Hand-Me-Down Princess (25 page)

She found herself dancing with a string of men she would likely never remember. Her mind tumbled with emotions she could not name and did not wish to feel.

Perhaps when she finally danced at her own wedding she would feel at peace.

* * *

The reception wasn’t a public event, but Malachi knew a few pictures would make their way online. If not, he likely would have shed his suit coat and tie long before their return to the suite. Instead, as soon as the door snicked shut behind him, he ditched both the jacket and tie, before taking off his button-down shirt. He still had a white t-shirt on so he wouldn’t make Jessabelle uncomfortable.

Sometimes he wondered if things would ever change between them, but then he remembered how skittish she’d been about everything. The level of comfort she showed now had grown by leaps and bounds. Maybe someday...

What he needed to do was figure out how to woo his wife. He’d glanced at their schedules and someone had filled hers to the brim. His didn’t coincide nearly as much as he’d like. He’d put Carson on it to see if that could be fixed. She was doing better but he’d still prefer to be with her when he could. She also hadn’t been asked to give another speech yet. He feared that day was coming. He just hoped there would be enough notice so she could practice, and he could be there in the audience to support her.

“Malachi?”

He heard her call from the other side of the closed closet door. “Yes?” he called back.

The door opened, but she didn’t look up at him. Her soft pink gown pooled at her feet, an indication she’d already kicked her shoes off. “I need your help.”

He knew she purposely chose dresses she wouldn’t need his help removing. Or he made himself scarce and had Belinda help her. She turned her back, still not looking at him. Her hair had been taken down and tumbled over her shoulders. She swept it to one side, to give him better access, but all he could do was stare at the expanse where her neck and shoulder met. He wanted to find out if her skin was as soft as it looked. How it would feel to run his fingers over that spot. Or dare he dream? Kiss it as he wrapped her in his arms.

“Kai?”

Right. “Sorry.” He unhooked the loop where the two sides met. “Do you need me to start the zipper?”
Please say no!

“Do you mind? Just an inch or two? I should be able to get it from there.”

This time, Malachi did that and no more. Before he turned and walked out, though, he allowed himself just a bit of what he longed for. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her back to him. “I’m proud of you,
Mia Belle
. You’re stepping out of your comfort zone, and I appreciate that more than you know. I know it’s hard, but you’re doing a wonderful job.”

She rested her arms on top of his but didn’t answer for several minutes. It was all he could do not to kiss that spot on her neck.

“Thank you. I’m not sure I agree with your assessment, but I appreciate it.”

They stood there for another minute before she spoke again. “Kai, can I ask you something else?”

“Anything.”

“You never planned to marry Lizbeth, did you?”

She would have to ask a tough question. “Not really. I mean, I figured if I was going to be forced into marrying someone without much say in the matter, I probably would have chosen her only because of the familiarity factor. Definitely not because I was in love with her or wanted to spend my life with her or have children with her or anything like that.”

“Oh.” Another minute passed. “You never kissed her, though, right?”

“No.” Hadn’t they talked about this before? “I never did. Why?”

He felt her take a big breath. “I was looking up some history of your family since I don’t know enough of it. I found several articles indicating you two were...close. I know what you’ve told me, but sometimes I don’t know what to believe.”

Malachi held her a little closer. “Close friends, maybe, but that’s it. We never kissed. Never held hands, except to dance. I don’t remember ever giving her a long hug or letting her cry against me.” He’d done those things with his wife. He wanted to do more of those things with his wife. “Lizbeth and I were friends, nothing more. Not ever.”

Jessabelle leaned her head back against him. “That’s what I thought you’d said. Some of the things she said the other day, and those articles made me curious.”

Things Lizbeth said? “What did she say?”

Jessabelle tried to pull away but Malachi wasn’t ready to let her go. “Nothing really. Just told me some stories about the two of you that made me wonder. She probably didn’t even mean it the way I took it.”

Malachi let it drop, but made a mental note to check with Lizbeth soon. “Did you learn anything else?”

“Your brother’s never really been on a real date, or so the tabloids have said. You never went out with anyone except Lizbeth, which made your announcement about our marriage more of a shock. Your sister’s engaged to a dead guy. Your father had one of the worst hidden affairs in all of history.”

“I hope you know not all the men in my family are like that.”

“I know. I also know the wedding vows we took.”

This time he let her go as she pulled away. “And I took others later. Real ones.”

Jessabelle’s arms twisted behind her back, trying to reach the zipper tab. “I know you did. The papers don’t. They’ve openly questioned whether you’re already having an affair with her.”

“Oh, please!” He tossed his hands up in frustration. “I’m not having an affair. I will never have an affair. It doesn’t matter if the papers know that I made real vows to you.
I
know I did.
You
know I did. Those are the only two people I care about knowing.”

She turned, and he could see tears in her eyes. “Then why don’t you kiss me more? Why don’t you want to?”

It took two steps to reach her. His fingers threaded through her hair as he pulled her to him, lowering his lips to hers. Every other time he’d kissed her, Malachi purposefully kept the kiss from getting too intense. This time he threw caution to the wind, kissing her more freely than he ever had.

But he knew it couldn’t go too far.

