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And that was the kicker. She’d hurt him so badly because he’d loved her so much, only to find she didn’t feel the same way. If she had loved him, she’d never have participated in a protest against everything he held dear—his father, the military, the very fabric of the governing structure that he’d sworn allegiance to.
The irony. Two things he’d loved about Juliet were her passion and commitment to her family. Without them, she’d be uninteresting and lackluster. Without them, the protest wouldn’t have happened.
It didn’t matter. She’d killed all his feelings for her. Except the anger. That, he still had plenty of.
Grimly, he bid his father goodbye and let James drive him back to his Aventador still parked at the coast guard headquarters. His entire life could be summed up in one phrase—dual-edged sword. No matter which way it was wielded, he’d be cut. He would be a man and a prince until the day he died, and it seemed fated that he could never satisfy both sides simultaneously.
Yet he held on to a slim thread of hope this matchmaker might change things for him.
* * *
Juliet Villere did not understand the American fascination with small talk. It was boring.
The packed ballroom wasn’t her preferred scene anyway, but coupled with a strong desire to avoid one more conversation about the ridiculous game confused Americans called football, the wall had become her friend. It warmed her bare back nicely and provided a great shield from the eyes she’d felt burning into her exposed flesh.
Why hadn’t someone told her that a makeover didn’t magically transform your insides? All the makeup and fancy clothes in the world couldn’t convert Juliet into someone who liked lipstick. Or parties.
But she owed Elise Arundel and her matchmaking-slash-makeover services a huge debt for taking her in when she’d fled Delamer in search of some magic to heal the continual pain of Finn’s betrayal. That was the only reason she’d agreed to attend this glittery event full of Elise’s clients.
Maybe Elise wouldn’t notice if Juliet ducked out the side entrance and walked back to the matchmaker’s house in the Dallas district called Uptown, where Juliet was staying until Elise found her an American husband. It was only a couple of miles, and she’d practiced walking in these horribly uncomfortable heels enough times that her leg muscles were used to the strain.
Then she caught sight of Elise heading in Juliet’s direction, a determined look on her mentor’s face.
Too late.
“Having a good time?” Elise asked, her dark page boy swinging in time to the upbeat song floating above the crowd.
“Fantastic.”
The sarcasm clearly wasn’t lost on Elise, who smiled. “It’s good for you to be in social settings, dressed to kill. I invited you to this mixer so you could practice mingling. Hugging the wall won’t accomplish that.”
The reminder tightened Juliet’s stomach, and she resituated the waistline of the form-fitting green dress her new friend Dannie Reynolds had helped select.
“I have nothing good to say about football.” One thing was clear—the American husband she’d asked Elise to match her with would watch it. Therefore, Juliet would likely become well versed in the fine art of faking interest. “So I’m acquainting myself with the benefits of solitude.”
Elise laughed. “Dance with someone. Then you don’t have to talk.”
Juliet shook her head. She’d never danced with anyone other than Finn, and she didn’t want to break that streak tonight.
Finn.
Pain, sharp and swift, cramped her stomach. Crossing the Atlantic hadn’t dimmed his hold over her one bit.
He’d shredded her soul over a year ago. Shouldn’t she be finished healing by now? She wanted desperately to get to that place where he was just some guy she used to date, one she recalled fondly yet distantly.
But the announcement of his upcoming engagement had cut deeply enough to drive her from Delamer all the way to Dallas, Texas. Thank God she’d stumbled over that EA International ad in the back of a fashion magazine she’d thumbed through at the dentist’s office back home—it had given her a place to go.
“I don’t see the point in dancing with one of these guys.”
As she didn’t see the point in having fake nails or painted lips. But it wasn’t her place to argue with the formula Elise used in her matchmaking service.
“None of them will be my match,” she continued. “And besides, they’ve all got sports on the brain. Does scoring more points feed hungry children? Right any wrongs? No. It’s stupid.”
Juliet started to make a face and remembered she couldn’t do that anymore. Actually, she wasn’t supposed to be so outspoken either. Her American husband would want a refined wife with the ability to mingle with the upper crust. Not a woman who had little use for propriety and fluff. Or the Dallas Cowboys.
How in the world was she going to pretend that much for the rest of her life?
The same way she was going to pretend her heart hadn’t broken when she’d lost the man she’d loved, her sweet little brother and her life in Delamer.
Anything was manageable if it matched her with a husband who could keep her in the States, and save her from having to watch Finn marry someone else.
With a laugh, Elise shook her head. “No, no. Don’t hold back. Tell me how you really feel. How about if I save you from further suspense and tell you I have your match?”
Juliet’s heart stuttered to a stop. This was it. The reason she’d come to America.
