His Royal Prize (9 page)

“You are tempting me,” she said.

“Good,” he said.

He stood there, just waiting for her answer. And suddenly she had a moment’s panic. Was he using her? Was he wining and dining her—and sleeping with her—just to gain access to her family’s business? Was she being stupidly naive?

She chewed her lower lip, wanting some kind of sign from him that he wanted to spend more time with her because he had real feelings, not because he was trying to manipulate her into a deal.

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

She thought long and hard before she answered. Was she going to treat Geoff the way she treated all the men she dated, or should she be honest and bare her soul, letting him see all her imperfections and insecurities?

What if he didn’t like her? she thought. She’d never been good enough for any man before. Not the woman she was in front of the flashbulbs and the media attention, and with Geoff she wanted to be.

“Amelia?”

“I’m scared,” she admitted.

“Of me?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Of letting you see the real me and finding out that you don’t like her at all.”

Geoff reached for her hand. “I adore you, Amelia. How could I not like a single thing about you?”

“Plenty of people don’t.”

“I am not ‘plenty of people.’ I know you in a different way, in a real way,” he said. “This is all new territory for me, too. I’m trying to figure out how to make this into a relationship, but I’ve never been involved with a woman like you before.”

“Okay,” she said, looking into his eyes. “I’ll go flying with you tonight. Should I meet you at the airport?”

“Why don’t you do that? I keep my plane at London City Airport.”

He gave her further details and she started to leave. But something pulled her back and pushed her right into his arms.

She gave him a kiss designed to arouse him and then stepped away. “So that you won’t forget me this afternoon.”

“It isn’t possible, love, believe me,” he said, his voice husky.

She winked at him and walked out the door.

G
eoff walked into the Athenaeum Club as though he owned it. No matter what Edmond thought, there was little he or Malcolm could do to make him change his mind about Amelia. Geoff’s place in society had been cemented by years of clean living and duty. He was meeting his half brothers for drinks, something the other fellows wanted to make a ritual.

And since the novelty of actually talking to the other Devonshire bastards hadn’t worn off, he didn’t mind meeting them.

He took a seat in the back of the bar and waited for Henry and Steven to arrive. Steven’s idea to have all of their mothers interviewed in
Fashion Quarterly
was proving to be a pain. He understood that they wanted to generate buzz around the new Everest Group but Geoff was highly private. Letting anyone in was anathema.

Though now that he was dating Amelia Munroe he might have to revise that.

“Hello, mate!” Henry said as he approached the table.

Geoff stood and shook his hand. “Good afternoon.”

“Seen a bit of you in the papers,” Henry said.

“Just a bit,” Geoff replied, shaking his head. “It will die down.”

“You better hope it does. Edmond is a stickler about that scandal clause in the will,” Steven said as he joined them.

“There is nothing scandalous about my relationship with Amelia.”

“What is your relationship?” Steven asked.

“None of your business,” Geoff responded.

Henry leaned forward. “I get that, mate, but if you are going to be in the papers…”

Geoff didn’t like having to explain himself to anyone, especially these two. He was the oldest of them and he should be the one they deferred to. “Not that it matters, but we are talking about a business deal between the airline and Munroe Hotels.”

Steven nodded. “Great idea. I think that’s enough to keep Edmond off your back.”

“How do you know about Edmond?” Geoff asked.

“He’s calling all of us…trying to make sure we’re not following in dear old Dad’s footsteps, I’m sure,” Henry said.

Steven laughed and Geoff shook his head. “We don’t even know the man, how could we be anything like him?”

“Beats me. I’m just glad to know that I’m not the only one getting calls,” Steven said.

“Me, too,” Geoff added.

The men settled back to drink their drinks and discuss the business of the Everest Group, and for the first time since Edmond had called this afternoon, Geoff felt a sense of peace about the entire deal with Amelia. He knew how to manage his personal life and how to make sure that she knew where she stood in it.

Amelia dressed carefully for her evening with Geoff, putting on a pair of slim-fitting jeans and a designer top. She wrapped a scarf around her neck and then donned a leather bomber-style jacket. She put her hair up in a high ponytail as she checked her look in the mirror one more time.

