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“Delores did just fine, thank you very much,” Kerry said, smiling at her aunt. “She might be a little old and have a lot of miles on her, but she’s never let me down yet.”
“I’m sure your new car will be just as good.”
“Oh, I’m sure it will, too. I’m just going to miss my old clunker. You’ll try to find her a good home, won’t you?”
Aunt Marcy nodded her head. “Of course we will, but you should have never named that car.”
Grinning, Kerry turned to see “Mack” and Uncle Bob enter the room. “Kerry brought a friend—Hank McCauley.”
“Wonderful,” Aunt Marcy said, reaching out her hand. “We have plenty of room and an extra sofa bed, Mr. McCauley.”
“Please, call me Mack,” Alexi said, giving his words a slight twang even as he bestowed his most charming smile on her aunt. “And as long as you’re sure I won’t be in the way, I’d love to stay in your home. If not, I can get a hotel room.”
“Nonsense,” Aunt Marcy said, turning her wheelchair around and heading for the hallway.
Kerry breathed a sigh of relief since the introductions were out of the way and no one was suspicious of her prince. They moved into the kitchen. Aunt Marcy was in the process of preparing dinner. Kerry hadn’t eaten since an early light lunch just before she met Alexi at the truck stop.
Aunt Marcy scooped fried okra out of the skillet and onto a paper towel-lined platter. The unique smell filled the yellow-and-white kitchen, which had been modified for a wheelchair. Most of the countertops and appliances were low, so they could be reached from the sitting position. As the vegetable cooled and drained, Aunt Marcy transferred ground beef patties to the sizzling skillet.
“Need help?” Kerry asked.
“No, I’ve got everything pretty well prepared. We weren’t sure when you’d get here, and I didn’t want dinner to get cold.”
Kerry smiled as Alexi eyed the fried okra. “Try it,” she urged. Of course, Hank had eaten this type of food all his life. He selected a single piece and, after testing the heat in the palm of his hand, he placed the okra discreetly into his mouth.
He even chewed neatly. Politely. She’d never seen him eat a meal, but she was certain he had perfect manners. She couldn’t imagine Prince Alexi doing anything badly.
“I’ll get some clean sheets for the Hide-A-Bed sofa in the den,” Uncle Bob informed Alexi as he also popped a piece of fried okra into his mouth. “I put both your bags in Kerry’s room, temporarily.”
“That means you can get your bag anytime you’d like, as long as it’s not in the middle of the night,” Kerry explained.
“Sure,” Alexi agreed casually.
Uncle Bob folded his arms across his chest and faced them both. “Not that I don’t trust you two kids, but we have a rule in the house—no wedding ring, no hanky-panky.”
“I respect your principles,” Alexi said.
“Uncle Bob! We’re just friends.”
“Enough said,” he muttered. “I just wanted to make myself clear. Kerry, you never have brought a male friend to visit us before.”
“Well, Mack rather…insisted. He was worried about me driving down here in Delores.”
“I respect you, son,” Uncle Bob said with a laugh.
“I’m glad I’m not the only one who was worried,” Aunt Marcy added.
Kerry threw up her hands. “Gesh, I’m twenty-eight years old and I’ve been driving for twelve years. You’d think I could find my way from Ranger Springs to Galveston on my own.”
“We just worry about you, dear. You’re so independent,” Aunt Marcy said, patting Kerry’s hand. Her aunt turned to Alexi. “Kerry helps her family so much, and not just moneywise. She pitches in until we wonder how she gets her schoolwork done. But she must, because she’s graduating cum laude even though she works full-time.”
“Okay, now I’m embarrassed,” Kerry said, feeling her cheeks heat up. “I’m taking A—Mack away before you reveal any more family secrets.” She grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the small bedroom she’d stayed in many times when she’d visited. Once inside, she drew open the curtains, but couldn’t see anything outside due to the early evening shadows. A mirror image of her and Alexi, standing close together, stared back.
“My aunt and uncle are just curious. Plus, they want to impress you with how wonderful I am,” she added flippantly to lighten the mood. “They always say I’m their favorite niece, but I suspect they say the same thing to my two sisters.”
Alexi laughed. “I don’t need them to expound on your virtues. I’d already figured that out on my own.”
