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Fall outrageously in love? She rubbed at her heart, but it didn’t slow its frenzied beat. He couldn’t do this to her. He was always charming and flirtatious, but he had stepped up his game today. Was she strong enough to resist? Of course she was. She was a powerful executive. Grace had taught her well how to sacrifice, work early mornings, late nights, and everything in between to succeed. She could keep ‘Charming Chad’ at arm’s length until he moved on to the next appealing woman on his list.
He studied her with those mesmerizing emerald eyes, as sincere, manly, and appealing as only Chad could be.
“Let me get this straight.” She drew a steadying breath and spread her stance wider to keep from toppling over, a technique she utilized often in presentations or interviews. “You don’t want to go alone to your former love’s wedding, so you want me to go as your friend?”
“No.” His voice was as strong, smooth, and perfect as his pectoralis muscles. “A friend would never do. No one would believe such a farce. Not with the sparks shooting between us.”
Hope hadn’t even noticed him move, but somehow he was in her space again. He was the most accomplished charmer she’d ever encountered, and that voice. Oy! It made her blood sizzle.
“You, beloved, accomplished, and breathtaking Hope Radisson,” Chad said, refinement and confidence radiating from him, “will accompany me to the magical kingdom of Augustine and the wedding of Prince Malik and Sophie Pederson as my girlfriend.”
His girlfriend?
Her heart thundered in her ears as she studied him. If only she could trust him. She’d commit to him in an instant if she wasn’t petrified of falling for a charmer who could never be faithful.
His lines didn’t sound like an alluring advertisement. Somehow, they felt personal and perfect and only for her.
“To prove you’re over Sophie?” she asked, clenching her hands into fists so she wouldn’t reach for him.
“No.” His gaze deepened even further, and he grazed his hand down her arm until he gently opened her right hand, one finger at a time, and entwined her fingers with his. Her entire body tingled from the simple touch. He brought their clasped hands to his lips and pressed a heated kiss on the back of her hand.
Hope was going to have a coronary. If a kiss on her hand felt that insane, meeting his lips again would give her a heart attack. She didn’t say so, though. She was too invested in this moment.
“To prove you have always been and will always be …” He paused, his lips still close to her hand. His warm breath heated her cold fingers. He looked at her from beneath his thick lashes, and the effect was better than a prince bowing over the hand of his one true love. “The only woman in the universe for me.”
Hope’s stomach lurched. How could he so easily spout lines like that? How could she not fall to his irresistible charm? The fact remained that he was the only man she’d ever given her heart to. She’d imagined she knew him, the true Chad Prescott. That beautiful weekend they’d spent together had started a deep and abiding friendship which, despite friend-zoning him and because of his insistence, they’d continued to develop every time he came to visit. Of course he was always funny and charming, but when they were together, he also seemed genuine, loyal, and interested in only her.
No! He couldn’t do this to her again. She knew what happened when she fell prey to his magnetism. Her mom had been destroyed by desperately loving a cheater, devastated enough to desert her children, her own flesh and blood. What kind of mother did that? A shattered one.
“Come inside. I’m freezing.” She pulled her hand free and wrapped her arms around herself. It was cold out here, even in a thick sweatshirt, but the excuse was a farce. With his hand around hers, she hadn’t been one bit cold.
“I can easily warm you up, love.” He gave her a heated look, and now she was far too warm.
“Faith will want you to stay for lunch,” she rushed out, ignoring his offer and his term of endearment. Love? What a joke. Chad’s ‘love’ changed by the hour. “It’s such a beautiful fall day, isn’t it? How are all your royal friends in Augustine? All the princes are captured by their ladies now, eh?”
She all but ran for the patio door, flinging it open. Chad was right there, holding the door for her, an injured look in his emerald eyes, as if she was the one who’d rejected him.
Hope hurried into the warm house. How could she stay strong if he kept spouting his irresistible and charming lines, touching her and lighting her up from the inside out as only Chad could do, and giving her the most meaningful and heart-stirring looks known to mankind?
Attending Prince Malik and Sophie Pederson’s wedding would be incredible, but she couldn’t agree to it. Not as Chad’s date and especially not as his girlfriend.
In the magical world of the kingdom of Augustine, she’d be in even more danger of falling to his charms, losing herself in his happy light and irresistible allure.
She could never let herself do that again. Her heart would never recover.
Chapter Two
Chad escorted Hope into the huge open area of her unreal vacation home, fighting the disappointment swirling inside him. He laughed and teased with her and Faith as they ate the delicious stuffed peppers Faith had prepared for them. Of course the creative and whimsical Faith knew he was coming and had made extra for him.
His gaze rarely strayed from Hope’s mesmerizing blue eyes. He loved the pink tinge highlighting her high cheekbones, the way she flipped her long golden-brown hair, and the way she gazed at him as if he were the only man in her world.
He hid his frustration that she hadn’t fallen into his arms and was immune to his charming lines, his meaningful looks, or even his irresistible touch. He’d heard all about his allure from many, many women, but Hope was the only one he couldn’t put out of his mind.
The weekend he met her three years ago, he’d known there was something special about her. Hope herself, and their time together, had been ideal. He assumed they’d have many more incredible weekends and time to develop a relationship before he revealed that the great Chad Prescott had fallen as quick as an idealistic and inexperienced teenager.
Surprisingly, she’d friend zoned him the day after she returned home to America. He had no idea why. It had stung deeply when she wouldn’t offer any explanation and for almost a year, she wouldn’t even respond to his texts or calls. Of course he couldn’t leave the relationship like that. No woman rejected him. Eventually he had worn her down, with the help of her younger sister Faith, and they’d developed a friendship of sorts.
Because she’d dumped him he’d continued to date. Amazingly, every date, every beautiful woman who went insane over him, convinced him that his first instincts had been spot on—Hope was unique and the right woman for him.
