Courting His Royal Highness (11 page)

“You’re forgetting about it a lot.”

“I should’ve listened to my family. They were right. This is ridiculous.”

“I don’t think so. You’re tired of playing the bachelor gig
and
playing by their rules. So, you made a decision to sign a contract with a major network to be the headliner star of a reality show that will help you find the perfect bride. It might seem a little drastic, but I understand. I really do.”

And she did. He was tired of living a life dictated by everyone else. She could only imagine the amount of control that others had exercised over his life from the time he was born. A crown prince destined to become a king. He wanted what everyone wanted: freedom. He wanted to make his own decisions, make his own path. She couldn’t fault him that. Who could? Initially, his family might be a little embarrassed by this reality show, but eventually they’d embrace the publicity. Romalia’s tourism industry would grow thanks to the show. It might even face an economic boom thanks to its royal master.

“You’re the only person who understands. It’s comforting to know I have one person on my side.” The corners of his eyes crinkled attractively.

Chloe knew she’d never be able to look at a summer sky again without remembering the intense sapphire color of his eyes. She was absolutely positive she would dream about those eyes and that gorgeous smile for the rest of her life.

“They’ll come around. After all,
Courting His Royal Highness
is bound to bring in lots of money for your treasury.”

“That’s the only reason they’ve allowed this mockery.”

She laughed. “Mockery?”

His crooked grin sent fiery sensations spiraling up and down her body. “My father and mother call it a mockery. My siblings agree, but they think it’s a splendid way to get me to finally settle down.”

“By finding a wife.”

“One can only be a playboy for so long. It ruins the reputation of the royal family eventually. Accepted when under the age of thirty, frowned upon when over thirty-one.”

“I’m glad I’m not royalty.”

“But you’ll be Hollywood royalty.”

She grimaced. “Do you suppose that’s just as bad?”

He nodded. “Are you prepared?”

“No.”

“Maybe you’d rather be a princess than an actress?”

Chloe’s heart skipped a beat. “What?”

“Well, I’m just saying the possibility is out there.”

She brushed her hand against his. “We’ve already talked about this, Max. We have no future. We shouldn’t even speculate. I’m not one of your fifteen choices. I’m the hostess of your show, not a love interest.”

But I want to be. Boy, do I want to be.

“I’m not ruling it out.”

She couldn’t help but smile. Warmth spooled through her. He was one in a million. Rich. Famous. Sweet. Kind. Romantic. Gosh, why couldn’t she have met him before, before they’d made the commitment to the show and signed a binding contract? It was a cruel joke. She couldn’t let on how much he meant to her. She couldn’t let him know she cared for him; in fact, she was afraid she was beginning to love him, which was a dangerous thing to do. He was off-limits. The sooner she accepted that fact, the better.

“I can pay the fee for breaking the contract.”

“I can’t.”

“I’ll pay yours as well.”

“Oh, Max,” she sighed, “think of what that would do to your family. They would be embarrassed even more if you broke the contract. Think of the bad publicity. Besides, we only shared one extraordinary night. It doesn’t mean we have a forever.”

“I’m still not going to completely give up on you and me.” He took her hand in his. “I always get what I want.”

She shivered at his words. His voice and his intense gaze clearly indicated he was indeed a man who was never refused anything. An almost possessive glow lighted his blue eyes, a steely determination to have what he wanted.

He wants me. He wants me.

The bell chimed, signaling the arrival of the luggage. She turned towards the carousel, withdrawing her hand from his. As she did so, her bare arm bumped his, and goose pimples swept up her arm. She trembled and rubbed her arms with her hands. She liked him immensely, and she wished more than anything that she could pursue a relationship with him.

But that couldn’t happen. She needed this job to solidify her career. Emotional involvement with him could jeopardize it. Besides, it wasn’t as if he’d declared his love for her and asked her to marry him.

Prince Max was only offering more fabulous nights under the sheets. Not love. Their sexual attraction was not the issue. It was mind-blowing. But it didn’t create love or a happily-ever-after marriage. Only love did that.
Love
. A future with him was not a sure thing. This job was. And she had to dedicate herself to it. She had to take care of herself. She wasn’t about to consider breaking her contract with EVE.

