“Very inspiring, Adriane. I applaud you.”
“I understand you feel strongly about this, Rachel, but I cannot comprehend why. Isn’t companionship enough? Can’t you understand that I want to take care of you? That I enjoy your presence? Why trick it out in fancy dress? I don’t believe love is real. I do believe desire can be for keeps. I haven’t looked at another woman since you, not once in over four months. Can’t that be enough, or do I need to say those words to you. Is that what this will take? Will you finally quit fighting me and become my wife if I say, I love you?”
Rachel gaped at the audacity of the man. Did he really think she would bubble over with joy if he expressed fake emotions? Who or what on earth had made him so cynical? This wasn’t a man she could fall in love with — this wasn’t a man she could even speak to.
“I think we’re wasting our time here,” she said, and she turned away from the crashing waves and headed back toward the palace. She knew now that he would never understand how she felt.
Not that she really knew how she was feeling.
Knowing he was going to regret being impulsive, Adriane nevertheless grabbed Rachel’s arm and spun her around before she was able to get far away.
Without giving her time to protest, he pulled her against him and kissed her deep and long, trying to show her how much he wanted her, needed her, would do anything to have her. Words obviously weren’t working, so he decided to speak in the only successful way he’d been able to communicate with her — through passion.
She growled in agitation as he captured her lips, his hands sliding down her back and cupping her delicious backside. As he’d hoped, she melted into him without much of a fight — the intensity of their chemistry couldn’t be denied.
This was the way to heal the rift between them. This was the white flag that would set them free. With this reminder of the taste of her, the feel of her subtle curves, the passion of her embrace, he could think of no other woman.
Only Rachel.
His future bride.
By the time he pulled back, they were both breathless and in need of fulfillment. Naturally, he expected to take her back to the palace, make her his again.
After all, it was what both of them needed and wanted.
He smiled down at her, a gentle, reassuring smile. Rachel’s eyes flashed with desire, her breasts peaked with arousal. He knew he’d finally won this battle of wills.
Then she lifted a hand and slapped him across the face.
“Learn to ask,” she said, her tone low, threatening.
While he stood in absolute confusion and shock, his mind racing for answers on what had gone wrong, she slipped away.
It looked as though he’d struck out again.
If he were a quitter, that would have been his cue to give up.
But he never gave up.
Tomorrow he would win this game; tomorrow would be a better day. One of these times that he said those words, they would come true. It was the power of odds.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
It was time to go home.
Rachel hadn’t heard a word from Adriane in three days. At first she’d been relieved, believing that he was coming to terms with the futility of their situation. Not quite, she found out. He’d been off on business — some complication with his brother that she knew nothing about.
So it was more time with no progress, and she’d given up hoping for any. Loneliness was consuming her and she wanted to be with her parents and the rest of her family. She had to accept that it just wasn’t going to work out, no matter how much she wanted it to.
Clutching her cell phone in her hand, she hesitated. Should she dial her brother and have him send a jet for her? She had no doubt that if she left, she wouldn’t come back, that she and Adriane would never come to an agreement. And she’d never get to know her children’s father.
Is that what she wanted? Could she accept that?
Did she have a choice?
For a short time, she’d thought that maybe there was a spark between them — something more than just a friendship. A slight shade of pink stole across her cheeks at her foolishness in feeling that way.
Though she fought to admit it, she was finding that it would be so much better if they could be…more.
Wouldn’t it be ideal if the two of them could fall in love? Indeed, but love didn’t work that way. She couldn’t just flip a switch for the two of them to simultaneously fall into a lovers’ trance without end. If only things were so easy.
Rachel’s silent torment was interrupted by an urgent knock. As she rose and approached her bedroom door, her heart picked up speed, and she wanted to kick her own ass for hoping it was Adriane on the other side. When she discovered Nico instead, she couldn’t help but feel let down.
With that raw emotion evident on her face, he offered her a sympathetic smile, which only underlined how pathetic she’d become.
“Good morning, Ms. Palazzo. The king would like to invite you to a ball tonight,” Nico said, and he held out an invitation bordered in dark blue and engraved with gold letters.
“Tonight?” she asked, glancing over at the clock and noting it was already eleven in the morning. This was late notice. And why should she accept when he’d been such an assuming ass of late? Plus, she’d already decided to go home. That was the right choice — she knew that.
“Yes. He apologizes for the delay in asking you, but there were back-to-back meetings he couldn’t step out of, and he wasn’t sure he would be able to attend the event until just a little while ago,” Nico explained.
Rachel hesitated for a moment, automatically ready to refuse because of such an inconsiderate last-minute invite on top of everything else. But what would saying no accomplish? Nothing. Maybe this was the last inning of the game and she could gain something — anything from him. Didn’t she owe this much to herself?
She wanted to bridge the gap between the two of them, not increase the miles that currently separated them. She’d never know whether she made the right decision if she didn’t give this her best effort.
“Tell him I would be pleased to meet him,” Rachel said, giving Nico a big smile.
He let out a relieved breath, and she smiled even wider.
“That is wonderful. I’ll send someone over right away to assist you in choosing your gown,” he said, efficient as ever.
Rachel normally would have rejected such assistance, being perfectly capable of dressing herself. However, she was going to an event she knew nothing about, and she didn’t want to be under- or overdressed, so she nodded her acceptance, and Nico turned to leave.
“Nico,” she called out, and he respectfully turned back toward her.
“Yes, madam?”
“Am I a fool for hoping for more?”
Rachel was surprised by her question to this man, one who hadn’t been overly friendly with her. But if anyone knew Adriane, it was Nico, as he’d been his assistant for many years. She knew he wouldn’t betray his king, but maybe he would give her just a touch of honesty.
“I would never take you for a fool, Ms. Palazzo,” he said before a slight smiled split his lips. “You are adapting quite well,” he added.
It wasn’t an answer, but for some reason his response made her feel better.
“The car will pick you up at seven,” he said with a slight bow, then left her.