What would her future husband be like? Did he enjoy swimming and sailing and could she ask him to take her on trips to the beach? Would he be okay with her family coming to visit occasionally? Did he have a nice smile and laugh a lot?
Most important, would she be able to develop feelings for him that would fill the Finn-shaped hole inside?
Even though Elise guaranteed a love match, replacing Finn was probably too much to hope for.
Contentment would be enough. It had to be.
She swallowed the sudden burn in her throat. “That didn’t take long. I only finished your questions yesterday.”
Shrugging, Elise turned to face the ballroom, her shoulder bumping Juliet’s companionably. “Sometimes when I load the profile, I don’t get a match against someone already in the system and then we have to wait until new clients are entered. Yours came back immediately.”
Juliet wanted to ask for the name. And at the same time, she wanted to dive under the buffet table.
What was she doing here? This man in Elise’s system expected a certain kind of woman, one who could host his parties and mingle with his friends, smiling through boring stories of business mergers and tax breaks. And football. That was so not her.
She wanted to go home.
Then she thought about living in Delamer day in and day out and how often she saw Finn’s helicopter beating through the broad blue sky. Or how she’d stumbled over another photograph of him cutting the ribbon at the new primary school—that picture would never die.
A little girl who would attend the school had sneaked up and wrapped her arms around his thigh just before he cut the ribbon. Finn leaned down to kiss her cheek and presto. Instant immortalization via the hundreds of camera phones and paparazzi lenses in the audience.
The pictorial reminder of the prince’s sweet and charming nature stabbed her in the stomach every time. He was such a good guy, with a sense of honor she’d once loved—until realizing it was a front for his stubborn refusal to see how much he’d hurt her by taking his father’s side. There was no reasoning with Finn, and that trumped all his good qualities.
In Delamer, there were constant reminders of the void her brother Bernard’s death had created.
Any husband was better than that.
“What happens if I don’t like the man your computer picked?” Juliet asked, though surely Elise’s system had captured her exact specifications.
“There are no absolutes. If you don’t like him, we’ll find someone else, though it might take a while. However...” Elise hesitated. “I’d like you to keep an open mind about the possibilities. This man is perfect for you. I’ve never seen two more compatible people. Not even Leo and Dannie were this closely aligned, and look how well that turned out.”
Juliet nodded. Dannie and Leo Reynolds were definitely one of the most in-love couples in the history of time and had never even met each other before they signed on with EA International and got married. If Elise said this man was Juliet’s perfect match, why doubt it?
“I had an ulterior motive for inviting you to the party tonight,” Elise confessed. “Your match will be here too. Soon. I thought it would take some pressure off if you met socially.”
Her match. Already.
Juliet had hoped for some time to learn more about him before being thrown at his feet. She touched her pinned-up hair. At least she’d meet her future husband while looking the absolute best she could, a small victory in her mind.
Deep breath. Bernard would want her to be happy, to move on. The memory of her brother’s smile bolstered her.
A disturbance in the crowd caught Juliet’s attention. People craned their necks to peer over each other, whispering and nodding toward the ballroom entrance.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
Elise uttered a very unladylike word.
“I was hoping for a little more time to explain. It’s your match.” Elise cleared her throat. “He’s early. I think that’s a good quality in a man. I mean, along with all of his other ones. Don’t you think so?”
Her future husband, assuming everything went according to plan, had just walked into the ballroom.
Juliet’s pulse took off, throbbing below her ears. “Sure. But why does it sound like you’re trying to talk me into it? Does he have two heads or something?”
“I did something a little unorthodox to find your match.” Elise bit her lip and put her hand on Juliet’s arm. “Something I hope you’ll appreciate. It was a test. I figured if the computer didn’t match you, I wouldn’t say anything. I’d never tell you and I’d find someone else for you both.”
“What are you talking about? What did you do?”
Elise smiled weakly as the crowd pressed closer to the entrance, blocking their view of whoever had drawn so much interest. “You talked so much about him. I heard what was still in your heart. I couldn’t call myself a matchmaker if I didn’t give you an opportunity to rediscover why you fell in love in the first place.”
The first wave of unease rolled through Juliet’s stomach. “Talked about whom?”
“Prince Alain. Finn.” Elise nodded toward the crush surrounding the entrance. “He’s your match.”
“Oh, my God. Elise!” Juliet wrapped her arms around her waist but couldn’t stop the flood inside of...everything. Hope. Disbelief. The unquenchable anger at his inability to side with her. “You contacted Finn? And didn’t tell me? Oh, my God.”
Finn was here. In the ballroom.
He was her match.
Not a quiet American businessman who watched football and would save her from the heartache Finn had caused.
