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She rose, putting her hand into his, inhaled as sensation exploded inside her, making her body go hot and cold. Again. He’d done it again. Made her want, made her feel, making her aware of just how much she loved him.
Zale led her toward the dance floor as the orchestra started playing the first notes of an achingly familiar love song she’d played endlessly on her guitar growing up.
“Your favorite song,” Zale murmured as he pulled her into his arms and close to his tall lean frame.
Hot emotion rushed through her. How did he know?
And then as his hand settled low on her back, his warmth scorching her through her thin gown, she remembered he meant Emmeline.
Of course he meant Emmeline. But Emmeline wasn’t coming. It all ended tonight.
For a moment she couldn’t breathe, suffocated by crushing pain.
Early tomorrow morning she’d slip away, leaving him a note. He’d hate her when he found the note. She’d never forgive herself for deceiving him, either.
“You’re a good dancer,” she whispered.
“That’s because you’re my perfect partner.”
Eyes burning, heart on fire, she tipped her head back and was immediately lost in Zale’s eyes. She loved his face. Loved everything about him far too much. “You are full of compliments tonight, Your Majesty.”
He smiled at her. “I’m happy.”
He did look happy. His light brown eyes glowed. “I’m glad.” “Marry me, Emmeline.” “I thought we were?”
“I’m proposing again so we can start over. Start fresh. This isn’t about our families or our countries. This is about us. Will you marry me?”
Her eyes filled with tears. She blinked to clear her vision. “You’re sweeping me off my feet.”
“It’s what I should have done from the beginning.”
“I had no idea you were such a romantic.”
His steady gaze held hers. “So is that a yes, Your Highness? Or do you need time to think about it?”
Her chest ached. How could she say no? How could she ever refuse him anything? “Yes.”
He smiled, a great boyish smile that lit his face and made him look utterly irresistible. “Thank God. For a moment I thought you intended to leave me standing at the altar.”
He was teasing. Trying to be funny. But Hannah shivered, chilled by reality.
Zale felt the goose bumps on her arms and drew her closer.
“Cold?” “A little.”
He held her even more snugly against him and she pressed her cheek closer to his jacket, her ear resting on his chest just above his heart. And remembered Cinderella.
In Cinderella, at the stroke of midnight the magic ended. The glass coach turned back into a pumpkin. Cinderella’s gown became rags. And Cinderella became no one.
The song was ending and Zale lifted her hand to his mouth, kissing her fingers. “Thank you.”
She looked up into his face, that handsome face, which owned every bit of her heart. “Have you ever been in love?”
“Yes.”
“She was a commoner?” He nodded. “What happened?”
His jaw tightened. “My parents died and I became king.”
She stared up at him. “You gave her up?”
He nodded again and she exhaled in a rush. Tenderly Zale brushed a wisp of hair from her flushed cheek. “It hurt,” he admitted, “but it was meant to be. Because if I hadn’t ended it with her, I wouldn’t be here with you.”
Zale saw her cheeks turn pink and her blue eyes deepen, a sheen of tears making the color look like sapphires, a perfect complement to the jewels in her hair and at her ears.
She’d never looked more beautiful, and yet she hadn’t been this emotional, or fragile, since their engagement party. But he understood her exhaustion. It had been a hard night without either of them getting a lot of sleep.
“I see some friends across the room,” he said, taking her hand. “Let’s go say hello.”
All evening he’d introduced her to different people he thought she should know—members of his cabinet, members of parliament, influential men and women from all over the world. But now he was taking her to old friends, close friends, people Emmeline loved.
Crossing the ballroom they joined the Greek prince, Stavros Kallas, and his bride of one year, the stunning Greek-English heiress, Demi Nowles. Prince Stavros was a first cousin of Zale’s, their mothers were half sisters and Stavros had been a friend of Emmeline’s since childhood.
When Stavros had proposed to Demi Nowles after a whirlwind engagement, no one had been happier than Emmeline who’d socialized with Demi for years. One year they’d been the inseparable dancing duo, hitting every exclusive nightclub on the Continent.
