LATER THAT MORNING, Andreas waited outside the acute medical ward for Clara Lund to emerge. She pushed through the doors and headed for the lifts, an assault to every one of his heightened senses. Today’s uniform was navy, the fitted cut reminding Andreas how it had felt to have that insanely gorgeous body pressed against him last night while their tongues had duelled for dominance of their kiss.
He approached, his heart knocking at his ribs at the sight of her hair pulled back into a tight bun, leaving her slender neck exposed. Heaven help him; even now, when he had a whole heap of explaining to do, he wanted to remove the clips and tunnel his hands in all of that silkiness as he kissed her again and again until her eyes glazed with arousal once more.
‘Clara,’ he said, intercepting her outside the lift. ‘Is now a good time to talk?’
If she remained ignorant of his identity after their reunion over this morning’s crash call, it was time he filled in the blanks.
She glanced up, her expression carefully neutral. ‘I’m on my lunch break, doctor.’
Her voice was deservedly dismissive; he missed her playfulness. ‘I appreciate that,’ he said, regretting that he hadn’t warned her about them working at the same hospital the moment he’d discovered the fact from palace security last night after she’d left. ‘But what I have to say won’t take long. I’ll accompany you to the canteen. It will give me a chance to explain a few things.’
‘Like how you’re a doctor, not a diplomat?’ Suspicion narrowed her eyes. ‘I’ve already figured that out all by myself, thanks. The scrubs and white coat kind of give it away.’
She jabbed at the already lit up call button, as if desperate to escape.
Andreas winced with remorse but he was so glad to see her feisty side. Her anger was better than her indifference.
‘It’s...complicated,’ he said, wishing he’d explained himself last night, in private.
Technically a prince was a diplomat, a representative of the nation he served.
‘I’m kind of both, for the time being,’ he added, frustrated by the thought that, given its way, Prince Henrik’s office would have him abandon his career now and commit fully to royal duties. If he capitulated to the palace’s demands, he would have to give up treating patients, give up his freedom to flirt with fascinating women like Clara and give up everything he’d known his entire adult life.
A dull throb of resentment tightened his chest. He loved his job and had worked hard for his career. He was good at being a doctor. Being back in Varborg meant readjusting to the demands of his two personas: Andreas the man, free to do what he liked, and Andreas the prince.
‘Great,’ she scoffed, shaking her head with disbelief. ‘That’s cleared everything up.’
Andreas smiled to himself, his spirits already roused by a moment of her company. He had no idea if she was still upset by the kiss or because he’d concealed his profession, and he really had no time for complications of the fiery, blue-eyed variety. Except, the part of him that was just a man demanded that, for this particular woman, he make time.
‘I know I should have mentioned that I’m a doctor last night,’ he said as the lift arrived and the doors opened. ‘I’ve just started a locum geriatrician position here.’
‘Yes, you should.’ She stepped inside. ‘But, now that you’ve explained, I’ll wish you a good day, doctor.’
Ducking inside the lift before the doors closed, Andreas continued, ‘Listen, Clara, now that we’re alone, I want to apologise again for last night.’
‘Oh?’ Completely unfazed, she glanced down her pert little nose at him, impressive given their height difference. It made him think of the Swedish term of endearment sötnos, the literal translation of which was ‘sweet nose’.
‘Don’t worry.’ She huffed, stabbing once more at the second-floor button as if her impatience alone could make the lift ascend faster. ‘I regret it too.’
She was so desperate to get away from him now.
Andreas inched closer and rested his gaze on that kissable mouth, now pinched with irritation. ‘Oh, I don’t regret the kissing for one second, sötnos.’
Alone with her in this confined space, there was no avoiding her bewitching scent or the erotic memories blasting him from all angles.
‘I’m not your sweetie,’ she snapped, flinging the endearment back in his face as if it were poison.
But her pupils dilated, her pulse flickered in her neck and her eyes dipped to his mouth every few seconds as if she too could remember every steamy detail of the night before.
‘You might regret it now,’ he taunted, ‘But last night you enjoyed kissing me. I was there. I felt your body against mine, your fingers tugging at my hair...heard your sexy little whimpers.’
They had unfinished business.
‘Maybe I did,’ she admitted, planting her hands on her hips and leaning closer. ‘But so did you.’
