“Besides, she’s too serious and too intellectual to interest you.” It was as if they were talking about different women. Rafe saw her serious intellectual side, but he also saw the playful, impulsive woman she was, the side she hid from Adam because she didn’t think it was regal enough.
“And,” Adam announced with the triumph of someone playing a trump card, “she’s too young for you.”
Rafe just looked at his older brother.
“Spare me the look. I realize that you’re closer in age to her. But unlike you, I usually date women younger than me.”
“You’re right.” At least in theory. “But I like her, Adam. And she really wants this to work with you.”
“I want it to work, too.”
“Then spend some time with her.”
“As soon as I can. If Dad hadn’t been so hell-bent on getting this under way, it could have been properly scheduled.”
Rafe stared at his brother in incomprehension. Properly scheduled? If it was scheduled, you missed the chance of seeing her dancing with her eyes closed, oblivious to the crowd around her, missed seeing her in the moonlight beneath an oak, eyes glittering in the dark, missed the illicit thrill of hearing her laughter as you ran away from a royal dinner with her, missed the surreptitious glances at her as she ran beside you in the gym, ponytail swinging, a droplet of sweat trickling down her chest between her breasts. Instead, his brother wanted to schedule things. Properly.
He studied Adam, could see his mind already weighing solutions to the impending diplomatic problem. “You will do right by her, won’t you?”
Adam’s eyes widened. “That’s a little rich, coming from you, but yes, of course I will. I’ve planned a dinner for tonight. Something special. Candles, soft music. I’ll propose properly, give her the engagement ring I’ve had made.”
Rafe tamped down on a flare of something suspiciously close to jealousy. He’d never felt the emotion before, never thought he’d feel it for Adam, whose life he was only grateful he’d escaped.
“And tonight I’ll stay awake for the drive home.”
Rafe sat forward. “You’ll what? Are you saying you—”
“Fell asleep in the limo on the way back from dinner the other night. Hey,” he said with a shrug, as he took in Rafe’s stunned expression. “I was tired. It had been a long day.”
“You fell asleep?” How did a man fall asleep in Lexie’s presence when her proximity had every sense leaping to attention?
“I won’t be so tired tonight,” Adam said.
Trying to banish thoughts of Adam—not tired—with Lexie, Rafe left.
Dappled sunlight filtered through the forest canopy. The wooded trail widened, allowing Rafe to urge his mount forward and draw abreast of Lexie. Duke trotted alongside them. Rafe had thought initially that staying behind her, where they wouldn’t be able to talk, where he wouldn’t see her smile or her green, green eyes, was the better option. But he’d quickly realized that the flare of her hips and the curve of her derriere were a different and possibly worse distraction. He shifted in his saddle.
“This meeting Adam had to go to?” the woman who might one day be his sister-in-law asked. They’d been riding for nearly an hour, and this was the first time she’d brought up Adam’s absence, the first time she’d asked anything other than polite questions about the land around them and the flora and fauna of San Philippe.
Her hair was gathered into a lush ponytail that hung down her back. It swept over her shoulder blades when she turned.
“The Global Garden. Someone’s bright idea for the anniversary celebrations that has not surprisingly turned into a diplomatic nightmare. Adam has been involved—albeit reluctantly—since its inception. Trust me, he’d much rather be here than there.” All three of them would have been happier with that. Particularly Lexie.
“I’d have been happy to ride on my own, or to put it off. Adam has said he’ll definitely be free tomorrow.” She confirmed his suspicion.
She held the reins lightly in her small, deft hands. Hands a man could imagine touching him. He cleared his throat. “Rain and thunderstorms are predicted for tomorrow.”
“Oh.”
For a while the only sound was the soft fall of their horses’ hooves on the forest floor. She sat so well on Rebecca’s gray, moved so in tune with it, that horse and rider looked almost to be one. And he was torturing himself with thoughts of her, thoughts that teetered on the brink of inappropriate or occasionally slipped over that edge. Thoughts that urged him to act. The torture was exquisite and unbearable. Distance. He needed distance.
“I hope it’s not too much of an interruption to your day.” There was a bite to her tone.
“No,” he said evenly. “I ride most days when I’m home.”
“So do I,” she said with a glimmer of wistfulness and no trace of acerbity.
“You’re not sorry you came, are you?” Perhaps she’d go back. He couldn’t fathom whether he’d be more relieved or disappointed.
“No, definitely not. I love it here. I just don’t want to be in the way.” She slid him a look rich with meaning.
“You’re not in the way.”
“I hear the frustration in your voice.”
And if only she knew its real cause. “Don’t assume it’s because of you.”
“You have other sources of frustration?”
“I have sources of frustration you wouldn’t believe. Duke,” he called back the dog, who had disappeared into the undergrowth.
“What would you have been doing if Adam hadn’t asked you to babysit me?” The question was laced with challenge.
“You’re far from a baby, Lexie.” Far, far from it. “And being with you is not a chore.” Except for all the work it entailed in keeping his thoughts in order.
“You’re forgetting I heard you use almost exactly those words.”
“I was annoyed with Adam at the time. It was nothing to do with you.” Which was a lie; it was a lot to do with her, because even back then he’d known that spending time with her was a bad thing for him to do, that there was something different, almost dangerous about her and the way she affected him.
“So, what would you be doing if you weren’t filling in for Adam?”
“Nothing,” he said casually.
“That’s funny, because I saw you in your office earlier.”
“When?” He certainly hadn’t seen her this morning.
She shrugged. “The middle of the morning. I was on my way back to my room and I passed your office.”
“And?”
“And you were inside. At your desk. Talking on the phone and writing something down at the same time. You sounded busy.” She shot him a look. “And serious and authoritative even. The glasses were a nice touch, too, very sexy in a scholarly way.” She stopped speaking and frowned. “If you like that sort of thing,” she added.
Rafe ignored the glasses comment; otherwise he might be tempted to ride back to the palace for a pair. It was true, though, that he’d had dozens of phone calls to make this morning. “Appearances can be deceptive. Maybe I was doodling.”
“Doodling?” It was worth it to see her smile like that. “Anyway,” she said, “I appreciate you taking time out for me like this.”