Her afternoon had been full and busy, but she’d discovered that having Geoff’s contact information was interesting. She kept wondering what he was doing and had been tempted to call him at least six times, but she’d resisted.

Everything about him made her feel unsure and excited at the same time. She wanted to know where he was and if he was thinking about her, but at the same time was so afraid to ask him and she hated the fear.

She’d always known exactly who she was and what she wanted from life. And now Geoff Devonshire was making her question all of it. Because now she wished to be the kind of woman that he wanted her to be.

She had tried to be one man’s ideal before and it hadn’t worked out for her. In fact, she was often trying to fill a need in a man, she thought. With her father, it had been
dutiful daughter. With her brother, it was responsible sister. With other men, it had been exotic, sexy girlfriend. And all those roles had left her wanting.

She was all of those things and so much more and she was just beginning to understand that she needed to let herself be who she really was.

Her cell phone rang and she was tempted to let it go to voice mail but she needed a distraction from her own thoughts.

“This is Amelia,” she said.

“It’s Auggie. I got your message,” he said. She heard music playing in the background and knew he was either in his car or at his place.

“What do you think? The board is adamant. They want to see something new from you or you’re out,” she said.

“And you’re in? Is that what your agenda is?” Auggie asked.

He sounded paranoid, which probably meant one thing—he was using drugs. She closed her eyes, not ready to deal with her brother the addict again. “You know I’m not trying to take over your position. I’m trying to help you.”

“Are you, Lia? I’m not sure anymore. Vickers told me that you argued with the board for a change in roles for me,” he said.

“I did make that point but only because you hate being in the office. I’ve been thinking that you should be the new face of Munroe Hotels.”

“You think so?”

“Yes. People want to stay with someone they know. I’m also working on a joint promotion with Everest Air
that I think will bring in extra revenue. What do you think? You know the board better than I do, but I want to give them more profit to think about, instead of your absences from the executive offices.”

“I like it, Lia. I’m sorry I thought you were out to get me,” he said, sounding like his old self.

“No problem,” she replied. She was never going to tell him about the fear that gripped her whenever she thought about him using again. Auggie hadn’t handled the lifestyle as well as some of his peers. While she’d turned to scandalous behavior to deal with the pressure, Auggie had turned to drugs and it had almost ruined his life.

“Love you, sis.”

“Love you, too,” she said, hanging up. As much of a pain in the neck as he was, she needed her brother. She needed to know that he was going to be calling her and asking her to take care of things for him. He was a man that she knew how to deal with, she thought.

Maybe she hadn’t always disappointed the men in her life. And with Auggie, she was her true self. She didn’t have to pretend to be someone other than who she was. He had known her since birth.

Interesting, she thought. Maybe there was more to being herself than she’d realized. Maybe this was the key to the balance she craved.

She put on a final dash of lip gloss and headed out the door. She’d planned on driving herself, but the rain had changed her mind. She’d never really liked to drive in inclement weather.

If she took her car, Tommy and the other paparazzi would know where she was going and who she was
meeting. She sat down on the edge of her bed. This was harder than it should be.

She’d changed clothes more times than she normally would today. She’d been sneaking in and out of her own apartment building and now she was going to have to…what?

Bebe.
She’d call her friend. Surely Bebe could help her out.

She dialed Bebe’s number.

“Hello, darling,” Bebe said.

“I need a favor.”

“Okay, what do you need?”

“I have a date with Geoff tonight and I don’t want anyone to follow me. How would you feel about coming over here and providing some distraction?”

“I’d love to, but your boys aren’t going to follow me,” Bebe said.

“I know. I was thinking we could go together to a club and then I could sneak out the back.”

“Why don’t you just drive?”

“It’s very wet tonight and my car is so recognizable,” Amelia said. She had a vividly painted Jaguar that was very memorable, which was why she’d bought it. She liked people knowing she was behind the wheel, but not tonight.

Bebe laughed. “Come to my place. My dad’s here and he can drive you wherever you’re going.”

“Your dad?”

