Despite fairly heavy traffic, they made good time on Highway 21, the most direct route from their location in East Texas to San Marcos. She called her mother when they stopped for drinks, telling her that they should meet at the ceremony. She planned to drop Alexi off at the Four Square Café, where Lady Gwendolyn could recover the royal runaway. They wouldn’t have much time, so there would be no lengthy goodbyes. Just a polite public parting of two people who had shared a few days of vacation.
It’s been great. Have a good life. If you’re ever in the area, stop by and say hello. She would never see him again, and that was something she’d learn to accept. Eventually.
Alexi was quiet. Too quiet. She felt him watching her sometimes when she was busy driving. Like when they went through Bryan and College Station, where Texas A & M was located. And lots of other small towns, with only one traffic light and the inevitable eighteen-wheelers and overburdened pickup trucks. She felt his gaze on her, but she didn’t ask him why.
Maybe she didn’t want to know. Because no matter what the answer, he was leaving today. Or tomorrow at the latest. No matter what.
All she had to do was protect her heart for a few more hours. Then she’d have a lifetime to recover from these four days with her prince.
By the time they got to the outskirts of town, Kerry was running late. She didn’t have time to change clothes, but luckily she’d be wearing her cap and gown, and everyone wore cool clothes beneath the graduation garb. Her stomach felt a little queasy and her hands began to sweat on the wheel.
“Nervous?” Alexi asked as she jerked the steering wheel too hard to avoid a paper bag blown by the wind.
“Yes, because I’m running late and I don’t know how long it will take Lady Gwendolyn to come for you and I don’t think I’m good at saying goodbye.”
He placed his hand on her shoulder. “Relax, sweetheart. I know today has been difficult, but we’re almost there.”
She held back a sob as she turned onto the square. “I know.”
In the center park of the square, right in front of the café, two men, one wearing an army-style camouflage vest and the other in an old-fashioned polyester suit, with large cameras stood talking to one of the waitresses. She was fairly new to town, wore too much blue eyeshadow and rarely volunteered to help Kerry’s mother fold napkins. Kerry didn’t like her much, but she seemed to be telling the men something very interesting.
“Those men aren’t from around here.”
Alexi looked at them, squinting against the early-afternoon sunlight, and then swore. Before she could ask him what was going on, he ducked down in the seat. “Keep driving,” he said. “Those two are paparazzi. I can think of only one reason they’d be in your town.”
Paparazzi, here in Ranger Springs? “How did they find out you were going to be here?”
“Who knows? They’re as devious as hell. Just get away from here before they see me. They might even know who you are, although they probably don’t know this car.”
“Good grief,” she muttered. “I can’t just drive off! What will I do with you during my graduation ceremony?”
“If those vultures find out we’ve been off together, the story will be in all the papers tomorrow. Plus, they won’t leave you alone. They’ll be dogging your footsteps, howling for a story. Believe me, they can be most persistent.”
“Alexi, I can’t just drive away!”
“Then hide me someplace. I’m not willing to explain my presence in this town to those two, nor do I believe they’ll think I’m your former boyfriend, Hank.”
Kerry’s mind raced on an adrenaline high. Hide him? But where, without bringing someone else into their confidence? She knew several people well enough to ask, but that wouldn’t be fair to them. If these paparazzi were as persistent as Alexi claimed, then she’d be putting someone else in the crosshairs of their long-range camera lens.
She drove by the side of the square where the café was located, noticing a car parked out back, right beneath the stairs.
The stairs. To the vacant apartment upstairs. It hadn’t been used since the former manager moved out two years ago. It was probably dusty and barely furnished, but no one would look for a prince there.
“I know the perfect place,” she said, turning down the alley between the café and the furniture store. From back here, the paparazzi couldn’t see them. At this time of the day, there weren’t many people around the square. The café closed at two o’clock and wouldn’t open again until Monday morning.
“There’s an apartment upstairs,” Kerry explained, pulling in next to the other car, right beside the brick wall. “If we can just get you upstairs, you’ll be safe. You can call Lady Gwendolyn and tell her where you are.”
“You’re going to leave me here?”
“I don’t have a choice. Look, I have to hurry. I can’t be late. And trust me, you’ll be safe. No one ever goes upstairs.”