She grabbed her suitcase and slipped it onto the bed. “I’m disappointed. I wanted to be a woman of mystery.”
“Oh, I’m sure there are many layers I have yet to uncover,” he responded in a sultry tone that made her breath hitch and her palms grow damp. He leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms over his chest, confident, powerful and just a little mysterious himself.
She wished he didn’t make those suggestive comments in such a sexy voice. Her mind filled with all types of “uncovering” possibilities.
“I’m going to unpack real quick, then help Aunt Marcy get supper ready. If you’d like to wash up, or look around, go ahead.”
He didn’t immediately take the hint, watching her intensely from the doorway. She wasn’t locked in a room with him; she could push by him if she wanted and be in the hallway of the relatively small house. Or she could just shout her aunt or uncle’s name and they’d be here in an instant. But she didn’t feel threatened…at least not in an uncomfortable sense. A kind of a welcome, yet edgy sense of awareness flowed between them.
This felt different from their time together in the car, probably because they hadn’t been staring at each other. This felt…dangerously thrilling.
Could Prince Alexi be her reward for ten long years of hard work?
Chapter Three
After a dinner of surprisingly tasty hamburger steak with grilled onions, mashed potatoes and fried okra, Alexi welcomed a walk along the beach. He and Kerry took a towel to sit upon and a flashlight to see their way to what she called “the seawall.”
“Your aunt and uncle are charming,” he said as they neared the busy thoroughfare that ran along the coastline. Several other couples, some young people and a few families were also out on foot tonight. When there was a lull in the automobile traffic, he could hear the waves breaking against the shore. The smell of saltwater coated the warm, humid air.
“They are wonderful people. It was their idea for the family to take up a collection and buy Marcy’s mother’s car. She went into an assisted-living facility in Alvin, which is just south of Houston. Since Aunt Marcy is in a wheelchair and needs a specially equipped van, they didn’t need an extra car.”
“I’m sure everyone will feel more confident now that you have a much newer car,” he commented, remembering their earlier conversation.
“Yes, but the funny thing is now that I’ve graduated, I’ll only be driving about four miles round trip.”
“That’s all the distance from your mother’s house to this Grayson Industries?” he asked as they crossed the street.
“Actually, I’m getting my own apartment. I’m moving in next week.” She turned to look at him, her face alight with joy. “You have no idea how much I’m looking forward to having my own place for the first time in my life. No sharing a bathroom. No being quiet because everyone else is sleeping. No one to steal my food from the refrigerator.”
Alexi laughed. “I know what you mean. My first flat in London was absolute heaven. I did all the typical bachelor things. My flat was messy, smelly and tastelessly decorated.”
Kerry laughed. He felt his own smile fading as he remembered other things about living on his own. Girlfriends, some attracted to his title, some hoping for an introduction to one of the British princes, some just looking for a good time. Easy sex, although not nearly as much as some might have assumed. He didn’t want to think that Kerry would have the equivalent experience. Boyfriends. Easy sex of any sort.
“What’s wrong? Don’t you like the beach?”
He turned his attention back to the present and Kerry. Forcing a smile, he took her hand. “I adore the beach.”
“You’re slipping into your British accent again.”
“I know, but let me be myself for a while. I’ve been very good at playing Hank McCauley, if I do say so myself.” He pulled her aside as three people on in-line skates whizzed past. Kerry’s leg brushed his as their hips bumped briefly before she stepped away.
“Yes, you have.” She swung their linked hands while strolling along the sidewalk, apparently not as affected as he by their contact. “This seawall was built after a huge hurricane in 1900. The whole island was raised to keep it from ever being submerged again, and this seawall was built of concrete and rock to keep the water from washing away the shoreline.”
“Very impressive—both the history and your knowledge of the area.”
“My aunt and uncle are great history buffs. They have a book on Galveston you might find interesting, just in case you have trouble sleeping.”
“Good to know,” he said as they started down the steps that took them to the beach. He had an idea he would have trouble sleeping with Kerry so near, yet so far away. Ever since seeing the cozy bedroom she’d be occupying, he’d envisioned her stretched out on that small bed, an alluring smile lighting up her cute, freckled face.
