CALLA WALKED ALONG the beach in Palaío, holding herself tightly as she watched the sun rise along the edge of the ocean. She’d been on the island nation for less than seventy-two hours, and most of those she’d spent sleeping.
And dreaming of Kostas.
Their parting at the airport had been the stuff of movies. The tragic ones that people sat on their couches clutching tissues, waiting for the inevitable relief that tears brought. And she’d replayed it repeatedly in her head.
He’d stayed with her until she’d boarded her flight to London. His hand clasping hers. For a moment, she’d pretended he was coming with her. It was only when she sank into her plush first-class seat alone that she’d let the emotion of their last kiss at the gate float through her.
She’d spent most of the trip trying to keep her weepiness in check. It was ridiculous to cry over a one-night stand. A beautiful one-night stand. A memory she’d cherish forever, though one might think she’d left her soul mate in Dayton. It was ridiculous, but part of her had wanted to run back down the ramp, jump into his arms and tell him she wanted to see if the connection between them was more than lust.
But she had a job in Palaío. The income would let her cut the final ties to her past. Getting on the flight to Palaío had been the right move.
Calla blew out a breath as the waves crashed close to her feet. She’d done the right thing. That didn’t mean that she didn’t wish another option had been available.
She started at the Palaío Women’s Clinic today. She was still kicking the last of her jet lag, but Calla didn’t care. Once she was at the clinic, the work would take prime focus in her mind. She loved working as a midwife. It consumed her.
Then she could let the memory of Kostas, the thoughts of his kisses and touches, slip to the back of her memory. Calla heard her scoff echo in the early morning light and hugged herself even tighter.
At the very least, the memory couldn’t occupy all her thoughts while she was working.
She picked up a shell, fingering the ridges as she let out a breath. Squeezing the shell tightly, she brought Kostas’s face into her memory. Calla let her mind trace his high cheekbones, the five-o’clock shadow he wore so perfectly, and the dark eyes that saw her so clearly.
“Goodbye, Kostas.” She raised the shell above her head, getting ready to throw it. A silly ritual she’d schemed up when she’d tossed and turned in her bed last night. But her hand refused to let go.
Pathetic, Calla. Pathetic.
She wrapped her hand around the shell. In a few days, she could complete the ritual. But for now, she turned to head back to the apartment the clinic had secured for her. It was lovely, larger than her place in Seattle, and furnished with furniture nicer than she’d ever had. Palaío was great, and if she hadn’t met Kostas, her heart would be happier than she’d ever been.
But she had met him.
Another soul walked the beach, and her breath caught in her throat. He walked like Kostas, carried himself in the same, almost regal, way he had. Her throat closed as she watched the man, her heart urging her to run toward him.
Luckily, she still had some of her senses. The odds of it being Kostas were so minuscule she refused to even calculate them. If she ran to the stranger, she’d be disappointed when it wasn’t the man she craved.
And he’d likely be terrified of a stranger racing at him in the early morning. She looked at the man in the distance once more then purposefully started back for her apartment without looking back.
Kostas let the wet sand sink between his toes as he stared at the departing woman further up the beach. For a minute, he’d wondered if it was Calla. In the distance, with the morning’s shadows, it had been too easy to pretend it might be her. He pushed a hand through his much shorter hair and turned to look out at the ocean.
He was in Palaío. Had been for almost three days, and the casing of Prince Kostas, second in line to the throne, had wrapped around him as soon as he’d stepped into the palace. He’d cut his hair after multiple comments from his brother’s advisers.
Kostas wished he’d stood up to them. Explained that having the loose curls falling around his ears looked no less professional than the close cut worn by his brother. But he hadn’t wanted to argue.
If the advisers thought it best that he have short hair...well, he could grow it out again as soon as he left. He’d wear the mask of Prince Kostas, the reformed rebel. That was all.
Besides, all he’d wanted to do since landing was to think of the woman he’d kissed goodbye at the airport. Nothing seemed to matter much. He was mourning a relationship that had never been.
But could have been.
He shook his head as he stepped into the ocean, letting the waves wrap around his ankles. It was silly to keep replaying their last kiss. Silly to wish he’d asked for her email or phone number. They were on different paths, but he’d spent most of the last few days looking for her. Thinking he might see her in the street or on the beach.
