She said, “We all, my brothers and sisters and me, used to come here together, with my mother and father, when we were children. The observation point above, where we left the car, belongs to my family. The only way down is this trail. The high rocks jut out on either side of the beach, so intruders can’t trek in along the shoreline. We’ve always kept it private. Just for our family, a place to be like other families out for a day by the sea.”
“Beautiful,” he said. He was looking at her.
She waved a hand, the diamond cuff she wore catching light even in the darkness, sparkling. “But of course, now and then, the paparazzi fly over and get pictures from the air.” She sounded a little sad about that. But then she sent him a conspiratorial glance. “Come on.” And she turned to take the wooden stairs that led the rest of the way down.
The beach was sandy. He took off his shoes and socks and rolled his trouser legs. They spread one of the blankets midway between the cliffs and the water and sat there together. The breeze seemed chilly now that they were sitting still, so he wrapped the other blanket around her bare shoulders. He put his arm around her and she settled against him as she had in the car, as though she belonged there. For a while they stared out at the moon trail on the water.
Eventually, she broke the companionable silence. “I think I like you too much.”
He pressed his lips to her hair. “Don’t stop.”
She chuckled. “Liking you—or talking?”
“Either.”
She laughed again. And then complained, “You’re much too attractive.”
“I’ll try to be uglier.”
“But that’s not all. You’re also funny and irreverent and a little bit dangerous. And a heartbreaker, too, just like Dami said. I really need to remember that and not go making a fool of myself over you.”
He put a finger under her chin and lifted her face to him. “I have no intention of breaking your heart. Ever.”
She wrinkled her fine nose at him. “I didn’t say you would intend to do it. Men like you don’t go out to hurt women on purpose. They simply get bored and move on and leave a trail of shattered hearts behind them.”
He was starting to get a little defensive. “From what I’ve heard, you’ve broken a heart or two yourself in the past.”
She groaned. “I should have known you would say that. After all, I have no secrets. My whole life is available, with pictures, lots of pictures, in the pages of the National Enquirer and the Daily Star.” And then all at once she was shoving away from him, throwing off the blanket and leaping to her feet.
“Alice. Don’t...”
“I’m going wading.” She gathered up her gold skirts and ran to the water’s edge.
He got up and followed her, taking his time about it. Better to give her a moment or two to calm down.
When he reached her, she was just standing there, the foamy waves lapping her slender feet, holding her skirts out of the way. For a moment they stared out at the water together toward the sinking moon on the far horizon.
Then she confessed, “All right, that was a little bit bitchy. Not to mention over the top. Sorry.”
He said nothing, only reached out a hand, caught a loose curl of her hair and tucked it behind her ear. He really liked touching her—and he liked even more that she let him. “I was only saying that we’re more or less evenly matched.”
“But I don’t want to be shattered. I don’t want to shatter you. I want...” Words seemed to fail her.
He ran a finger down the side of her neck. Living silk, her skin. He drank in her slight shiver at his touch. “You want what?”
She gazed out over the water again. “I want to rip off my dress and dive in. Right here. Right now.”
A bolt of heat hit him where it counted. Gruffly, he suggested, “Fine with me. I’ll join you.”
She let her head drop back and stared up at the dark sky. “I can’t.”
“There’s no one here but the two of us.”
She lowered her head and turned to him then. “Oh, Noah. That’s the thing. I can never be sure, never be too careful. If someone just happened to be lurking back on the trail with a camera and got a shot of me cavorting naked in the waves with you... Oh, God. My mother would never forgive me.” She smiled then, but it was a sad smile. “If the paparazzi caught me in the buff now, I don’t think I would forgive myself, if you want the truth.”
“You’re being way too hard on yourself. You know that, right?”
“Maybe. I suppose. It didn’t used to bother me much. I used to simply ignore it all. I did what I wanted and if the journos had nothing better to do than to take pictures of me and write silly stories about me, so what? But now, well, I feel differently. I’m sick to death of being the wild one, the ready-for-anything, out-of-control Princess Alice.”
He had a good idea of what had pushed her over the line. “The pictures from that pub in Glasgow?”
She winced. “You saw them.”
“Yeah.”
“My mother was pretty upset over them.”
He blew out a slow breath. “I thought they were hot.”
“More like a hot mess.”
“Hot still being the operative word.”
She turned fully toward him and studied his face, a deep look, one that made him slightly uncomfortable. And then she said, “I think I really should go home now.”
Uh-uh. Not yet. Not this time.
He reached out. He couldn’t stop himself. He wrapped his fingers around the back of her neck and pulled her into him. “Kiss me.”
“Oh, Noah...”
“Shh.” He took her mouth. She made a reluctant sound low in her throat—but then she softened and kissed him back. When he lifted his head, he said, “I’ve got to get you away from here.”
She gazed up at him, eyes shining, lips slightly swollen from the kiss. “Away from where?”
“Away from Montedoro.”