“Very well. Should we make a run for it?”
“I think we should just walk upstairs as if we know what we’re doing. Hopefully, the key to the restaurant will open the door at the top of the stairs, too.”
“You have a key?”
She shrugged. “Sometimes I help my mother out in the morning.”
Alexi nodded. “All right, then. Let’s go.”
“Just swagger a little. Everyone will think you’re Hank.”
“Drawl, grin, swagger,” he complained. “What else must I do to become this real cowboy?”
“Well, you could ride a bucking bronc down Main Street, but I don’t think we have time for that. Grab your bag and come on.”
ALEXI ROAMED the deserted apartment, trailing his finger along the dust-coated surface of the end table, looking out the hazy window to the town square below. An ornate gazebo dominated the parklike setting, which also contained shrubs and flowers of various kinds along concrete walkways.
The paparazzi were still there, although they’d retreated to a van parked alongside the curb, directly across from the café. Cigarette smoke curled from the open windows as they sat inside, no doubt arguing about their next move. They didn’t seem to be in any hurry to leave.
He didn’t know how long Kerry would be gone, but he assumed at least several hours. He should call Gwendolyn and tell her where he was, but he resisted going back to “work,” as he considered these rather meaningless events she sometimes scheduled for him. He hadn’t seen a television since watching the news at the Jackses, so he didn’t know if Hank McCauley had made any other appearances as prince, but they had listened to the radio in Kerry’s car. If something scandalous had occurred, surely it would have been reported.
He did have one inside source, however. Someone he’d checked with twice before in case of an emergency. He should call again, just to see what the plans were.
Slipping his cell phone out of his bag, he turned on the power. Within a moment the display informed him that he had twenty-seven messages. Alexi sighed, somewhat chastised that he’d gone off on this jaunt, but not regretting a minute. He’d needed this respite from public duties and his personal mission to bring tourism and industry into his largely agricultural country.
He needed to know Kerry, to see the world through her eyes and experience the joy of living from her perspective. She was everything fresh and wonderful, wise and yet innocent in many ways. He wanted to know her much better, but he knew there could be no future for them. As much as he’d thought about coming back to Texas for a holiday, or having her fly over to Belegovia for a visit, he knew that would never work.
He’d be exposing her to his world, with all its problems.
Such as the paparazzi that hovered around celebrities like vultures over roadkill. They would be brutal to her, calling her names, questioning her family, making her life hell until she retreated in disgust. He didn’t want their relationship to end that way. He’d far rather make a clean break, and in telling her goodbye, attempt to express how much she’d meant to him. How he would never forget her.
He couldn’t simply leave without seeing her again. He knew she half expected him to be gone when she returned. But he’d also seen the hope in her eyes before she’d shut the door and run down the steps. She wanted the chance to say goodbye without the press or family or other engagements threatening them. She wanted a kiss that would make them both remember this time fondly, an embrace that would imprint the other permanently on the soul. And he would give that to her, for all the joy and pleasure she’d given him.
Skimming through his speed-dial keys, he located the number of the phone Milos had been given when they arrived in the States. His valet picked up on the third ring.
“Alexi here. Can you give me an update on the situation?”
“Yes, Your Highness. Lady Gwendolyn decided she should travel to Ranger Springs to look for you, while I stayed behind in Austin pretending to be you. To date, I have talked to your father, the king, on two occasions and to various hotel persons who wished to clean the room and bring me chicken soup for my laryngitis.”
Alexi chuckled. “Are you still in Austin?”
“No, Your Highness. Mr. Boedecker and I are in a rather nondescript motel in San Marcos, ready to move at a moment’s notice. Lady Gwendolyn and Mr. McCauley have gone to the university to find you and Ms. Jacks.”
“I see. Well, I’m in Ranger Springs. I’ll call Lady Gwendolyn later and tell her where to find me.”
“Very well, Your Highness.” Milos paused, then continued. “I do hope to see you soon. Your father has become rather insistent. Something about sending the royal physician to Texas if you aren’t recovered soon.”
Alexi silently cursed. His father was meddling more and more in his life.
“Thank you for taking care of his calls, Milos. I’ll be in touch soon, as soon as I know whether Ms. Jacks is returning here.”
