A Bride for the Island Prince / The Last Goodbye: A Bride for the Island Prince

She finally put her hands against his chest and tore her mouth from his so she could ease back enough to look at him. Still trying to catch her breath, she asked, “Do you know what we are, Your Highness?” Her voice sounded less than steady to her own ears. She hated her inability to control that part of her.

“Suppose you tell me,” he said in a husky voice.

“We’re both a cliché. The prince and the hired help, nipping out for a little pleasure. I’ve just confirmed everything I’ve ever read in books and have seen on the news about palace intrigue.”

“Who are you more angry at?” he murmured, kissing the tips of her fingers. “Me, for having taken unfair advantage? Or you, for having the right of refusal at any time which you didn’t exercise? I’m asking myself if I’m fighting your righteous indignation that served you too late, or the ghost of your dead husband.”

She squirmed because he’d hit the mark dead center. “Both,” she answered honestly.

“Tell me about your husband. Was it love at first sight with him?”

“I don’t know. It just seemed right from the beginning.”

“Give me a few details. I really want to know what it would be like to have that kind of freedom.”

Dottie stirred restlessly, sensing he meant what he said. “We met in Albany, New York, where I was raised. I went to the local pharmacy to pick up a prescription for my aunt. Neil had just been hired as a new pharmacist. It was late and there weren’t any other customers.

“He told me it would take a while to get it ready, so we began talking. The next day he phoned and asked me out with the excuse that he’d just moved there from New York City and didn’t know anyone. He was fun and kind and very smart.

“On our first date we went to a movie. After it was over, he told me he was going to marry me and there was nothing I could do about it. Four months later we got married and before we knew it, Cory was on the way. I was incredibly happy.”

Alex’s arm tightened around her. “I envy you for having those kinds of memories.”

“Surely you have some wonderful ones, too.”

A troubled sigh escaped his lips. “To quote you on several occasions, even if I am a prince, the one thing I’ve never had power over was my own personal happiness. Duty to my country came first. My marriage to Teresa was planned years before we got together, so any relationships I had before the wedding couldn’t be taken seriously.

“She was beautiful in her own way, very accomplished. Sweet. But it was never an affair of the heart or anything close to it. On his deathbed, my father commanded me to marry her. I couldn’t tell him I wouldn’t.”

Dottie shuddered. “Did you love him?”

“Yes.”

“I can’t comprehend being in your shoes, but I admire you for being so devoted to your father and your country. Did Teresa love you?”

He took a steadying breath. “Before she died, she told me she’d fallen in love with me. I told her the same thing, not wanting to hurt her. She told me I was a liar, but she said she loved me for it.”

“Oh, Alex … How hard for both of you.”

“I wanted to fall in love with her, but we both know you can’t force something that’s not there. Zoe was my one gift from the gods who brood over Mount Pelos.”

Her gaze lifted to his. “Not to be in love and have to marry—that’s anathema to me. No wonder you seek relief in the shadows with someone handy like me. I get it, Alex. I really do. And you didn’t take unfair advantage of me. It’s been so long since I’ve been around an attractive man, my hormones are out of kilter right now.”

“Is that what this tension is between us? Hormones?” he said with a twinge of bitterness she felt pierce her where it hurt most.

“I don’t have a better word for it.” She buried her face in her hands. “I loved Neil more than you can imagine. Thank heaven neither of us had a royal bone in our bodies to prevent us from knowing joy.”

He stroked the back of her neck in a way that sent fingers of delight down her spine. “How did you manage after they were killed?”

“My aunt. She reminded me not everyone had been as lucky as I’d been. Her boyfriend got killed when he was deployed overseas in the military, so she never married. In her inimitable way she told me to stop pitying myself and get on with something useful.

“Her advice prompted me to go to graduate school in New York City and become a speech therapist. After graduation I was hired on by the Stillman Institute. Little did I know that all the time I’d been helping Cory with his speech that last year, I was preparing for a lifetime career.”

“Is your aunt still alive?”

“No. She died fourteen months ago.”

“I’m sorry. I wish she were still living so I could thank her for her inspired advice. My Zoe is thriving because of you.” He pulled her closer. “What about your parents?”

“They died in a car crash when I was just a little girl.”

“It saddens me you’ve had to deal with so much grief.”

“It comes to us all. In my aunt’s case, it was good she passed away. With her chronic pneumonia, she could never recover and every illness made her worse.”

“My mother was like that. She had been so ill that Stasi and I were thankful once she took her last breath.”

“What about your father?”

“He developed an aggressive cancer of the thyroid. After he was gone, my grandmother took over to make sure we were raised according to her exacting Valleder standards. She was the power behind my grandfather’s throne.”

“She’s done a wonderful job. I’ll tell her that when I leave Hellenica.” Dottie took a deep breath and sat back in the seat. “And now, despite her disapproval that I haven’t left yet, here I am making out in an unmarked car with Prince Alexius Constantinides. How could you have given Zoe such an impossible last name? Nine consonants. Nine! And two of them are T‘s,” she half sobbed as the dam broke and she felt tears on her cheeks.

Alex reached over and smoothed the moisture from her face. He put his lips where his hand had been. “I’m glad there are nine. I won’t let you go until she can pronounce our last name perfectly. That’s going to take a long time.”

“You’ll have gone through at least half a dozen speech therapists by then.”

“Possibly, but you’ll be there in the background until she no longer needs your services.”

“We’ve been over this ground before.”

“We haven’t even started,” he declared as if announcing an edict. “Shall we get out of the car? We’ve been back at the palace for the past ten minutes. My driver probably wants to go to bed, which is where we should be.”

She didn’t think he meant that the way it came out, but with Alex you couldn’t be absolutely sure when his teasing side would suddenly show up. All she knew was that her face was suffused with heat. She flung the car door open and ran into the palace, leaving him in the proverbial royal dust.

The death of her husband had put an end to all fairy tales, and that was the only place a prince could stay. She refused to be in the background of his life. It was time to close the storybook for good.

CHAPTER SIX

AT ELEVEN-FORTY-FIVE the next morning, Alex did something unprecedented and drove to the preschool to pick up Zoe and Dottie himself. He’d decided he’d better wear something more formal for this public visit and chose his dove-grey suit with a white shirt and grey vest. He toned it with a darker grey tie that bore the royal crest of the monarchy in silver, wanting to look his best for the woman who’d already turned his world inside out.

The directress of the school accompanied him to the classroom, where he spotted his daughter sitting in front and Dottie seated in the back. As the woman announced the arrival of Prince Alexius Constantinides, Dottie’s blue eyes widened in shock. Her gaze clung to his for a moment.

He heard a collective sound of awe from the children, something he was used to in his capacity as prince. Children were always a delight. He was enjoying this immensely, but it was clear Dottie was stunned that he’d decided to come and get them. He knew in his gut her eyes wouldn’t have ignited like that if she hadn’t been happy to see him.

The teacher, Mrs. Pappas, urged the roomful of twelve children to stand and bow. Zoe stood up, but she turned and smiled at Dottie before saying good morning to His Royal Highness along with the others. Alex got a kick out of the whole thing as the children kept looking at Zoe, knowing he was her daddy.

He’d never seen his daughter this happy in his life, and he should have done this before now. It lit up her whole being. Dottie was transforming his life in whole new ways. Because of her influence, Alex wanted to give his struggling preschooler a needed boost this morning. But she wasn’t so struggling now that she had Dottie in her court.