“Open mind,” Elise reminded her and grasped Juliet’s hand to propel her forward, parting the crowd easily despite being half a head shorter than everyone else. “Come say hello. Give me ten minutes. Let me explain to you both what I did and then you can blast me for my tactics. Or spend a little while reacquainting yourselves. Maybe give it a chance. It’s your choice.”
Greedily, Juliet’s gaze swept the crowd, searching for a familiar face. And found a solid figure in black tie, flanked by a discreet security team, moving toward her.
Finn. Exactly as her heart remembered him.
Tall, gorgeous, self-assured. Every bit a man who could support the weight of a crown despite the probability that he never would. Hard, defined muscles lay under a tuxedo that did little to disguise the beauty of the man’s body. His short, dark hair that had a tendency to curl when he let it grow was the same. As was the winsome smile.
Until he paused in front of Elise and caught sight of Juliet. The smile slipped a touch as his gaze cut between the two women. “Ms. Arundel. It’s nice to see you again.”
Finn extended his hand and took Elise’s, drawing her forward to buss her cheek as if they were old friends. To Juliet, he simply said, “Ms. Villere. What a pleasant surprise. I wasn’t aware you were on this side of the world.”
In spite of the frost in his tone, his voice flipped her stomach, as it always had. More so because it had been so long since she’d heard someone speak with the cadence intrinsic to people from Delamer.
“The surprise is mutual,” she assured him, shocked her throat hadn’t gone the way of her lungs, which seemed to be broken. She couldn’t breathe. The ballroom’s walls contracted, stealing what air remained in the room. “Though I’m reserving judgment on whether it’s pleasant.”
Stupid mouth had gotten away from her again. The laser-sharp eyes of the crowd branded her back and she became aware of exactly how many people were witnessing this public meeting between Prince Alain and a woman they no doubt vaguely recognized. Wouldn’t take long to do an internet search and find videos, pictures and news reports of the scandal. It had garnered a ton of press.
His expression darkened. “Be sure to inform me when you decide. If you’ll excuse me, I have business with Ms. Arundel which is not of your concern.”
Finn was in rare His-Royal-Highness mode. She hated it when he got that way.
“Actually,” Elise corrected with a nervous laugh and held a palm out, “Juliet is your match.”
Two (#ua99c6a2f-3c53-56a6-a53d-40bd8a451e1a)
“What?” Finn zeroed in on Juliet, piercing her with steely blue eyes she remembered all too well. “Is this your idea of a joke? Did you beg Elise to contact me?”
Is that what he thought? Her brother was dead and afterward, Finn had abandoned her when she’d needed him most. Juliet would never forgive him. Why would she extend one small finger to see him again?
“I had nothing to do with this!” Hands on her hips, she waded straight into the rising tension, eyes and ears around them forgotten as the emotions Finn elicited zigzagged through her torso. “I thought you were getting married. What happened to your princess? What are you doing signing on with a matchmaker?”
A muscle ticked in Finn’s forehead. “My father does want me to get married, as soon as I find a bride. That’s what I’m doing here. I was promised the perfect match. Amusing how that worked out.”
Finn wasn’t engaged? There wasn’t even a potential princess on the horizon? She’d left Delamer based on something that wasn’t even true.
“Yeah, hilarious. I was promised the same.”
In tandem, they turned to Elise. She smiled and escorted them both to an unpopulated corner, likely so the coming bloodbath wouldn’t spatter her guests. Finn’s muscled companions followed and melted into the background.
“Do you remember the profile question about love?” Elise tucked her hair behind one ear with a let’s-get-down-to-business swipe. “I asked you both what you’d be willing to give up in order to have it. Juliet, what did you say?”
Arms crossed, Juliet glared at Elise and repeated the answer. “You shouldn’t have to give up anything for love. It should be effortless or else it’s not real love.”
No compromise. Why should she have to completely rearrange her entire belief system to appease one very stubborn man? The right man for her should recognize that she’d tried to upset the status quo only because she’d been forced to.
The right man for her would know he’d been everything to her.
“Finn?” Elise prompted and he sighed.
His gaze softened and he spoke directly to Juliet. “You shouldn’t have to give up anything. Love should be easy and natural, like breathing. No one asks you to give up breathing so your heart can beat.”
He had. He wanted her to forget Bernard had died serving the king’s ego, wearing the same uniform Finn put on every day. She slammed her lids closed and shoved that thought away. It was too much.
“Right. Easy and natural. That part of us wasn’t hard.”
And with the words, the good and amazing and breath-stealing aspects of her relationship with Finn lit up the darkness inside her.
Everything had been effortless between them. If Bernard hadn’t had that accident, she and Finn would probably be married by now and living happily ever after.
“No. Not hard at all.” Finn shook his head, his eyes still on her, searching for something that looked a lot like what she constantly wished for—a way to go back in time.