“Mrs. Jacks may be involved in that decision.”
“Kerry’s mother?”
“Yes. She mentioned something about the ceremony when she talked to Mr. McCauley.”
“Bloody hell. How many people know about this switch?”
“Only myself, Lady Gwendolyn, Mr. Boedecker and Mrs. Jacks, I believe, Your Highness. I trust all of them will be discreet.”
Alexi had known Kerry had called her mother, but he hadn’t realized everyone involved was talking to each other. This complicated matters. The situation also made him feel as though they were ganging up on him.
“What other plans do you have? If they were to find me, what is Lady Gwendolyn scheduling?”
“Departure to Belegovia, I believe, Your Highness. She did not mention any other plans.”
“Very good. Let me consider this for a while.”
“If I may ask, sir, are you well?”
“I’m perfectly fine. Never better. When it is time to exchange identities with Mr. McCauley, be certain that can be accomplished quickly.”
“Very well, Your Highness. I will await your further instructions.”
“As they say here in Texas, Milos, just lay low.”
“Yes, Your Highness. May I suggest you do the same?”
Alexi chuckled and ended the call. Oh, he’d like to lay low. With Kerry. Back in that four-poster bed where they’d spent the night loving each other. But they couldn’t go back…in more ways than one. Each of them had to go forward, separately.
But they could have a little more time together. When she returned. And perhaps, just for a few moments, they could recapture some of the magic of last night.
He stood in the center of the apartment and looked around. There wasn’t much to work with, but he could make their setting a bit more pleasant. He had nothing better to do, and although he hadn’t cleaned in years, he used to do a decent job of it in Boston. All he needed were the right supplies. He was fairly certain the restaurant, if not this apartment, would have everything he needed.
WHEN KERRY WALKED into the apartment, the sun was setting. And although she couldn’t see clearly, she knew things had changed dramatically. She distinctly remembered the sparse furnishings covered in a layer of dust. The air had even smelled stale, but now curtains fluttered in the mild breeze and brought in the fragrance of blooms from the square outside. Mixed in was the smell of lemon furniture polish.
“Did you invite Martha Stewart over while I was gone?” she asked Alexi, who was relaxing on the couch with the Saturday edition of the Springs Gazette.
He looked up and smiled. “Yes, she and her crew of hundreds descended upon this humble abode and transformed it into a stylish and tasteful example of rural décor.”
Kerry laughed, dropping her purse and sitting on the other end of the couch. “Will I expect to see this in a future edition of her magazine?”
“Yes, I believe it will be titled, ‘Prince’s Private Love Nest.”’
Kerry reached out her hand, then found herself enfolded in Alexi’s warm, welcoming embrace. “Is that what it is?”
“That would be my fondest wish.”
She sank down on the couch, stretching out along his body. “I missed you.”
“I wish I could have been there.”
“I’m sure you would have been bored silly.”
“I doubt that,” he said generously. “How did the ceremony go? I imagine your family was very proud.”
“Very,” she answered, tracing the vee of skin his unbuttoned shirt revealed. “Mom cried and my sisters seemed genuinely happy. Even my niece, Jennifer, came to see me, and she made me the cutest graduation card.”
“I almost expected you to walk through the door in your cap and gown.”
“And nothing else?” Kerry teased.
“Now, there’s an idea,” he said, tracing her bottom lip.
“I gave my stuff to my mother to take care of.” She propped her hands on his chest and frowned. “Did you get in touch with Lady Gwendolyn?”
“Not exactly. I looked outside and saw that the paparazzi were still on your town square, so I decided against calling her yet. I did, however, let Milos Anatole, my valet, know where I was.”
She brushed his hair back from his forehead. “So you’re staying with me tonight?” she said, trying her best to keep the hopeful, wistful yearning out of her voice.
“I thought I would.”
She felt her heart expand and glow with warmth and her eyes fill with unshed tears. “That’s the best graduation present yet.”
He touched the corner of her eye, his expression serious. “I really must leave tomorrow. I need to be in Geneva on Monday evening for an economic summit.”
“I know, and I promise I’ll let you go. No messy scenes, no clinging vines.”