His mind was intent on conjuring her. He heard a noise behind him and turned to see a photographer with a long lens above the dune. He turned back to the waves as the truth of his position weighed on him.
Even if Calla was in Palaío, which he knew she wasn’t, it wouldn’t matter. Here, he wasn’t her Kostas. Wasn’t the man who’d cradled her in sleep. On this island, he was Prince Kostas.
He shook his head. Today was a new day, and he needed to focus on his role at the clinic. It was his first day...and the new midwife’s first day, too. When he’d heard that, he’d nearly screamed for Natalia to tell him the name, his mind wrapping around the possibility that he and Calla might have taken very different routes to the same place.
His personal assistant had nearly jumped away from his outburst. Then she’d apologized profusely for not knowing the information. She’d promised to get it, but Kostas had waved her off, expressing regret for his outburst. Besides, he’d find out everything about the midwife when he arrived.
His watch beeped and he closed his eyes as he faced the rising sun. Today started his countdown. Maybe when he left, he’d see if he could locate Calla.
How?
That question had hovered around him for days. He knew her name was Calla Lewis. But he knew nothing else. He hadn’t memorized the address on her baggage tags—a mistake he’d castigated himself for most of his trip to Paris.
He knew how she kissed, how her skin felt against his, but there was no way to trace her from those notes.
“Goodbye, Calla.” The whispered words carried across the sand and he turned. He needed to focus on his actual mission. Do what the island needed...and then get off it. For good this time.
“I hope those photographers aren’t planning on camping outside the clinic every day,” Alexa muttered as she leaned against the desk in the small office where she and Calla were waiting for the new OBGYN to arrive.
“Why are they here?” Calla looked over the charting tablet the nurse practitioner had handed her when she’d walked in.
Alexa had smiled when Calla had arrived almost an hour before her shift. Calla had claimed it was because she’d wanted to organize herself, to get to know the clinic and procedures before their patients arrived. But she’d been going a little stir crazy in her apartment. Looking over the patient records, figuring out her schedule was calming.
And it lets me think of something other than Kostas.
There’d been a photographer sitting in a car when she’d first arrived, and more had appeared in the last hour. In Seattle, she’d occasionally seen journalists and photographers at the hospital, but never near the maternity wing, and usually only after a terrible accident.
“Waiting for our new OB.” Alexa let out a sigh as she looked out the window. “A few of them camped out back there, too. Guess they want to make sure they covered all potential entrances.”
“Did he work as a movie star at some point?” Calla chuckled as she looked up. The nurse’s stare cut the sound out of her throat. “Seriously, he was in the movies?”
“No.” Alexa looked at her and crossed her arms. “Did they really not tell you that you’d be working with King Ioannis’s little brother? Prince Kostas?”
“Kostas?” Her throat went dry as she processed the name. No way her Kostas was a prince. He would have said something...right?
Uncertainty pooled through her. Would he have told her? Their physical connection had been deep, electric, magical, but they’d not actually spoken of where they were going.
She’d called this an adventure and he’d only said he was going home. And that he wasn’t looking forward to his family’s expectations...
No. That didn’t mean anything. Far too many people had family expectations that were overburdening.
She and Kostas hadn’t shared too much, but that was a protective measure, one to guard their hearts as the heat between them burned but didn’t allow for any future. At least, that was how Calla viewed it and had assumed it was the same for him.
But what if was something else?
It had taken Liam almost a year before he’d told her how much wealth his family had. He’d claimed other girlfriends had used him for his family’s money.
She chewed on her lower lip. Surely, her Kostas, the man she’d spent the most passionate day of her life with, wasn’t a prince. It was just a name.
“If he looks half as good as he did at his brother’s coronation, then he could be in the movies. But Palaío’s Prodigal Prince chose medicine.” The tinge of annoyance at the words Prodigal Prince sounded almost maternal. As if Alexa understood the desire but couldn’t quite countenance the choice the royal had made.
“Where was he working before?”
“Some city in the US. Starts with sea...” Alexa tapped her finger against her chin. “Sea—”
“Seattle.” Calla set the tablet down as she leaned against the desk.
“That’s it!” Alexa stated.