Andreas held up his hands in surrender. ‘You’ll get no argument from me. I wanted to kiss you the minute you laughed at me for hurling my leg.’
She huffed again, frustrated. ‘But I didn’t enjoy it enough to lose my job over or do it again.’
She was breathless now, her eyes ablaze with challenge and something else—something wild, reckless and needy that helped him to see the last lie for what it was.
But enough games; she might want nothing more to do with him when he told her his other secret. Being a public figure came with complications that some people couldn’t tolerate.
‘And that’s why I’m apologising,’ he said, turning serious as guilt at his abuse of power sent chills down his spine. ‘That you felt your job was at risk is unforgivable. I would never allow you to face repercussions when the kiss was fully my responsibility.’
Now he had her attention. She blinked, as if she was momentarily confused, then her stare hardened.
‘Well, I hope you don’t expect me to be grateful.’ Her lip curled in distaste. ‘Just because I’ve seen the goods...’ her stare dipped to his groin ‘...doesn’t mean I’m interested in making a purchase.’
When their eyes met again, he unleashed a victorious grin. If only she’d resisted checking him out last night when his towel had slipped, he might believe her now.
‘I’d rather be homeless,’ she continued, her colour high, her voice breathy. ‘So, if you think I somehow owe you for your discretion, you can think again.’
Adrenaline rushed his system, urgent and fiery, compelling him to act. ‘Exactly what kind of man do you think I am?’ he asked, his voice deceptively calm despite the accusations she was hurling his way.
She obviously didn’t trust him, but did she truly think him capable of blackmailing her into sex?
‘I don’t know you.’ She raised her chin in defiance. ‘So far, you’ve proved yourself utterly untrustworthy. You had a perfect opportunity to tell me you were a doctor last night, but you didn’t. Even now when you’ve come to explain—’ she made finger quotes ‘—you’re being vague. Maybe you enjoyed misleading me. Maybe you’re used to getting your own way and manipulating people. Maybe you expected a whole lot more than a kiss.’
At her goading, all his good intentions to make amends and come clean evaporated. If only she knew what he’d wanted in the moment when their tongues had been duelling, her luscious body restless against his, craving more. And, for all her denial, their undeniable magnetism was generating enough sparks to set the lift alight.
But maybe he’d been wrong about her; maybe he couldn’t be the real Andreas with her after all.
‘You’re right—you don’t know me,’ he said, catching the sound of her sharply inhaled breath as his stare raked her features, from the icy chips in her irises to the plump fullness of those lovely lips. ‘So let me enlighten you. I don’t need to bribe or manipulate women into my bed. They come eagerly and leave satisfied.’
His heartbeat raced, thick arousal boiling in his belly.
‘Oh, I bet they do.’ She snorted in disgust. ‘Well, I have no intention of being one of those women.’
But she was panting hard and had stepped up close, raising her face to his so one mutual move would send them back into each other’s arms.
‘Are you sure about that, sötnos?’ he asked lazily. ‘Because you’re looking at me like I’m the last cookie in the jar again.’
But he needed to master their chemistry, and fast. With her two jobs, she’d be everywhere he looked. Just as she knew nothing about him, he knew little about her beyond her education and employment history. Nothing about the things that counted: her integrity, her moral compass, her loyalty.
His public position necessitated discretion in the people he invited into his life, even casually. And, while it was perfectly acceptable for hospital staff to fraternise, he still hadn’t explained the small detail of his royal life. Would she treat him differently when she knew that he was Varborg’s heir that should never have been?
Just then, while they faced each other, eyes locked in challenge, the lift arrived on the staff-only floor.
The doors slid open, breaking the sexually charged impasse.
Andreas stepped back, breathing through the wild thudding of his heart. How had the conversation veered in a completely tangential direction from the one he’d planned? What was it about this woman that left him struggling to walk away? And what had caused her distrust and general cynicism towards men, when it was obvious to anyone with eyes how hot they were for each other?
Waiting outside the lift slightly out of breath, as if he’d taken the stairs at full pelt, was Andreas’s bodyguard, Nils.
‘Your Highness, there’s been a security breach in the emergency department.’ Nils flicked a brief look at Clara who, as a staff member both at Nordic Care and at the palace, would be well known to the security team that monitored Andreas’s every move. ‘You need to come with me now, sir.’