“Kerry, I—I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything, Alexi. You gave me an absolutely wonderful four days. I’ll treasure these memories always. But I know you have to go back to your country, marry your princess and have your heir and a spare. I know that.” She sniffed a little, then forced a smile. “I don’t have to love it, but I accept it.”
He nodded, but he didn’t try to smile. She felt very touched that he was genuinely sorry to leave her. She’d never imagined that a prince, a worldly man like Alexi, would grow attached to a small-town girl like her, but he had. She knew it as surely as she knew her name.
“I raided the storeroom of the café,” he said, as if to lighten the subject, “after I fixed myself a sandwich. Let me light a few candles against the darkness. Would you like something to drink? I brought up some soft drinks. I’m afraid I couldn’t find any wine.”
“That’s because this is a dry area.”
“Dry?”
“We don’t sell liquor.”
“Ah. We don’t actually need any wine, do we?”
“No,” she whispered, touching her finger to his lips. “All I want is you.”
“You have me,” he said, nipping her finger lightly. “For as long as possible.”
THE SETTING WASN’T nearly as romantic as the suite at the bed-and-breakfast, but Alexi knew Kerry didn’t mind. He would love to see her lying naked on his huge bed at the palace. He would love to see her anywhere in the future, although he knew that wasn’t an option. They had only tonight.
Once again he carried her toward the bed, kissing her, losing himself in her soft lips and firm, curvy body. The breeze ruffled her soft curls and flickered candlelight over her lightly tanned skin. He wanted to kiss every inch of her…and vowed he would before the night was up.
When he’d driven her wild with desire, she rolled him over and said, “It’s my turn.”
She explored him, making him crazy while he watched her small, competent hands and soft pink lips make love to him as he had to her. By the time he reached into the nightstand drawer for the protection he’d thankfully found earlier, they were both nearly incoherent with passion. He heard her cry out when he entered her, plunging deep, feeling her warmth and wetness all the way to his soul.
He would never forget her, he vowed as he moved inside her, framing her face with his hands, watching her eyes widen and her mouth gasp as she began to climax. He kissed her then, silencing the scream he knew was building, losing himself in the wonder of loving Kerry.
Minutes later, when his breathing returned to normal, when he could once more move, he took her with him as he rolled to his side. She sighed and smiled, snuggling against his chest as she’d done last night.
He wanted to say the words he’d never told another woman, but wasn’t certain whether his emotions or his hormones were speaking. Besides, he couldn’t make a commitment to her. While he wasn’t promised to another woman, he was married, in a sense, to his country. He might resent his father’s edict to choose a bride, but he would comply. He needed to marry and produce an heir to the throne. He needed to establish traditions that would be passed on to future generations, ensuring the continuation of the royal family.
Eventually, when Kerry relaxed against him in sleep, he pulled away. He needed to make a quick trip to the small bathroom and hoped the rusty pipes worked just a while longer. Then he would return to Kerry, curl up beside her and watch her sleep.
But when he got up from the bed, he knew something wasn’t right. Memories of their lovemaking came roaring back, and suddenly he realized why their joining had felt so good. Why he’d felt even closer to Kerry than the first time they’d made love.
The condom he’d found in the nightstand drawer had obviously been there for years, because it had broken. Shredded, as a matter of fact. He had actually felt her wetness and her warmth far more intimately than ever before.
“Bloody hell,” he whispered. He only hoped he hadn’t also destroyed Kerry’s future as an independent, carefree career woman.
KERRY WASN’T SURE how she made it through Sunday. She’d called Hank early Sunday morning, discovering Lady Gwendolyn in his bedroom. Probably in his bed. They’d met on Travis Whitaker’s property, far away from prying eyes. Hank was angry, thinking Alexi had taken advantage of her, but Lady Gwendolyn managed to calm him down. Alexi tried his best to be charming, but Hank wasn’t buying his apologies to Lady Gwendolyn for causing this problem.
Kerry had thrown in her two cents’ worth, too, giving Hank a piece of her mind when she remembered how bad this could look for everyone involved, especially her mother and sisters, if the tabloid reporters twisted the truth. Suddenly the simple escape both she and Alexi had needed seemed vastly more complicated, with far-reaching implications for people they hadn’t considered before.