The smell of the ocean was stronger here, the sand deep as they stepped off the wooden steps onto the beach. The sound of the waves was even and reassuring as he again took Kerry’s hand. Lamps from the seawall illuminated the area enough that they could see where they were walking. Other couples strolled closer to the water, where the sand was firm and wet. White foam on the waves gleamed silver in the artificial light.
“I suppose it’s not as wonderful as those Mediterranean beaches you’re used to.”
Alexi chuckled. “Actually, European beaches are almost all rocks. We have very little sand, especially something this fine and pale.”
“Really?”
“For truly wonderful beaches, we go to the Caribbean or Central or South America.”
“I’d love to travel someday,” she said wistfully. “I get two weeks of vacation a year, but I have to wait six months to take part of that. After five years, I get three weeks.”
“Sometimes shorter holidays can be very relaxing.”
“Yes. We have Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and then Labor Day coming up. Maybe I can plan a long weekend someplace fun. Corpus Christi or Las Vegas or New Orleans.”
He didn’t correct the impression she’d gotten from his use of “holiday.” In England, the word was used instead of the American “vacation.” But whatever Kerry called time off from work, he wondered if she would venture somewhere alone. Or would she have a boyfriend to accompany her on one of these upcoming weekends?
Perhaps he could fly over and take a holiday with her.
Perhaps their brief relationship didn’t have to end with him going back to Belegovia on Sunday. Unless, of course, he immediately became involved with someone else at the insistence of his father. Unless he became engaged to one of the European elite who had been selected for him.
“I love it here,” Kerry breathed, barely above a whisper. He had to lean close to catch her words over the rhythmic pounding of the surf. “The sound of the waves is so peaceful. Sometimes I just sit on the rocks,” she said, pointing to a man-made rocky pier that jutted into the surf, “and watch for hours.”
“I feel that way when I’m on a boat,” Alexi admitted. “Especially a sailboat. There’s nothing like the rocking motion of the water, the slap of the waves against the hull, to lull your brain into semiconscious bliss.”
“Exactly,” Kerry said softly, turning toward him. “I knew you’d understand.”
She wants you to kiss her. The knowledge was so certain that for a moment, Alexi thought someone had spoken the words into his brain. But he was only reacting to Kerry. Her wide eyes and parted lips beckoned him.
Semiconscious bliss. That’s what he felt when he pulled her close, their bodies touching everywhere. His brain shut down, giving over to sensations. Her rapid breathing. Her small, shapely breasts brushing his rib cage. Her thighs nestling against his.
He looked into her luminous eyes until he lowered his head. She tasted like the orange sherbet he’d eaten for dessert—sweet and tangy, just like Kerry. Then he lost himself when she parted her lips and her tongue touched his. His hands tightened against her back, pulling her closer. She met his passion with equal enthusiasm, kissing him thoroughly until neither could breathe.
They broke together and sucked in air, still clinging tightly. Her breath tickled hot against his chest as his hands moved restlessly over her back. He longed to reach lower, cup her bottom in his hands and pull her higher, until she wrapped her legs around his waist, but he didn’t dare. Not in public. Not yet.
But the urge was there, stronger than ever. They had two days, possibly three, before they each began new lives. Could that be enough for either of them?
AS KERRY FIDGETED restlessly in the guest bedroom, she couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss. Wow. Alexi might look like Hank, but the two men were worlds apart. She’d never reacted to her former boyfriend like she did to this prince. The chemistry was just so…intense. Different. She didn’t know why, but Alexi brought out a side of her she’d only slightly explored. Sure, she and Hank had kissed a couple of times, but there hadn’t been any sparks.
Now she felt like a Fourth of July firecracker waiting for the match to strike.
Rolling onto her back, she stared at the ceiling. When she was a child, she used to imagine she could see the shapes of animals in the plaster of this bedroom. Directly above the bed was a lion’s head. Near the window was a flying bird. And beside the closet door was a lamb. She’d indulged her fantasies by making up stories of why they were here, what they were doing. Especially at night. The animals romped around a lot at night.