Kostas. Her mouth was dry. Kostas was here. Her heart hammered as she tried to figure out what this meant. Does it mean anything?
They’d had one blissful night together. But they’d given in to passion because they’d never expected to see one another again—or at least that was why she’d followed her needs.
Her cheeks heated as the memory of his fingers on her skin lit up her mind.
“I said leave. This is a medical clinic, and the patients don’t need cameras in their faces. They need support for their babies!”
His voice carried across the clinic and Alexa left the office. Calla couldn’t seem to get her feet to move. She’d dreamed of reuniting with him since she’d kissed him goodbye in Dayton. But she’d never expected to fulfill the fantasy.
Certainly not in Palaío or after discovering he was a prince. This was the stuff of TV movies, not real life.
“Prince Kostas. It’s so nice to see you.” Alexa’s tone was cordial, deferential, as it drifted to the office.
How was she supposed to address royalty? Particularly royalty she’d clung to? Naked.
“Dr. Drakos or Kostas will be fine, Alexa. And please don’t bow. I’m second in line to the throne and soon to be third when my sister-in-law delivers. I don’t want our patients uncomfortable. In this clinic, I am Dr. Kostas Drakos, nothing more.”
He cleared his throat and added, “When does the new nurse midwife arrive?”
“She’s already here. Calla?”
She could hear Alexa turn; no doubt surprised she hadn’t followed her to greet the doctor. The Prince.
Calla grabbed the tablet chart and raced around the desk. “Here. Sorry, I just...” Her eyes met Kostas’s and her heart cried out to go to him. He looked tired. He’d taken several planes to get here, just as she had. But the exhaustion clinging to him looked like it went deeper. The curls he’d worn so well were gone; the short hair looked regal.
But it didn’t suit him.
Kostas stared at her, clearly as surprised by her appearance as she was by his. The air in the room felt thick as she dragged it in. What was she supposed to do?
Alexa cleared her throat and Kostas broke the connection with her.
“I just realized that Calla worked in Seattle, too. Did you two work together?”
“No.” His voice was tight as he shook his head. “We’ve never worked together. It’s a huge city. There are several major hospitals in Seattle. It’s a big place. It’s nice to meet you, Calla.”
She blinked as she registered his words. They didn’t have to acknowledge the exact nature of their acquaintance, but to just dismiss her, to act like she was a complete stranger... The warmth in his eyes that she’d fallen for was gone.
The prince stood here now. In Seattle, or Dayton, she was good enough for a night. But here, in his home, she was a stranger.
Liam hadn’t considered her good enough, either.
Liam had been wrong, but Kostas was actual royalty. Her throat tightened, but she refused to let him see how much his words cut. She pushed the pain radiating through her down. She’d deal with it tonight...alone.
If he wanted to act like they didn’t know each other, fine. She could follow that script. “It’s nice to meet you, too, Prince Kostas.”
“I prefer Kostas.” He looked at her, his features softening for just a moment.
She knew that. Had heard him correct Alexa. But she was using his title for herself. A reminder to Calla Lewis that she’d spent the past few days yearning for a man who considered her beneath him. A man who wouldn’t even acknowledge that they’d known each other.
Hell, they could have even shared the story of helping Becky when she’d gone into labor thirty-thousand feet above the earth. There were so many ways he could have handled it besides this one. Ways to acknowledge her.
But if he didn’t want to. Well, fine!
“I look forward to working with you, Dr. Drakos.” Calla kept her tone even, not trusting herself to say any more.
He opened his mouth but shut it quickly. Whatever he’d planned to say evaporating as she nodded. “I need to see to a few things in the office, before my first patient arrives.”
He walked past her without another glance. Alexa followed, chattering about the day’s schedule, the patients and island gossip.
Kostas met Calla’s gaze briefly before he closed the office door, but he didn’t smile, didn’t show any reaction to her presence at all.
Calla raised her chin and closed her eyes. She’d mourned her relationship with Liam. Nursed the heartache for months before realizing it was her she was missing. The woman she’d been before she’d tried to fit into his mold.
As soon as she’d reclaimed her true self, Calla’s heart had stitched itself back together. She’d sworn that she’d never change herself for another again. Never let someone have that much control over her.