She needed this job more than she needed a man in her life. This was her time to shine. Sure it’d be grand to be a princess, a queen, but that wasn’t a guarantee.

What if they threw caution to the wind and indulged in a torrid affair? What if it ended after only a few weeks or a few months and he left her? What then? She’d be broke, jobless, and without Hollywood connections because her name would be mud. She’d probably lose any chance of ever making it big in the business. She’d be sacrificing her dream, and the thought terrified her.

“Yours?”

She spied the matching pieces and nodded. The luggage was a high-school graduation gift from her mom and dad. “Can’t miss them. Both have bright green ribbons on them.”

He patted her shoulder. “Genius.”

“My mom’s trick.”

“If I traveled commercial, I’d do the same.”

“Don’t brag,” she teased. “I wish I had my own private jet.”

“I’ll give you a ride in mine sometime.”

“Max, I think we should—”

He held up a hand to halt her words. “I know. I’ll drop it.” He gave her cheek a quick kiss. “For now.”

Her spine tingled at the husky promise in his voice. “We missed the luggage,” she whispered, turning her face to his. The tip of his nose touched hers.

“They’ll come around again. There’s always a second chance.”

Chloe knew he wasn’t talking about the luggage.

She did the only thing she could do. She kissed him.

It had probably been a bad idea to kiss Max. But she had anyway. And it had felt deliciously wonderful. No man had ever affected her the way Max did. He was fast becoming an addiction—an addiction she couldn’t afford.

Chloe released a miserable sigh as she tossed her purse onto the bed in her new bedroom, the room that would be hers for the next few weeks while shooting the show. She was thankful she’d be sharing this wing of the house with the camera and production crew and not the beautiful women vying for Max’s hand. Max shared the west side of the house as well. That could be trouble.

She glanced around the room. It was a huge, amazing room, larger than her entire apartment. She still found it hard to believe people lived in such extravagance. She slipped off her sandals—they were starting to pinch her feet—and traipsed across the room towards the floor-to-ceiling windows. Not a single curtain adorned the windows, allowing for a magnificent view of the McDowell Mountains, which zigzagged along the north edge of the property. The sun was just beginning to descend on the horizon, and purple and red shadows caressed the peaks and valleys of the mountain terrain.

“Wow.” She whistled appreciatively as she took in the view. She could get used to waking up every morning and going to bed every night to this picture-perfect landscape. She’d always heard about how beautiful the Sonoran Desert was; now she knew it to be true.

She turned on her heel and studied the room. It possessed a high vaulted ceiling and a sand-colored tiled floor crisscrossed with area rugs in Navajo style. The walls were painted a pale yellow, except for the wall behind the queen-sized bed, which was painted a deep red. Large clay pots and vases, filled with dried flowers in an array of vibrant colors, decorated the room along with statues of geckos, coyotes, and the famous Native American flute player, the kokopelli. A small fountain tinkled soothingly in one corner.

Chloe felt as though she’d just stepped into a spa. It was an oasis far more extravagant than any place she’d stayed in previously. Traveling with her family involved overnight stays at KOA campgrounds or at the Holiday Inn.

“I wonder if I’ll ever have a home this luxurious?” she mused aloud. She hoped so, although she doubted it. She couldn’t see herself living in such fancy surroundings. After all, she was still a country girl at heart. She had simple tastes for the most part—except when it came to her shoes and clothes.

She zipped open one suitcase and tipped it on its side. The contents spilled out onto the bed. She quickly tossed underwear and bras into the top drawer of a purposely-rustic dresser in one corner of the room and flipped on the light to what she thought was the bathroom. Only it wasn’t.

“Wow!” she cried with a childish clap of her hands.

She didn’t really care at the moment if there was a bathroom connected to the room. What stretched before her took her breath away. A huge walk-in closet loomed in front of her, far bigger than her entire bedroom back home. She stepped into the immense emptiness and started to laugh. The sound echoed off the walls, and still she couldn’t stop laughing. It was extraordinary. Every woman dreamed of a walk-in closet like the one she stood in.

“I think I’ve gone to heaven,” she whispered with a shake of her head as she pivoted around in a miniscule circle. “Wait until Jules hears about this. She won’t believe it.”