She frowned. “That’s not going to happen. Tonight is our last night and—”
He stopped her with a gentle finger on her soft lips. “I don’t want this to be our last night. And I don’t believe that you do, either.”
Her slim shoulders drooped. “Noah. Be realistic.”
“But I am. Completely. And my point is, it’s a fishbowl here—beautiful, glamorous, but still. A fishbowl. Whatever we do together here, there will be pictures and stories in the tabloid press.” Plus, it was way too easy for her to escape him here on her own turf. He needed to get her onto his territory for a change. He went for it. “Come back to California with me tomorrow. Come and stay with me for a while.”
She pressed her lips together. “Oh, Noah. I really don’t think that would be a good idea.”
He wasn’t giving up. Ever. “Why not? You’ll love it there. And I want to show you my world. I want you to meet Lucy.”
“Noah, really. I can’t just run off with you. Didn’t I just explain all this? I’m trying to be more...discreet. Trying to behave myself for a change. Trying to stop throwing myself blindly into crazy situations.”
“It’s not crazy. The Santa Barbara area is a beautiful place, almost as beautiful as Montedoro. And my stables are world-class. You can ride every day.”
“Oh, Noah...” She pulled away from him then. He wanted to grab her and hold her to him, but he knew better. She spun on her heel and raced back up the beach to the blanket again.
He forced himself to stay behind, turning back to the water, staring out at the horizon for a while, giving them both a few minutes to settle down.
When he felt that he could deal calmly and reasonably, he turned to her once more. She sat on the blanket, the other blanket wrapped around her, her knees drawn up, staring at him with equal parts misery and defiance.
He stuck his ha
nds into his pockets and went to her, stopping at the edge of the blanket, not sure what to do or say next.
She tipped her face up to him and demanded, “What are you after, Noah, really? What in the world do you want from me? Because if I’m just another of your conquests, no thank you. I’m not looking for a meaningless hookup right now.”
He knew then that he had to go for it, to tell her everything. What else could he do? A clever lie would never satisfy her. “You’re not ‘just another’ anything. You never could be.”
“Please don’t flatter me.”
“I’m not. Will you listen? Will you let me explain?” He waited for her nod before he said, “I’ve done damn well for myself.”
“Yes, you have. But what does that have to do with—”
“Just go with me here. Let me play this out.”
She hugged her drawn-up knees a little tighter. “All right. I’m listening.”
“I’ve done well for myself and I’m proud. Too proud, I suppose. But that’s how it is.”
She guided a few windblown strands of hair away from that mouth he couldn’t stop wanting to kiss. “Yes, well, I get that.”
“A few years ago I decided it was about time I got married and founded my dynasty.”
“Ah. Of course. Your dynasty.” She made a wry little face.
He forged on. “To found a dynasty, there has to be...the right wife. Someone young and strong, someone from a large family, for a higher likelihood of fertility.”
She made a scoffing sound. “I don’t believe you just said that.”
“Believe it. It’s true—and here’s where my pride comes in. I decided I wanted a princess. A real one.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Oh. You are so bad. Incorrigible, really.”
He didn’t disagree with her. “How do you think I’ve got as far as I have in life? Not through good behavior and political correctness. I decide what I want and I go after it.”
“You know this makes you look reprehensible, right?”
He only gazed down at her, unflinching. “Do you want the truth from me or not?”
She fiddled with the blanket a little and then hitched up her chin. “Yes. I do. Go on.”
He continued, “So I started looking. I wanted a special kind of princess, a princess who was different from the rest. No one inbred. Someone beautiful and exciting. If I’m going to be with a woman for the rest of my life, she will damn well not be boring—and my kids won’t be stupid or dull.”
She made a small snorting sound. “Or, God forbid, unattractive.”
He asked very softly, “Are you getting the picture here, Alice?”
Her mocking look fled. She swallowed. Hard. “You...chose me?”
“Yes, I did. The first picture I saw of you, I knew you were the one. I read about you—everything I could find. All the tacky tabloid stories. The articles in Dressage Today and Practical Horseman. It really worked for me that you loved horses. I wanted to meet you, to find out if the chemistry might be right—because in the end, I would have to want you. And you would have to want me. So I found a way to approach you by using my connections to meet your brother first. As it turned out, I liked Damien. We got along. I invited him to visit me in California. And after we’d known each other awhile, he suggested I come to Montedoro. Of course, I took him up on that.”
“It was part of your plan.”
“That’s right. Damien invited me and I came to Montedoro and I found a way to meet you—in the palace stables, where you’re most at home. I set out to get your attention. And I found out that my original instinct was solid. Every minute I’ve spent with you has only made me more certain that my choice is the right one.”
“Wait a minute.”
“What?”
“Are you going to try to tell me that you’re in love with me?”
“Would you believe me if I did?”
She studied him for a moment, her head tipped to the side. “So, then. It’s just chemistry. Chemistry and your plan.”