Defeat rumbled in Andreas’s chest. He winced as he took in Clara’s stunned confusion.
‘Who’s this?’ she asked, her jaw dropping. ‘And what did he just call you?’
She’d made it perfectly clear today that she had little trust for him, and now he’d missed the opportunity to have her hear the news from him direct.
‘Give me a moment,’ Andreas instructed Nils, who dutifully stepped aside out of earshot.
Andreas turned to Clara, his control of the situation now tugged like a rug from under his feet. If she’d wanted nothing more to do with him when she’d thought he was just a man who’d failed to declare his profession, his royal baggage, the ultimate complication, would likely be the final straw. It shouldn’t matter. He’d come back to Varborg for family reasons, not for fun. Except that addictive lure of being just himself with this woman was hard to fight.
Taking Clara’s elbow, he led her into an alcove beside the lifts. ‘This is why I wanted to speak with you. I intended to explain my...heritage, my role at the palace...but then we got side-tracked again.’
He dropped his hand, instantly missing the feel of her silky skin beneath his fingertips, more off-kilter than ever with her this close physically, while emotionally he could literally see her slipping further away.
As if she’d finally pieced the jigsaw together, her hand covered her mouth, horrified. ‘This isn’t a joke. You’re really a prince...?’
‘I’m afraid so.’
What he wouldn’t give to be just a doctor in that moment, to have her look at him the way she had last night, right before that kiss. He could escape for ever in eyes like hers. But escape wasn’t an option.
‘I thought you were familiar... But you’re a doctor,’ she said, clearly trying to make sense of the scattered pieces of information, the panicked tone of her voice telling him all he needed to know about her current regrets. ‘You were staying in the guest wing.’
Andreas sighed, resigned. ‘I refused to occupy the suite prepared for me in the family wing.’ He swallowed, forcing himself to continue. ‘It once belonged to my brother.’
Andreas had a hard enough time with his grief, and unfavourably comparing himself to Oscar, without occupying his rooms.
‘And I’ve grown used to sparse but comfortable doctor’s digs at hospitals,’ he finished, braced for her transformation as reality sunk in.
Last night, when she’d blasted into his predictable, privileged life like a tornado—and again this morning, while they’d worked together to treat their patient—he’d foolishly clung to the hope of something real and unguarded with this exceptional woman he couldn’t seem to forget.
But, now that she knew the truth, he would no longer be just Andreas the man and doctor, in her eyes. He would be something else—something two-dimensional, a caricature.
‘You let me believe you were a nobody...’ She scowled and shook her head, as if dazed. ‘I kissed a prince...?’
She might as well have said she’d kissed a frog for all the contempt with which she spoke his title.
‘Oh, don’t worry.’ Desire heated his blood as he stepped closer and watched her eyes widen, her breath catch and arousal flush her skin. ‘Prince or not, I remember every second of our kiss and, what’s more, so do you.’
‘I do...’ She blinked up at him, clearly stunned into an honest admission. ‘But I’m sorry—it won’t happen again.’
Hot, sharp jealousy sliced through him. ‘So you were willing to flirt with me and kiss me when you assumed me to be a guest of the royal family but, now you know I’m Prince Henrik’s son, you want nothing more to do with me—is that it?’
Futility stiffened his muscles. Part of him, the same part that refused to give up his career until he had no choice, refused to accept that the fantasy of this woman was over. He wanted to remind her of the inferno they’d generated when they’d been in each other’s arms, him naked and her wild for him.
‘I...’ Her mortified stare darted to Nils. ‘Can’t we just forget it happened?’ she snapped.
Andreas raised his brows dubiously. ‘We could try and forget, if that’s what you want.’
Ever since Oscar’s death, what Andreas wanted, be it his medical career or the woman who now seemed horrified by his true identity, hadn’t been his choice to make. And, when it came to this woman and the kind of chemistry they shared, forgetting the way she’d looked at him with heat and desire would be an uphill challenge.
But he would have to find a way to work alongside her until it was time for him to hang up his stethoscope for good.
Sensing Nils’ urgency, he tilted his head with regret, his duty to his family tugging him away.
‘Either way, we’ll need to talk about the kissing some other time,’ he said. ‘I must go.’
Taking one last look at her, he took out his frustration on the stairs as he headed for the armoured vehicle awaiting him outside.