Right. Suddenly an image—a beautiful blonde, with long legs and a shy but sexy smile—popped into his mind.
Alice cleared her throat again. “We met last year—”
“At the tourism conference here in Austin,” he continued. “I remember you.” Charles tried to hide his small smile from Lucie. What he remembered most about Alice was spending a blissful night with her in his hotel room after the conference ended. He’d even asked for her number, something he rarely did after a casual dalliance. But he’d liked Alice Meyers, and he’d thought she liked him. Too bad when he’d come out of the shower the next morning she’d disappeared from his hotel room and his life.
Now, more than a year later, she was ringing him. Charles felt his smile widen. Intriguing, indeed.
* * *
Alice breathed a sigh of relief that Charles remembered her. Of course, she’d known who he was before they’d met at the bar in the conference hotel last spring. Every woman between the ages of ten and ninety knew Bonnie Lord Charlie. But she hadn’t expected him to commit her to memory. Men rarely did.
She’d followed his romantic exploits in the tabloids since their encounter, and it was a wonder Charles could remember what girl he was with on any given night. The man seemed to be the British equivalent of the Energizer Bunny when it came to women.
“Alice, are you still there?” His crisp accent broke through her musings.
“I need to see you,” she blurted, then bit down hard on her lip as silence greeted her outburst. He was bound to think she was a stalker for calling him out of blue and making such a bold request.
“That’s a lovely offer,” he said finally, sounding every bit the aristocrat he was. How was it possible for him to sound more British than before? “But I’m fairly booked on this visit.”
“It’s important,” she whispered, swallowing back the emotion clogging her throat. “I promise I won’t take much of your time.”
“Can you give me a hint what this mysterious meeting might entail?”
“It’s personal and...” She paused, then added, “Please, Charles.”
There was another long moment of silence. Alice checked her phone to make sure Charles hadn’t hung up on her. She wouldn’t exactly blame him. He was handsome, rich, and famous around the world. She was nobody, yet was demanding precious time from him. But even if he said no now, Alice couldn’t give up. Seeing Charles again was too important.
“Tomorrow morning,” he said suddenly.
“Gr-great,” she stammered, shocked that he’d agreed. The fingers holding the phone trembled with both nerves and exhilaration. “We could meet in Zilker Park. Are you familiar with it?”
“I am.”
“There’s a bench under a big oak tree near the entrance of the Zilker Botanical Garden. How about ten o’clock?”
“Very good. I’ll see you in the morning, Alice.”
The way he spoke her name made sparks zing low in her belly. His accent made every word sound like a caress. She shook her head, needing to keep her wits about her. As good a time as she’d had with Charles, she hadn’t contacted him for her sake. “Goodbye, Charles. Thank you.”
As the call ended, she pulled the phone away from her head, her hand trembling as she stared at it. “I did it,” she whispered, glancing at the baby sleeping in the swing in the corner of the room. Her son, Flynn, was a champion napper at four months, which was one of the few things that had made being a single mom a tiny bit easier for Alice.
“Come here and tell me everything.” She turned to see her best friend, Meredith Doan, gesturing wildly from the galley kitchen in Alice’s two-bedroom apartment. Meredith was the only person who knew about Charles, and Alice had confided in her friend only recently, needing an ally to bolster her confidence.
“It went well,” Alice said quietly as she stepped into the small space. “We’re meeting tomorrow morning.”
“You look like you need this,” Meredith said, handing Alice a glass of white wine. “Your face is beet red. Charles remembered you?”
“Yes, after a moment.” Alice took a deep breath, her first since dialing Charles’s number.
“Tell me again how you ended up having an affair with Bonnie Lord Charlie.”
“It wasn’t exactly an affair,” Alice answered, taking a fortifying sip of wine. “It was one night. We met at the annual Texas tourism conference last spring. There was an international focus, so the board invited representatives from several European countries to attend. Charles has ties in Texas now through the Fortunes, so he came from Britain.”
Meredith wiggled her eyebrows. “And you snagged yourself a royal? Nice work, Meyers. I didn’t think you had it in you.”
“I didn’t,” Alice said quickly. “I don’t. It wasn’t like that, Meredith. It was special.”
“They all are, sweetie.”
Alice knew she would have a difficult time convincing her friend. She’d met Meredith her first day working at the Texas Tourism Board, and they’d struck up an unlikely friendship. Meredith worked in the marketing department and was as outgoing off the clock as she was on the job. Since Alice had known her, Meredith had dated a number of guys and even had a few random hookups. Alice, on the other hand, had no one.
Until Charles.
When they’d met at an industry reception the last night of the conference, Alice had expected him to look right past her. Almost everyone did, so she was used to it. There’d been a flurry of Texas women vying for his attention, flirting like they did it for a living. Alice had barely been able to make eye contact when she and Charles had been introduced. He was so handsome, several inches taller than her own five foot nine. His dark hair was expensively cut but perpetually tousled from his habit of running his fingers through it. His brilliant blue eyes seemed to see right into her soul.
It had been a silly thought, and she’d spent the rest of the party watching him laugh and joke with the crowd that constantly surrounded him. He was like a fun magnet and almost exactly her opposite in every way. As the dancing started midway through the evening, with conference attendees from all different countries and backgrounds letting loose in the hotel bar, Alice had been ready to leave. Before she could, Charles had slipped into the booth next to her. He’d told her he’d been watching her all night, waiting for a moment alone with her.
It had been difficult to believe, but he’d stayed at her side the rest of the evening. They’d talked about everything and nothing, and to her surprise, Charles had seemed as happy to escape the noise and bustle of the crowd as Alice. So when he’d invited her up to his room...
“What happened to the condom?” Meredith said, pointing a finger at her. “Your first time out of the gate and you don’t use protection? I thought I’d taught you better.”
“We did use protection,” Alice protested weakly. “I got pregnant anyway. They aren’t one hundred percent effective. And I guess saving the condom for a couple years wasn’t such a great idea, after all.”
After one too many cosmos at a happy hour shortly after she’d met Meredith, Alice had lamented her perennial virginity to her new friend. Alice hadn’t set out to still be a virgin at age twenty-five, but she’d been shy and awkward through her teen years and focused on her classes during college. She’d expected to meet Mr. Right at some point, but when he never materialized, decided she might have to settle for Mr. Right Now. She’d hoped gregarious Meredith could help her, and the first thing her new friend had done was give Alice a condom to keep in her wallet.
It had stayed