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Ruby was patient. But Alex was hovering around her constantly, asking her questions, destroying her concentration and patience. Any time he appeared her senses went into overdrive. The timbre of his voice, the accent, could make her legs turn to mush.
She had to drive a little bit of her anger back into her head. Her anger that she was here for Annabelle—not for Alex. It didn’t matter that it might be irrational. It was the only thing currently keeping her sane.
He appeared at her shoulder, his scent drifting around her. She didn’t even turn around.
‘Alex, you need to leave me to get on with the job. That’s what I’m here to do.’
Annabelle was playing quietly in her room. Flitting between colouring at the table and drawing chalk pictures on her board. There was a television in her room, which she rarely watched, and a tablet on the chair next to her.
She was definitely an interesting study. She was a creative little girl. The drawers at her desk were filled with cardboard, paint, ribbon, glitter and glue. She was never happier than when she was covered in the stuff. But the life of a royal princess meant that she was continually being cleaned, tidied and paraded elsewhere.
The only time she showed interest in the tablet—which she could use easily—was when she watched clips of singing and dancing from films. Annie, The Sound of Music and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers seemed to be the favourites.
There was a mixture of melancholy and frustration that emanated from Alex when he watched Annabelle.
‘But I’m her parent. Aren’t you supposed to talk to me and give me a report?’
Ruby nodded and gave a little sigh. ‘I suppose... But I haven’t finished my full assessment of Annabelle yet. I can only give you my first impressions.’
She turned around to face him, conscious of the fact that she’d be subjected to his killer blue eyes.
‘This will take longer than I thought. I have to wait until Annabelle is ready to communicate with me—to work with me. I’m not going to force myself on her. She’s not that type of kid.’
The smile that spread across his face was one of complete relief. He put his warm hands on her shoulders. ‘That’s why you’re here, Ruby. You’re the first person who’s assessed Annabelle that has said that to me. You don’t care about the time span. You care about the child.’
Because you’re paying me to.
It was an uncomfortable thought racing around in her brain. She was used to working for the health service. She’d never seen private patients before. Every child she’d assessed had been given the best possible assessment. But the health services were pushed for time and it sometimes frustrated her. Here she didn’t have those worries.
Everything about this was a whole new experience. Staying in a palace. Knowing that after ten years she might bump into Alex at any second. The you’re paying me to thought had a tiny bit of self-preservation about it. It kept things in perspective. It kept her grounded. It reminded her why she was actually here.
Alex was still touching her shoulders. She was wearing a sundress and his fingers were in direct contact with her skin. The sensations that were currently running like little pulses down her arms were conflicting with all her previous thoughts.
‘Why don’t we do this somewhere else?
‘What?’
Do what somewhere else? She felt panic rush through her. How exactly had she been looking at him?
He lifted his hand from her shoulder and waved it towards the window. ‘I’ve not been a very good host. Let me show you a little of Euronia.’ He looked down at her sandals. ‘How do you feel about a walk?’
Her sandals were pretty, but flat and comfortable. Her curiosity had definitely flared. ‘I feel fine about a walk.’
‘Then let’s go.’
‘Don’t you need to let your security team know first, Alex?’
He smiled again and shook his head. ‘You know, you’re the only person that actually calls me that.’
‘What?’
‘Alex. No one else calls me that.’
She shook her head in disbelief. ‘What on earth do they call you?’
He shrugged. ‘Prince Regent or Your Majesty. If it’s someone I’ve known a long time they might call me Alexander.’
A different world.
She stepped right up to him, her nose only inches away from his. ‘But I know you as Alex. Always have. Always will.’
He smiled and gestured for her to follow him, and led her down a huge array of corridors and out through one of the back doors of the castle.
The gardens were beautiful—colourful and perfectly groomed. She recognised the marble fountain from an old black and white picture she had seen of Alex and his future wife as children.
They walked across the immaculate expanse of green lawn towards the city. It was officially the smallest city in the world—not much bigger than an average town. But it had grown exponentially as the economy of Euronia had grown.
‘Did you play in these gardens when you were a child?’
He nodded. ‘Yes. There’s a secret maze in the forest over there. And my father ordered a tree house to be built and it took the carpenter nearly a whole year.’ He gave a little sigh. ‘Annabelle is still a little young to play in it. I don’t even think she’ll like it.’
‘Haven’t you ever shown it to her?’
He shook his head. ‘I’ve been too focused on other things when it comes to Annabelle. We haven’t got around to anything like that.’
Ruby nodded and bit her tongue. It was important that she find out about the relationship between Alex and his daughter. It wouldn’t do well for her to criticise, but she could already imagine the kind of recommendations she might make.
‘Well, if you show it to me some time maybe I can give you some suggestions on how to make it more appealing to a little girl.’
He gave a little nod as they approached a gate in the high walls. Alex keyed in a code and the door swung open.
‘Won’t that set off alarms everywhere?’
‘No. It’s my code. They’ll know it’s me that’s opened the door.’
The back entrance opened directly on to the sea cliffs. The breeze was startlingly stiff and she shivered. She should have brought a cardigan, but the light summer breezes on the castle balcony had been pleasing.
Her bright pink dress whipped around in the wind and Alex pulled off his jacket and put it over her shoulders. The first thing she noticed was the smell of his aftershav
e as she slid her arms into the jacket and pulled it around her.
‘Do you do this often?’
‘Of course.’ He raised his eyebrows. ‘Do you think I spend all my time holed up in the castle?’
‘I have no idea, Alex. I have no idea what you do at all.’
She heard him suck in a breath. She wasn’t trying to bring up the past, but if she wanted to help Annabelle she had to have a good idea about the environment in which she lived.
The walk into the centre of the city was pleasant. It was less than a mile and they browsed at the shop windows, with several of the shopkeepers coming out to speak to them. One gave Alex some cheese, another some ham wrapped in paper.
‘Your favourite,’ he said with a smile.
The clothing and jewellery shops were spectacular. No prices in any window. Ruby could only imagine how much things actually cost around here.
She was surprised at how relaxed everything was. The palace was much more formal. People nodded to Alex in the street, but no one seemed in awe of him.
They’d reached the casino in the middle of the city. ‘Would you like to sample some of the best cake in Euronia?’ he asked.
‘Is it better than the cake in Paris?’
Their eyes met. It was a moment. A second for them both to remember that night ten years ago in Paris. Both of them were smiling, as if it were an automatic reaction to the memory.
He leaned forward a little, the heat from his body emanating towards her. ‘The cake in Paris won’t even come close to the cake in Euronia.’
She lifted her head. They were so close. ‘Is that a promise?’
He slid his hand around her back and pulled out a chair for her. ‘Absolutely.’
The café Alex had chosen was opposite the casino. She’d seen pictures of the place on the internet. Just about every visitor who came to Euronia visited this café and watched the coming and goings at the casino.
‘Aren’t you worried you’ll get harassed here?’
He shook his head. ‘It’s Sunday. No cruise ships moor at Euronia on a Sunday and no bus tours run. Today’s the best day for me to take a walk around.’