Chloe didn’t waste any time filling up the closet. She emptied all her suitcases. She hung dresses, blouses and skirts on the hangers, and folded jeans, shorts, and T-shirts in the shelves provided. There were even slots for her shoes. After unpacking, she stood back and surveyed her work. She made a decision that she definitely needed to go shopping for more clothes. Too many empty spots glared back at her. Yep, she needed to shop some Scottsdale boutiques.

The attached bathroom caused her to ooh and ah again. A Jacuzzi tub sank into the floor, looking incredibly inviting. The north windows surrounding the spa tub offered breathtaking views of the McDowell Mountains, and a skylight directly above provided an evening bather a great view of the stars. Live exotic flowers and vines tumbled over the ledge circling the tub. To top it off, the bathroom had double sinks, a mosaic-tiled floor, terry-cloth robes hanging on hooks, and a comfy bench covered with a blue cushion and laden with blue, brown, and red pillows.

Chloe wanted nothing more than to indulge in a tub with warm water and fragrant bubbles. But she couldn’t. She glanced at her watch and groaned. She only had fifteen minutes to get ready for her dinner date with Max. She caught her reflection in the long horizontal mirror over the sinks and wrinkled her nose. It would take more than fifteen minutes to make her look ready for an expensive dinner with a drop-dead gorgeous prince.

A prince she desired with every breath in her body.

Off-limits. Completely.

“You aren’t going to think about him that way any longer,” she scolded her reflection. She shook her finger for emphasis. “Absolutely not. He isn’t available. Even without the show, he would be unattainable. So just knock it off.”

But how could she tell her heart what to think?

It had never worked in the past. And she was positive it wasn’t going to work now. Hearts were ruled by emotion, not logic. Logic said to stay away from Mr. Prince Charming. Emotion said to get closer and closer and closer and….

“I said, knock it off!”

She exited the bathroom and slipped into the closet, where she stripped out of her travel clothes and then squeezed her size-6 body into a silky green strapless dress and her size-8 feet into high-heeled shoes of the same color. A necklace and pair of dangling earrings made out of chunky turquoise completed the look. She raced back to the bathroom, ran a brush through her hair, smoothed the unruly strands with a few drops of water, and applied eyeliner, mascara, and her favorite lipstick.

Five minutes later, she grabbed her purse and walked out into the hallway.

From his spot waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, he looked up at her and smiled his royal smile. She about melted on the spot. He was delicious. Scrumptious, really. A totally irresistible, tantalizing dessert.

Logic said to run like hell.

Emotion said to stay and enjoy.

Chloe smiled back, placed a trembling hand on the smooth banister, and started her descent down to the first floor. Max met her halfway, his contagious grin lighting up his blue-blue eyes.

“You look amazing,” he complimented.

“I betcha you tell all the girls that,” she chided. But she was secretly pleased. She wanted to look good for him—that was why she’d chosen her favorite dress. She knew the clingy fabric hugged every curve of her body. And the blue-green color emphasized her dark hair and eyes.

He looked dashing in a pair of neatly pressed gray dress slacks and a button-down blue shirt, tucked in snugly at the waist. He was broad and muscled, and his eyes had never looked so blue.

Those eyes really were startling. No wonder women across the world swooned over him and magazine photographers loved him. Blue eyes. Black hair. Olive skin. Charismatic smile. Model bod. Loads of money. European royalty. Posters of his smiling face probably adorned the wall of every female college student in the fifty states, smack dab next to Prince William Windsor of England.

The electric touch of his hand on her elbow as he gently escorted her out the front doors sent excited chills up and down her body. It was amazing what a simple touch could do. His fingers were warm, the pads kneading softly into her skin. Chloe remembered quite well the feel of his hands on her body. He was an expert with those hands, a talented lover. She refused to ponder how many women he’d practiced on before her. She knew in her heart the number would be crushing.

A limo waited for them in the roundabout driveway of the Mediterranean-style mansion. The driver tipped his hat and opened the door. The heat of the Arizona sun still lingered in the evening, the fragrance of a flower she couldn’t identify permeated the air, and she could hear the romantic melody of water splashing from a nearby fountain into a tranquil pool.