Her escapade with Kostas was a fun memory. But she would not chase a man who didn’t want her. Wouldn’t acknowledge a prince who greeted a lover with no kindness.
She was in Palaío for a reason that had nothing to do with Prince Kostas Drakos. And she wasn’t leaving, so she hoped His Royal Highness didn’t expect her to wilt under his controlled gaze.
Kostas wanted to tell Alexa that he didn’t care about island gossip. That he didn’t know the woman she was gossiping about and didn’t care that she’d married her best friend’s nephew. Or that she was pregnant. When she arrived at his clinic, he’d treat her just like any other patient.
This was one of the many aspects of the life on Palaío that he hadn’t missed. The country was home to a little over one hundred thousand people. Each of the island’s towns, even the capital where they were, operated as small towns. Everyone still knew everyone’s business, particularly the scandals. Or perceived scandals.
The city of Seattle had over seven times the island’s population, and twenty times the capital city’s population. There, it was easy to get lost in the daily hustle. Easy to only see his patients in the office. If he occasionally passed them at the grocery store or Starbucks, he’d wave, say a few pleasantries and then move on.
For the first time in his life, Kostas had been nearly invisible. Able to be just the man he wanted, without the trappings of a title. That Kostas could have taken Calla on a date without worrying about photos and rumors and... He inhaled and discarded the thoughts. He wasn’t that Kostas—no matter how much he wished for it.
“Do you mind giving me a few minutes to look over the records here alone?” Kostas saw Alexa glance at her watch as he cut off her story in midsentence then look up at him.
She nodded and headed for the door. “It’s nice to have you home, Your Highness.”
Before he could comment on her use of the honorific, the nurse disappeared. Calla walked by the open office door, but she didn’t stop or look at him. Not that he could blame her.
His body had ignited the moment he’d seen her. Only Alexa’s presence had stilled his movements. When she’d asked if they knew each other, he’d seen the hint of excitement glowing in Alexa’s eyes. She’d wanted to hear the word yes. Wanted to deconstruct its meaning, pass it along to her friends that not only had Prince Kostas returned to Palaío, but he knew the nurse from Seattle, too.
The rumor mill would spin out of control. So he’d lied. And he’d seen the hurt in Calla’s eyes. Seen her swallow so many words. Then she’d called him “Prince Kostas,” and he was almost certain she’d done it intentionally.
He just wasn’t sure why.
Rolling his neck, he wrapped the need crawling through him and forced it into the mental compartment he’d carefully constructed following the disasters with his mother and Maria. The photographers had followed him from the airport to the palace to the office. Hopefully, in a few days, they’d get so bored by his activities that they’d disappear.
But if word leaked that he was interested in Calla... That he’d spent the night with her... The gathering outside would look like nothing compared to the frenzy they’d experience. He couldn’t do that to her.
Wouldn’t.
Better to cause her hurt now than to subject her to weeks and months under the microscope. Even if part of him wanted her to join him, wanted to see if she might not mind the invasion to her life. That was the selfish inner voice that he’d learned to ignore years ago—though it surprised him how much he wanted to give in to the urge now.
“Yes, I am glowing! Look at my bump. You’d think I was having twins. Which maybe I am!”
Kostas pulled on his face as his sister-in-law’s voice carried into the office. He knew Eleni didn’t have an appointment this morning. So what was she doing here?
Checking on him. He sighed as he stepped into the waiting area.
Her eyes met his as she cradled her bump. “Twins.” Eleni let out a chuckle. “That story ought to keep them busy for at least a few days.” She looked lovely and, at eight months pregnant, she did not look like she was carrying twins.
“You don’t have an appointment, Eleni.” Kostas raised an eyebrow as he leaned against the door to the office. He’d looked over his list of patients last night, and Eleni was not on it.
Though the queen had a habit of doing as she liked, much to the chagrin of her security detail, she kept a much looser schedule than Kostas or Ioannis. Besides formal functions, her daily schedule was more general ideas than actual appointments. Particularly now. She’d started her maternity leave when she’d entered her third trimester and only had a handful of royal appointments.
“Not with you!” She grinned as she turned and waved. “I assume you’re the new midwife?”
“I am. Calla Lewis, Your Majesty. Right on time for your appointment.”