After a drive to San Marcos, where they’d met up with Alexi’s driver and valet, she and Hank had spent time at the Dairy Queen while Alexi changed back into a prince. She and Hank had talked, which cooled things down a bit. She knew he was crazy about the English lady, and he suspected she was half in love with Alexi, but they both knew they couldn’t do anything about it. After the press conference Lady Gwendolyn had arranged on the town square in Ranger Springs, she and Alexi would be off for the royal jet, back to their real lives in Belegovia.
They arrived in downtown Rangers Springs in the Land Rover, all four of them silent and tense. The town was decked out in Fourth of July splendor, even though it wasn’t Memorial Day yet. Kerry looked out at the faces of her friends and neighbors and wanted to crawl into one of Alexi’s suitcases and stay there forever.
The press conference was horrible, with all the lies and deception. Every time she looked at Alexi, all polished and proper, she wanted to cry. This is who he really is, she tried to tell herself as he explained how he and Hank had been mistaken for each other. Cameras flashed and video rolled as everyone, from news media to ranchers and schoolkids, documented the foreign prince in their midst.
She barely got through the event, standing stiff beside Hank, before the short reception at the café began. She didn’t make it through that event, not without escaping to the ladies’ room for a big cry. She prayed for numbness, but instead felt raw and exposed, like a jagged wound.
How was she going to watch Alexi walk away—or drive away, in this case—without breaking down in front of everyone? She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t even hide her emotions when Lady Gwendolyn came into the bathroom.
“Does he know?” Gwendolyn asked.
Kerry shook her head. “We had a good time but it’s over.” They were from different worlds…worlds that just didn’t collide except for chance encounters along interstate highways.
“Perhaps it’s not that simple.”
“I’m a former truck stop waitress from Ranger Springs, Texas. He’s the crown prince of an old, respected European country. What could be more simple than that?”
Gwendolyn was silent for a few moments, then said, “I’m rather fond of your Hank McCauley.”
Kerry admitted she suspected as much, just as she assured Gwendolyn that she and Hank were more like cousins. They talked about Hank briefly, then Gwendolyn said, “We must go back outside and face everyone.”
Kerry had never imagined that she had much in common with a classy English lady like Gwendolyn, but she did. Gwendolyn was in love with Hank. Kerry was in love with Alexi. And neither relationship had any hope of continuing.
Kerry and Gwendolyn embraced, sisters of a sort, in love with the wrong men, and then they repaired their makeup and went back out to the “party” so no one would suspect. No one would ever know Hank had been a prince, and a prince had been a cowboy, if only for a few days.
Later, Gwendolyn had pulled Kerry aside. “Alexi will be upstairs in a moment. You’ll have just five minutes. I’m sorry, but we need to leave.”
“I understand,” she said, but she didn’t. Not really.
She had only five minutes to say goodbye. Five minutes to last a lifetime. She’d known for four days this moment was coming, but she wasn’t ready. She’d never be ready, because she never wanted to let him go. She wanted him to stay with her, to be a part of her new life. She wanted to kidnap him and take him away from all his responsibilities, especially the need to marry a suitable bride.
Every time she thought of him with another woman, she felt overwhelmed with jealousy. She had no right, she told herself. So she tried not to think of him courting someone else. Standing beside the faceless woman and announcing their engagement.
She pushed it out of her mind as she climbed the stairs to see him one last time.
“Alexi?” she called out as she neared the top of the interior stairs. The apartment looked exactly the same as it had this morning when they’d left here to meet Gwendolyn and Hank, but it felt different. Lonely, as though its life had ended when they’d closed the windows and locked up, their hearts heavy.
“Over here,” he said, moving away from the window that overlooked the town square. “I was just watching the media circus. Most of them are leaving now. The story is over.”
Yes, it’s over, she wanted to say, but her throat was frozen. He looked so wonderful, so…princely. No one who’d known him from their road trip would believe this was the same man. Only she knew…and she’d never forget.
“Kerry? Are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine.” She wasn’t now, but she’d get over him. Somehow. “I’m going to make myself very busy. I’m moving into my new apartment, then starting my job a week from tomorrow.”
“You’ll be fine,” he said, but he didn’t sound convinced.
