Sliding my dress on, I reach behind myself to zip it up. I slip on my heels and turn to the full-length mirror in the corner of my room. Itsgilded edges scream wealth and history along with everything else in the room. But then royalty isn’t exactly known for its decorative restraint.
I slide my gaze over my dress. Probably because they assumed I’d neither have the right kind of clothing for tonight’s function nor have any clue how to actually dress for it, a member of staff materialized with a selection of beautiful dresses, wheeling a rail into my rooms this afternoon.
I was like a kid in a candy store, choosing between the jewel-toned dresses and sparkling accessories. I chose an elegant, deep-blue silk strapless dress. It skims my curves and makes my skin look luminous. It’s sophisticated and a touch sexy, tasteful and expensive, the kind of dress I used to dream about wearing when I was twelve and still believed in fairy tales.
But happily ever after only happens in stories.
I smooth my hair, twisting and pinning it into an appropriate low bun. I pull a few tendrils from the sides to frame my face before I slide on my glasses. Without them, I’m exposed, more like Valentina Romano than Fabiana Fontaine.
The woman staring back at me right now is somewhere between the two.
Tonight, I’ve got to retain my Fabiana edge, no matter what happens. Here, it’s more important than ever that I fly under the radar. I can’t have anyone looking at me sideways, trying to place me from my past.
But the woman looking back at me through her fake glasses? She looks put-together and confident. Beautiful even. Nothing like the frightened twelve-year-old who fled this palace in disgrace.
You’ve got this.
Only… have I?
Because I’m finding being here in the palace, spendingtime with Max, there’s something building, something new. Something entirely unexpected. Not only am I being forced to face my demons by being in this palace, which is hard enough, but now every time I see the man I’d once written off as a shallow party boy, I feel this undeniable pull to him.
A pull that’s growing stronger and stronger with each passing day.
Back when I first met him with his puppy in the carpark, he was rude and abrasive, clearly unhappy about having to work with me. His disdain for me is about as discreet as a prince at a nightclub.
That’sthe Max I could handle. That’s the Max I knew. The Max I expect.
Since then, I’ve seen a different side of him. Firstly, as he spoke with staff on the palace tour. Then in his office, when I finally tracked him down and we called a truce. The intensity of his gaze, the touch of his skin against mine…
My breath hitches at the memory, and I close my eyes.
I barely got through the archery lesson this morning. It took what I feel for him to a whole other level. It was hard to keep my head together. His touch as he guided my arrow, the low rasp of his voice, the smell of him, his warm, firm body so close behind me? It was almost too much, and I had to force myself to focus on shooting the arrow and not on…him.
And the scary thing? The way he acted made me wonder if he felt this thing between us, too. Could that be why he pulled back from me so abruptly? Why he made up some lame excuse about a dentist’s appointment and walked away from me, like he was fleeing a crime scene?
Because that’s exactly what it felt like to me.
And you know what? I was grateful he did it. If he hadn’t… No, it doesn’t bear thinking about.
I cannot go there with this man. End of story.
Brilliant. Just brilliant, Valentina.
I know what the smart thing would be to do. I should pack my bags, tell the king I cannot carry out this project, and hightail it back to Nona. The king would have no trouble believing that the differences his son and I have are simply too great for me to be able to present the country with an unbiased view. And he told me himself he had other journalists vying for the job.
It would be an easy way out. Over with.
Done.
But dang it! The money and the boost to my career are just too good to pass up.
I need this. Nona needs this.
I’ve got no choice.
I bite down on my lip, my hands clenched. I'm standing here in front of this mirror in this gorgeous dress with my knees wobbling like a newborn foal at the thought of him.
It’s ridiculous. Laughable!
