The woman in the mirror staring back at Lee had the same face as always, but she was a different person inside. In a few minutes her whole life would change when she stepped out of the chalet as Raoul’s girlfriend. Once the news broke, she’d be labeled that woman.
For Sophie and Luciano’s sake, Lee could handle it. By next week she’d be in Jackson, far away from any gossip that could hurt her. But she had a pit in her stomach over Raoul, who would have to bear the brunt of disgrace with no place to run.
No matter how he’d brushed off her concerns, he risked ruining his own life and everything his family stood for. Lee loved him too much to let him throw ev-
“Lee?” The rap on the bedroom door startled her. “I’ve put the gear we’re going to return in the car. Are you ready?”
Help me, her heart cried.
She walked over to the door and opened it. Her breath caught. The elegant white pullover that could only belong to Raoul with those royal initials provided the perfect foil for his brilliant blue eyes. Combined with his striking features and stature, he looked every inch the prince he was.
“Would you come in for a minute and shut the door?”
He scrutinized her thoroughly before moving inside, nudging the door closed with his boot. “What’s wrong?”
“I know we talked everything over, but we can’t go through with this. Look-I’m not backing out because of me. I already agreed to help. But-”
“Then there’s no problem,” he muttered in a forbidding voice she didn’t recognize.
“I’m afraid for you, Raoul. I’ve lived in Switzerland long enough to know you’re loved and revered by the people. There has to be another way to do this. Why don’t you and Sophie meet and discuss everything? You could call your parents together and plead with them to consider another solution so no one gets hurt.”
His handsome features hardened. “You don’t understand. Even if Sophie’s parents wanted to let her marry Luciano, royal protocol wouldn’t allow them to dissolve our engagement without clear justification.”
Lee was so shocked to hear him mention Luciano’s name she barely assimilated the rest.
“You know about him?”
“I just got off the phone with the Princess.”
She shook her head. “That means you’ve told her what you’re going to do, and she’s still willing to let you destroy your life for her?” Lee cried out, aghast.
Sophie’s revelation about Luciano must have devastated Raoul. He had to be in terrible pain right now.
“She realizes it’s the only way out for both of us,” he said in his deep voice.
“I can’t believe it.” Lee’s eyes implored him. “Raoul-your life will never be the same again. This is all my fault!” Her eyes glistened over. “Oh, why did I ever come to Zermatt?”
“Thank God you did,” he said emotionally. “As I told you at Roger’s, Sophie knew what she was doing.” His eyes seemed to pierce her soul. “If you’d been on the phone and had heard her cry of happiness as she told Luciano the good news, you would know I can’t disappoint her now.”
It was too much. She looked away from him. “If you’re this determined to do this there must be another woman you could find to help you.”
“I know several from the past who would pretend to be my latest lover without giving it a second thought.”
He’d had other lovers. Of course he had. There was probably someone here in Zermatt who’d expected to be with him this weekend! Why did it hurt so much?
“But, as Sophie’s best friend, you’re the only woman on the planet her parents will take seriously. They’ll know you and I had special access to each other through their daughter, and will assume we’ve been meeting secretly.”
She shuddered. “That’s horrible.”
“It has to be horrible to give her father a reason to sever all ties with me.”
“He’ll denounce you!” she almost shouted. “You really think you can live with that when all of it’s untrue?”
“We both want Sophie to be happy, otherwise you would never have come to Zermatt in the first place.”
Lee couldn’t argue with those facts.
“But it’s so unfair!” she groaned the words.
“Life’s unfair, as you’ve found out.” He grasped her hands and held them against his chest. “Look at me,” he whispered.
Slowly she raised her eyes to his.
“I need you, Lee.”
She tried not to be affected by his words, but it was impossible when she could feel his whole being calling out to her. She’d been the messenger, now she had to finish playing the part to the bitter end.
“If you’re sure,” she whispered back.
His eyes darkened. “I’ve never been so certain of anything in my life.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
“WHAT can I show you, Your Highness?”
The attractive saleswoman in the boutique could scarcely contain her excitement. The same thing happened no matter where Raoul took Lee. Everyone recognized the Prince, but it was the female population that went crazy over him.
Lee had thought the attention bad enough when she’d gone out in public with Sophie, but nothing could compare to this. Journalists and tourists alike hounded him along the street, yet he took it all in stride and was cordial. At the hotel, where they ate a raclette lunch, people applauded as he escorted Lee out to the terrace.
“We’ve been to half a dozen shops, but none of them had a dress to match her eyes.” His gaze fastened on Lee. “They’re lavender or violet, depending on the light.”
The clerk had been concentrating so hard on Raoul it took her a minute before she realized she was supposed to be looking at Lee. After his personal observation, Lee felt equally dazed. Her legs were about as substantial as mush.
“We do have a dress. It just came in. Follow me.”
When they reached the fitting room Lee noticed how the other woman kept staring at the black cardigan Raoul had thrown over her shoulders earlier to keep warm.
“I’ll be right back, mademoiselle.”
Left alone, Lee removed it before taking off her other clothes, wondering what was so fascinating. Raoul had muttered something about his mother accidentally leaving it behind after a visit. She gasped the second she realized the D’Arillac royal crest had been embroidered on the pocket.
Hundreds of people would have recognized it. To be wearing such a garment would show the world Raoul had put his personal claim on her. Short of kissing her in public, he couldn’t have done anything that would have conveyed his disregard of his fiancée as completely.
Already there’d been a moment after lunch when he’d helped her up from the table and his lips had grazed her cheek. The contact had sent scorching heat to her face. The tabloids would love that kind of press. She could be thankful they hadn’t caught a photo of him kissing her senseless in Roger’s kitchen.
“Here we are, mademoiselle. I showed this dress to the Prince. He said it’s perfect. In fact he would like to see you in it, and suggested these heels to match.”
Lee took the articles from her. “Thank you. I won’t need any help.”
As soon as the other woman walked away, Lee put it on. The purple affair with spaghetti straps, an Italian creation in a soft crêpe de Chine, was stunning. The lines made the most of her figure without being immodest. But she couldn’t face Raoul right now. There’d been too much intimacy already.
She dressed quickly in her other clothes and walked out to the counter. “It’s all very lovely,” she murmured, avoiding Raoul’s eyes.
“You need hose, mademoiselle?”
“Yes, and a slip.”