“That’s why I want you to come to Santa Barbara. We need more time together. I want you to give that to me—to us.”
“Be realistic, Noah. There isn’t any us.”
He scowled at her. “There will be. And you’re thinking too much.”
“Right. Because I’m not a stupid princess, remember? You wanted one with a brain.”
“Damn it, Alice.” He dropped to his knees on the blanket before her. She gasped, but at least she didn’t scuttle backward to get away from him. “I’m only telling you that you don’t have to worry. You’re not just some hookup. I will never dump you. I want you to marry me. I want children with you. And I won’t change my mind. You’re the one that I want, Alice. I want you for my wife.”
* * *
Alice wasn’t really sure what to say to him at that point.
Strangely, she still liked him after his extraordinary confession. She liked him and wanted him even more than before. Which probably said something really awful about her character. She didn’t especially mind that he’d picked her out as a horse trader chooses a broodmare, for her good bloodlines, her sterling temperament, her fine health and conformation—and her excellent pedigree.
What she did care about was the truth, that he’d told her honestly exactly what he was after—and that she believed him.
Should she have been at least a little appalled?
Probably. But she simply wasn’t.
Surprised, yes. She’d known that he wanted her—pretty hard to miss that—but it had never occurred to her he might be seeing her as a wife. As a rule, she wasn’t the type of woman a man would set out to marry in advance of even knowing her. Her reputation preceded her and most men looked for someone a bit more sedate when it came time to choose a lifelong companion.
“Alice. My God. Will you please say something?”
She hugged the blanket around her more tightly. “Well, I’m not sure what to say. Except that I do appreciate your telling me the truth.”
“I didn’t know what else to do,” he grumbled. “There’s something way too straightforward about you. I get it, that you want honesty. And I’m willing to give you whatever you want.”
“Well. Thanks. I think.”
He braced his hands on his thighs and gritted his strong white teeth. “Please come to California with me.”
“Oh, I don’t think so....”
He swore low, then turned and sat down beside her. Drawing up his knees, he let them drop halfway open and wrapped his big arms around them. He stared at his lean bare feet. “Why the hell not?”
“Because when I get married, it’s going to be to a man I love and trust and know I can count on.”
“I didn’t ask you to marry me. Yet. I just told you what I’m after. Now we need the time for you to learn to trust and count on me.”
She turned her head and pinned him with an unwavering look. “You keep leaving out love.”
He made a low growling sound. “You make me be honest, and then you want me to come on with hearts and flowers.”
“No, I don’t want you to come on with hearts and flowers. I truly don’t. I want you to be exactly who and what you are. I like you. A lot. Too much. I find you smoking hot. If I wasn’t trying to be a better person, I would be rolling around naked on this blanket with you right now.”
He shut his eyes and hung his golden head. “Great. Tell me in detail what you’re not going to do with me.”
“Stop it.” She leaned toward him.
His head shot up and he wrapped his hand around her neck and pulled her close. “Alice...” His eyes burned into hers.
She whispered, “Please don’t....”
With slow care, he released her.
They sat for a minute or two w
ithout speaking.
And then she tried again. “For me, right now, running off to Santa Barbara with you tomorrow seems like just another crazy harebrained stunt. I would need a little time to think this over.”
He slid her a glance. “So you’re not saying no.”
“Not yes, either,” she warned.
“But you’ll think about it.”
She nodded. “And you should do some thinking, too—about how you’re hoping I’m going to learn to trust and count on you.”
He scowled at her. “You’re getting at something. Will you just say it, whatever it is?”
“Fine. If we can’t talk about love, we can at least talk about monogamy. Because that’s a condition for me. If you ever want me to marry you, your days as a lady-killer are done.”
He said very slowly, the words dragging themselves reluctantly out of him, “I haven’t been with anyone for months. And I can’t believe I’m admitting it to you.”
“Good. It’s a start.” She stood. “I want to go now.”
He didn’t argue that time. Apparently he agreed that they’d said all they were going to say for one night. He got up, shook out the blanket and tucked it under his arm. She turned and led the way up to the car.
The ride to her villa took only a few minutes. They were very quiet minutes. To Alice it seemed she could cut the silence with a dull knife.
When they pulled up at the curb, she turned to say good-night to him, to thank him for a wonderful evening. Because it had been wonderful, even the rockiest parts. Wonderful and true and difficult. And real.
He only reached for her and covered her mouth with his. She swayed against him, sighing, and he wrapped her up tight in his powerful arms.
It was a great kiss, one of the best. So good she almost said yes, she would go with him after all. Anywhere he wanted. To the ends of the earth.
If he would only kiss her like that again.
But instead, she took a card from her jeweled minaudière and pressed it into his hand. “Home and cell. Call me.”
Gruffly, he commanded, “Come and stay with me soon.”
She leaned close, pressed her cheek to his and whispered, “Noah. Good night.” The driver pulled her door open.
HOW TO MARRY A PRINCESS Page 7