Malachi broke the kiss, his breath coming in short gasps. “I don’t kiss you because when I do, I want more than either one of us is ready for. I don’t want to press you for something you don’t want yet, but when I kiss you, I want more. I like you,
Mia Belle
. A lot. I want to love you the way you want to be loved, and I think it’s likely to happen, but it hasn’t yet. Not for either one of us. There has never been another woman in my life the way you are. You’re the first woman I’ve kissed since I was six and thought I could get away with kissing the cutest girl in the class. She pushed me on my butt. Over the years, as I understood more and more about who I am and how many people want something from me, I decided I needed to stay above reproach. I wouldn’t give any woman the ammunition to come after me, even if our interactions were completely innocent. Lizbeth is the only one I’ve ever spent any time alone with and never for very long.
You
are the only woman I’ve ever really kissed and the only one I ever plan to.”

The tears had spilled onto her cheeks, and she rested her forehead on his chest. “I want that, too,” she blurted out, then turned, ran to the bathroom, and slammed the door behind her.

Malachi sighed, not sure what he could have said or done differently. He went back into the living area and saw his phone buzzing away on the coffee table. It stopped before he reached it but found four calls and half a dozen text messages from his brother telling him to check a particular news site.

A feeling of dread filled the pit of his stomach as he turned on his tablet. It only took a few clicks to arrive at the correct page. He scanned the article, but the only thing he really needed to see was the accompanying picture.

Taken near the palace.

Of his father’s mistress.

Chapter 24

Christiana had finally changed into pajamas and locked everyone out. She was not home yet, but she needed time alone. More than anything. Time to rest and recharge. To be out of the public eye.

One thing she had found since her uncle’s arrest was that the people wanted to see her out and about,
doing
something to fix the problems he had created. Many of the problems could not be fixed by public appearances. Time and money were required for most of them.

Her cell phone rang and, even though it was her fiancée, she hesitated before answering. Their time together was so limited. She did not want to miss the chance to talk. “How was your day?” she asked after they exchanged pleasantries. He had too many rough days lately. She offered to look into the new regulations that were affecting him-he had never been specific enough for her to know what to look for on her own-but he was most emphatic that he did not want any special treatment.

“Another tough one, Chris.” His voice sounded wearier than she had ever heard it. “And all day I had to listen to speculation about you didn’t have a real date with you at the wedding. It was one of the worst days my business has had but all anyone cares about is why you went to the wedding with Will.”

Will? He had never met William and had no way of knowing how much the prince hated the nickname.

“You don’t have feelings for him, do you, Chris?”

That drew her attention. “Feelings for William?” It was not the time to remind him how much she hated the nickname “Chris.” She had told him several times, but he never remembered for long. Her uncle had called her “Chris” most of her life, and, even before she’d know the extent of his betrayal, the name had annoyed her.

“Yes. You know. The man you’ve gone on dates with for years.”

“First, they were never dates. We both attended the same function and went together sometimes because neither of us wanted to deal with an actual date. Second, he is the Crown Prince and will be king of Mevendia someday. That means we could not get married even if we wanted to. Malachi or Richard would have been a different situation. Even before either one of them were married, I had no interest in them, and they had no interest in me.”

The silence on the other end of the line told her he was not sure he believed her.

Instead, she changed the subject. “Speaking of weddings though, we need to set our date very soon. Alexander needs to begin making the arrangements for security and limiting who will be allowed on the island.”

“If someone really wanted to get on the island, he could,” he scoffed. “Believe me. If someone wants something badly enough, they’ll get it.”

Something about the way he said it bothered Christiana, though she could not quite put her finger on what it was.

“I’ll take care of it,” he went on. “I’ll look at my schedule and tell Alexander when the wedding will be. We’ll get it sorted out, Chris.”

They talked for another minute or two before he told her he had another call.

“I love you,” she told him.

“I know, Chris. I’m so glad you do. I’ll talk to you later.”

She hung up after he did and climbed under the covers. Her mind refused to quiet down. She tossed and turned, her mind going from the difficulties facing some of her people, to the stress her fiancé was under, and the million details she would need to take care of when planning the wedding. Eventually, she managed to doze off, but the turbulence of her mind meant her sleep was anything but restful.

* * *

By the time their flight took off the next morning, Jessabelle knew something was going on. After he’d kissed her, Malachi had gone to the living area of the suite and hadn’t returned until after she’d finally fallen asleep what seemed like hours later.

Malachi had been solicitous before leaving the hotel, but he and William had been oddly quiet during the ride to and from the church service. They sequestered themselves in the conference room as soon as they boarded.

“Do you know what’s going on?” Yvette asked her as they taxied to the runway.

That answered one question. “No. Malachi seemed preoccupied, but he didn’t tell me what about.”

“Did you ask and he wouldn’t tell you, or did you just not ask?”

“I didn’t ask. What’s the difference?”

“If he flat out wouldn’t tell you, what he said when he wouldn’t might tell us something. Instead, they’re not saying anything at all. William refused to tell me why he was in a snit.”

“I’m sure they have their reasons.” Jessabelle tried to be diplomatic, though she doubted Malachi was inclined to tell her too much, regardless of the feelings behind that kiss. “If it’s something we need to know, they’ll tell us when they need to.”

Yvette muttered something Jessabelle didn’t catch as the plane lifted into the air. At least it was a short flight. In less than ninety minutes, they’d taken separate vehicles back to the palace, with Malachi and William being whisked away somewhere else. Jessabelle would have unpacked but her suitcase was nowhere to be seen, not that she’d taken much with her. Instead, she flopped into the extra-large, extra comfortable chair Malachi had aquired for her and put in front of the fireplace in their room. She pulled her tablet out to read a book since nothing else would be required of her until evening at best.