers were stiff in his, resisting. He ignored the feeling. It was easier for him when she held herself back, challenged him to outmaneuver. Her one moment of absolute surrender had terrified him. “I prefer the beach in the evening, when the tourists have gone in to change for dinner.”

  “That’s absurd.”

  His smile was friendly, and sweeter than she could ever remember seeing it. “It’s absurd to prefer a quiet beach?”

  “I wish you’d stop twisting things around that way.” Eve shook her hand free and stepped back a few paces. “I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing.”

  “What kind would you like?” He stood where he was, pleased, even relieved to see her confusion. It made it easier somehow to get closer without taking a step.

  “Alexander, you did not spend a great deal of time looking at me. I know because—” She cut herself off, appalled that she’d been about to admit how she’d mooned over him.

  “Because?”

  “I just know, that’s all.” She brushed the subject away with the back of her hand and started toward the water. “I don’t understand why you’ve suddenly decided you find me attractive or available or whatever.”

  “Finding you attractive is not sudden.” He put a hand on her shoulder and with the slightest of pressure made her turn. The sun would be setting soon. She could see it behind him, spreading golden light. The sand beneath her feet was white and cool, but she discovered as she stared up at him that it was far from solid. “Whether you are available or not no longer matters. I want you.” He paused, letting his hand slide over her shoulder to her nape. “I find that matters a great deal more.”

  She shuddered and crossed her arms over her chest. Her eyes were as blue as the sea now, but more, much more turbulent. “And because you’re a prince you can have whatever you want.”

  The breeze over the sea blew her hair around his fingers. He forgot the beach, the guards, the sun that had yet to set. “Because I’m a prince it’s more difficult for me to have what I want. Particularly when what I want is a woman.”