Queen Rose, a tall blonde with just a hint of pink in her hair and a very obvious Texas twang, waved her hand in dismissal. “Oh, none of that for me.” She suddenly enveloped Eva in a hug. “This is the way we welcome people into the family in Texas.” She pulled back and looked Eva in the eye. “You’re familiar, right? You were educated in the US?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Eva said, mimicking the Southern drawl she’d heard the entire time she was at Florida State.
Rose laughed. “That’s my girl!”
King Ronaldo turned to Eva’s mother. “And this is your mom? Queen Karen, correct?”
Eva’s heart swelled with gratitude when the king mentioned nothing of her father’s potential abdication of the throne and still gave her mom the respect of the title Queen.
Her mother curtsied. “Your Majesty.”
He bowed. “It’s my honor to meet you.” He motioned to Rose. “And this is Queen Rose.”
Karen curtsied again. “A pleasure to meet you.”
Rose chuckled. “I know you people like your official greetings, but I’m just a hugger.” She gave Karen a big squeeze.
The king directed everyone into a drawing room with a bar.
Eva looked around in unabashed curiosity. She knew some royals were wealthier than others. Xaviera’s location alone gave them access to oil money. But this palace was amazing. The art so casually displayed on the walls was probably worth the gross national product of Grennady.
Her mom leaned in and whispered to her daughter, “So, the mom of the last princess ended up married to the king. Maybe this won’t be such a bad deal after all?”
Eva couldn’t stop a giggle that escaped. “Behave.”
“Rose doesn’t.”
“She’s the queen. That gives her license to be eccentric.”
“Right.”
The king motioned to the bar. “Can I get anyone anything?”
Karen said, “I’d love a wine spritzer.”
“Princess Eva?”
“I’d like—”
But before she could name her wine choice, Alexandros rose from behind the bar. Dressed in the royal uniform of their country, black trousers with a red jacket filled with medals, he looked totally different than the guy in the riding breeches, white-and-tan shirt and scuffed helmet.
His dark eyes met hers, and the bottle of wine he held fell to the bar top.
She smiled.
King Ronaldo said, “I understand you’ve met Alex in school.”
Holding the gaze of his dark eyes, she said, “And we met this afternoon. Accidentally. At the stables.”
Rose said, “Oh! You ride.” She winced. “Of course you do. It was probably part of your training. I’d love to go out with you one of these mornings.”
Polite and proper, Eva faced Rose. “I’d like that too.”
King Ronaldo said, “Funny. Alex didn’t mention seeing you this afternoon.”
Feeling her pride return, Eva spared Alex a glance before returning her gaze to the king. “I don’t think he knew who I was.”
* * *
Alex felt his face redden like a teenager’s.
“He handed me his riding crop and told me to make sure his horse got the star treatment.”
The king gasped. “Alexi!”
“Well, she didn’t look like this,” Alex said, pointing at her red gown and dark hair pinned up just enough to get it off her face while the rest spilled over her shoulders and fell in thick curls down her bare back. He thought of all that black hair fanned out on a white pillow and almost dropped the wine again.
Eva casually said, “Perhaps he was just preoccupied.”
The king said, “Perhaps,” but Alex stared at her red dress. The strapless top hugged her breasts and cruised to her tiny waist, before it flared out in a skirt made up of yards and yards of some kind of filmy material. It didn’t bell out. It just flowed smoothly, effortlessly with every one of her graceful movements.
He didn’t know what he’d expected from this woman he’d met when she was little more than a child, but it wasn’t this grace. Or this sensuality. It was as if she was telling the world that she might someday be a queen, but she was also a sexy woman.
Her lips lifted into a knowing smile.
She had him stumbling all over himself, and she liked it.
No. She reveled in it. And he supposed he couldn’t blame her. His family had yanked the good prince away from her and forced her to take him or nothing. Only a week after her own father had disgraced their crown, the Sancho family had decided it was time to make good on the terms of their treaty, forcing her to marry a lesser prince, then he hadn’t recognized her at the stable that afternoon. She wasn’t insulting him by telling everybody he’d thought her a stable girl. She was repairing her royal pride.
The door of the drawing room opened and Alex’s gaze shifted as his brother and his wife arrived, and for the second time that evening he was struck speechless. Princess Ginny walked in on Dominic’s arm, wearing the same gown as Eva, except Ginny’s was a soft, romantic gray.
Dominic said, “Sorry we’re late.”
King Ronaldo and Queen Rose immediately shifted in their direction.
Rose said, “Is something wrong with Jimmy? Is he sick?”
Ginny laughed. “No, Mom. Your grandson is fine.”
Princess Eva stood in front of the bar, motionless, as if stunned into silence, watching the happy couple.
Alex leaned forward, across the gleaming wooden surface. “Well, now. What have we here? You and Ginny in the same gown. Except yours is red and hers is a pretty gray. Very innocent and sweet. While yours is...well, on the trashy side. It’s kind of like looking at those devil and angel pictures.”
He saw her back stiffen and knew he’d struck a nerve. Good. She hadn’t even tried to tell him who she was at the stable that afternoon. She’d taken his crop. Led him to believe she’d be caring for Thor. Let him walk away. And then embarrassed him in front of his father.
“Shut up.”
He watched the muscles of her bare back shift as she straightened, composing herself. But he still saw the tension and knew his golden opportunity for getting even wasn’t over yet.
“Oh, don’t get me wrong. I don’t mind one bit being the brother to marry the devilish princess. I’m just not exactly sure this was the first impression you wanted to make on the guy who dumped you.”
“He didn’t dump me.”
“He isn’t exactly marrying you.”
“He’s already married.”
“And to somebody who looks like your polar opposite. Isn’t that interesting?”
He saw vulnerability flicker in her gray-blue eyes as Dominic and Ginny approached her. He didn’t really know Eva, but he did know what it was like to be second best. To be the one not chosen. To be the one who stood behind his brother and dad, a king and a man who would be king.
His chest clenched. She might be educated. She might be a tough crusader who could speak up for those who didn’t have a voice, but nothing could have prepared her for meeting the woman who’d stolen her fiancé from her.
She was too damned pretty to be Dominic’s second. Alex