“Oh, pish! Call me Eleni, please. There is no need to be formal. I’ve heard so much about you from Ioannis. He was thrilled when you accepted the position. He thought you and Kostas would work well together.”
Color crept up Calla’s neck as she cleared her throat. “I suppose we’ll find our way. If you’ll follow me...”
Eleni looked to Kostas, her dark eyes laying into him before she followed Calla. There was little that got past his sister-in-law. She’d undoubtedly seen Calla blush, but being around royals often made people uncomfortable. Hopefully, Eleni would accept that answer if she pressed him on it later.
It was a minor problem for later, but Kostas followed behind them. He wanted—needed—to be near Calla.
“Do you need something, Doctor?” Calla raised her chin, challenging him at the door. “I promise you, I am more than capable of taking care of your sister-in-law.”
She was right, of course. There was no need for him to follow them. Calla was perfectly capable of doing Eleni’s check. At thirty-three weeks along, he knew his sister-in-law had been coming in regularly. And doing so before the other patients arrived granted her at least a little privacy.
Assuming the photographers outside left.
“I like her!” Eleni winked at Kostas. “Everyone here treats you like a prince, or a little brother. No one just stands up to you.”
“You always have.” Kostas crossed his arms and let his eyes wander to Calla for an instant before redirecting his attention to his sister-in-law.
“I’m different. I’m family.” Eleni slid onto the table and waved to the heart monitor sitting on the counter. “I don’t care if he stays, but I would like to hear my baby’s heartbeat.”
Calla grabbed the wand and turned all her attention to Eleni, ignoring Kostas completely. “Are you having a boy or a girl?”
“We haven’t found out.” Eleni grinned as the heartbeat rang out in the room. “We found out with our first, as is tradition on Palaío, though I was pregnant before we got married, which was a new tradition for Palaío!”
Eleni let out a giggle as she looked at Calla. “Those photographers followed me for months, guessing that I’d conceived before the wedding, though we’ve never officially confirmed it.”
“It’s none of their business.” Calla nodded as she grabbed the gel. “This will be cold.” She looked at Kostas. “We should get warmers for the gel. It isn’t cold for long, but warm gel is better.” Then she turned her attention back to Eleni, ignoring him completely. “So you and Ioannis are going for surprise on the sex for this little one. How fun.”
He noticed Calla didn’t have any issue using his brother’s first name. That shouldn’t hurt. He bit his lip as he looked at Calla, wishing they were someplace else. Anywhere else.
Eleni sighed as the wand found the heartbeat. “We are. I put my foot down and demanded we do something different. Traditions are nice, but change can be good too.”
His sister-in-law didn’t look at him, but Kostas knew the message was intended for him. She had never cared about traditions. Raised in a neighboring kingdom by a royal mother and commoner father, Eleni was the breath of fresh air the monarchy needed.
She and Ioannis had fallen for each other hard and quickly. Their love was evident to anyone paying the smallest bit of attention. Still, the press had had a field day with her. Insinuating that she wasn’t royal enough for the king of Palaío, wasn’t queen material, wasn’t virginal—which wasn’t a requirement, or their business, to use Calla’s words.
It was only because of her parents—who had refused to cower under the press’s long eye and had instilled that in their daughter—that Eleni had not only survived but thrived in the environment. As she’d demonstrated today, she loved messing with the press. Sending them on wild-goose chases. In her words, if they were dumb enough to chase her outlandish statements after she’d established that she liked to tell them nonsense, that was their problem.
His brother had found his match. Kostas was happy for him, but most women hadn’t grown up in the “I don’t care what anyone thinks” environment that Eleni had.
“Don’t you have a patient to prep for?” Calla’s tone wasn’t hostile, but she’d dismissed him. There was no need for him to hover. No professional need anyway.
“How have you felt this week? Any contractions, cramps? Discomfort?” Calla didn’t look at him as he stepped toward the door.
“Discomfort? Have you met any almost-nine-months-pregnant women who are comfortable? I’d love to meet such a mythical creature...and destroy her!”
Calla’s laugh joined Eleni’s, and Kostas’s heart clenched. The two women could be friends...sisters.
No. He pushed the selfish thought away. They’d had a perfect night. That had to be enough.