“How about you? Other than the economic summit, what will you do?”
He sighed, took a step toward her, and stopped. Leaning against the sofa, he said, “My father has chosen someone for me to meet.”
“Someone…like a woman?”
“Yes,” he said, sighing again. “Contessa Fabiana Luisa di Giovanni was at the governor’s dinner in Austin that Hank attended. He said she was very lovely.”
“Sorry,” Kerry said, holding up a hand, “I don’t want to hear about another woman.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I just…I’m not sure about giving in to my father’s edict. Why rush into anything?”
“Don’t ask me that, Alexi! You need to marry someday. You need an heir. I accept it, but I don’t have to like it. I don’t have to think about you with another woman.”
“It won’t be that way. Not like it was between us.”
She put her hands over her ears. “Don’t!”
He pulled her into his arms. “Kerry, I’m sorry. I just wanted to have a good time. I didn’t expect—”
“For me to start falling in love with you?” She couldn’t believe she’d just said that, but her emotions were too raw to guard her heart right now. And since she’d never see him again, she could say what she wanted. In a few minutes, he’d be gone.
“I didn’t expect for either of us to…care for each other as much as we do.”
“It’s not your fault you’re very lovable,” she said with a sad chuckle. “I mean, a real live Prince Charming who cleans apartments? You’re perfect.”
“Hardly. I was very inconsiderate. First to Gwendolyn, for running away from the engagements she’d planned, then to you, because despite the honesty we both professed, I think we were wrong.”
“Alexi, please. There isn’t a future for us, so this discussion is useless. I can accept that you have to leave. Maybe not today, or even next week, but I’ll be fine. I survived when my father packed up and left, so I have a bit of experience.”
“I’m not like your father, although God knows I’ve disappointed enough people in my life.”
“No, you’re not like him,” she whispered. But there was a part of him that was similar to her dad. Both meant well. Both vowed they’d never “do that again.” Whether Alexi could keep his promise had yet to be seen, but she hoped he’d learned his lesson. She seriously doubted that he had completely changed his attitude.
He’d still hate to make public appearances booked for him; he might still run away. And he might break another heart without meaning to, just because, like she’d said, he was charming and wonderful. What woman could resist falling in love with him?
He leaned back and tipped her chin up. “Promise me you’ll call if you…if there are any repercussions from last night.”
“What?”
“The condom,” he reminded her.
“Oh.” The broken condom. She’d nearly forgotten in the chaotic day that had followed. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
He threaded his fingers through her hair, his blue eyes suspiciously bright. “You take care of yourself, Kerry Lynn Jacks,” he said softly. “I’ll miss you.”
Was this how her mother felt when her father walked out? Kerry remembered all the tears her mother had cried, and to what end? Tears didn’t change anything, but the pain was so sharp, she wasn’t sure she could hold back. She’d read about the feeling of a broken heart; the description wasn’t too far wrong. Still, if she hadn’t experienced such joy, she wouldn’t be feeling this pain.
She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I’ll miss you forever, Alexi Ladislas. I hope you find someone who’ll take care of you.”
His hands tightened and he pulled her close. Choking back a sob, Kerry kissed him with all the love in her heart. She poured everything into that kiss, knowing it had to last them both a lifetime. Because she believed him; he would miss her. Maybe not forever, but for a while.
“Alexi, we must leave now.” Lady Gwendolyn’s voice, rising up the stairs, startled them both. Pulling away, Alexi gazed into Kerry’s eyes one last time. She felt his hands tighten, then fall away from her shoulders.
“Goodbye, Mack,” Kerry whispered.
“Goodbye, Kerry.” And then he turned and strode across the room, taking the steps with a determined tread.
She couldn’t watch him leave. Couldn’t take one last glance at his back while he rushed back to his life in Belegovia.
She sank onto the couch and hugged her arms around herself to hold in his scent, the feel of him pressed close.
Someday, he might tell people the story of his trip to Texas when he ran off with the truck stop waitress. They’d all laugh, and he might get a look of longing in his eyes. And then he’d blink, and smile, and the memory would be gone.
“Goodbye, Alexi,” she whispered in the stillness of the deserted apartment before she let the tears fall.