Now she had more grown-up fantasies. Of romping on the beach with Alexi. Of falling to the cool sand with him. Of making love to him as the waves surged around them. Her girlhood fantasies were as tame as that lamb, but she was really a lion as an adult. Especially when she imagined raking her fingernails down his back as she pulled him closer, closer…
Sighing, she flopped onto her stomach and hugged a pillow. She’d thought earlier that Alexi might be her reward for years of hard work. For studying during her work breaks, for staying home when her friends were going away for the weekend, for helping her mother and sisters instead of partying.
She’d been a good girl—with just a couple of unremarkable lapses—and now she wanted it all. Her freedom, her career and her prince.
Except he wasn’t her prince. He was going to marry someone from European royalty or at least blue blood. Someone his father would approve as the future queen of their beloved country.
But while he was in Texas, he was hers. She didn’t have to use her imagination very much to indulge that fantasy.
ON THURSDAY they ate a hearty breakfast of pancakes and sausage with Aunt Marcy and Uncle Bob, then headed out for a tour of the island around ten o’clock. Kerry thought Alexi might enjoy the Victorian sights, since he’d grown up in such historical settings. England was steeped in tradition, and Belegovia probably had one of those old, drafty castles. A few of the houses in the historical district were made of stone and looked like castles.
“Where should we go first?” Kerry asked, driving her new car. Actually, the Saturn was three years old, but it still smelled new. Aunt Marcy’s mother had never so much as nibbled a French fry inside this sedan.
“Have you gone on any of the tours or visited any of these sights? I’d like for you to see something new.”
Oh, I like what I’m seeing right now, she wanted to say, but kept quiet as she negotiated the narrow streets of the residential section. “Let’s go to the Bishop’s Palace.” The huge mansion looked like a castle. “I’ve never toured that house and it’s supposed to be spectacular.”
Galveston wasn’t that large, and within a few minutes they arrived at the huge red stone mansion. A new tour wasn’t starting for ten minutes, but after Alexi offered a substantial contribution to the historical society that operated Bishop’s Palace, a private tour was offered.
He looked perfectly comfortable in his “Hank clothes,” walking beside the middle-aged tour guide, making the woman blush and stammer with his compliments and charm. Kerry watched it and smiled, thinking she’d created a monster by encouraging him to use a Texas accent and swagger like a cowboy. While Alexi appeared every inch a prince, Alexi as Hank could charm the spines off a cactus.
After the tour they drove to the Strand, which had a unique Victorian waterfront charm. There was one really nice hotel with a restaurant, but Alexi opted for soft drinks, burgers and fries they could eat outside, to take advantage of the warm weather. Since the tourist season hadn’t started yet, they had the small patio to themselves.
The Strand was only a block from the piers. The smell of saltwater mingled with city odors such as exhaust and food, but the mix wasn’t unpleasant.
“This trip was just what I needed,” he announced as he polished off his burger—very neatly, Kerry noticed as she struggled with her second paper napkin. He’d lapsed into his “prince” mode, but she didn’t remind him since they were alone.
“What were you expecting when you hopped into my car?” she asked. After spending all day with him yesterday, kissed him on the beach, then spent most of the night fantasizing about him, she felt comfortable asking the question. Although she never forgot he was a prince, he seemed much more of an ordinary person.
An ordinary person with excellent manners and lots of money, charm, good looks, etc.
“The wonderful thing about my impulsive action is that I didn’t have any expectations. Oh, I wanted very much to get to know you. And, I must admit, I wanted to tweak Gwendolyn’s nose just a bit to make up for her scheduling of the public appearances in San Antonio. But as for what we’d see and do, I had no idea.” He spread his arms and smiled. “I was perfectly willing to leave myself in your hands.”
Kerry smiled. “I could have been a crazy woman. Or someone who’d go to the tabloids with the story. Or any number of other unpleasant possibilities.”
He shook his head. “I knew you weren’t. I’m an excellent judge of character and I trust my instincts.”
“So you’re not…disappointed?”
“Not at all! Why would you think such a thing?”
“I don’t know. I thought maybe you were expecting a woman who was a little more…demonstrative.”
He appeared confused, so she forged ahead. “You know, affectionate.”
“I find you very affectionate. You are especially loving with your aunt and uncle, which is a charming quality.”