“He has the Rolls and you know that you’d never be seen in a stodgy car like that unless you were going to visit your own father. They aren’t likely to follow you in that car.”

Bebe had a point. Amelia hung up and was on her way to Bebe’s house a few minutes later in a cab. And though she knew she should be annoyed at all the subterfuge she was going through, she wasn’t. She was simply excited at the prospect of seeing Geoff again.

Geoff was running behind schedule—something that rarely happened to him. He was driving his Bugatti Veyron toward London City Airport when his mobile phone rang.

“Devonshire.”

“Hi, Geoff. It’s Mary. Mary Werner.”

“Hello, Mary. Can I give you a ring tomorrow? I can’t really talk right now.”

“That’s fine. I just…well, I saw your photo in
The Sun
today and I wondered if you were still going to the breast cancer dinner with me next week.”

He hadn’t even thought to call Mary when the photo had appeared, which was not his classiest move. He realized that he needed to end things with her officially, even though she clearly already knew what the story was. “I think I can still manage that if you’d like me to.”

“I would, Geoff. It would mean a lot to me, even though you are…uh…” She trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.

“I’m sorry, Mary. I should have called you. I know that we’d been dating a lot but—”

“Say no more, Geoff. I wasn’t expecting an offer for my hand. We are really more friends than lovers, aren’t we?”

“Yes, I think we are.” Geoff couldn’t tell if she was
upset or relieved. But she was a lot like him and he knew that duty came first to her. “I’m sorry things weren’t different between us.”

“Me, too. I like you but I think we would have bored each other to tears,” she said.

He laughed. “We are similar.”

“And you certainly never kissed me like you kissed Amelia.”

“I think you’ll find a man who will kiss you like that,” he said.

“I’m going to. When I saw that photo this morning I was hurt, of course, but more than that I was envious. I want a man to kiss me that way and not care that the entire world is watching.”

“I hope you find him,” Geoff said. He wanted her to be happy.

“I’ll see you next Wednesday?”

“Yes. I’ll pick you up.”

“Good night, Geoff.”

Geoff felt relief that things had ended between him and Mary. They would have made a fine couple because they were both people who honored their commitments, but life would have been a quiet, slow death, he thought.

Having been with Amelia now, he knew he couldn’t marry for his family’s sake anymore. He needed a woman who stirred his passion. He needed a woman who painted his world with color, not bland responsibility. He needed Amelia.

His mobile phone rang again and he answered it.

“It’s Henry.”

“What can I do for you, Henry?” Geoff asked. Despite
the drinks they’d had at his club the other night he hardly knew his half brother.

“I wanted to invite you to a London-Irish game. My stepfather is the coach.”

“I’d like that. When is it?” Geoff asked. He got the details from Henry. As Henry spoke, he decided to ask him for a word of advice.

“You have the media following you around a lot. How do you deal with it?” Geoff finally asked.

“I pretend that they aren’t there. They are going to follow me anyway, and I can’t deal with them so I ignore them. Why? Does this have anything to do with Amelia Munroe?”

Geoff wondered if he should have kept his mouth shut, but he wanted someone else’s opinion and Henry was the only man he knew in this kind of situation.

“Yes, it does.”

“I don’t get the kind of coverage that she does. They follow her everywhere. But I find that just living your life is best. If you start trying to avoid them it can be a headache, and they always find you no matter what you do.”

“That’s not what I was hoping to hear.”

“What did you want—a way to get rid of them completely?”

“Maybe.”

Henry laughed, a jovial sound that made Geoff smile. “That’s not going to happen, mate.
Ever.
Even if you weren’t dating Amelia, they would still follow you because of Malcolm.”

“They usually leave me be on that account,” he said. Probably because of his mum. When the rumors
circulated that she’d been put in the hospital for psychiatric evaluation and his stepfather had moved them out to the country for several years, the press actually took a step back.

“Have you talked to that Ainsley Patterson at British
Fashion Quarterly
about the interviews she wants to do? My mum is over the moon. She’d love to have her face in a magazine.”

“She has a very lovely face,” Geoff said. “My mum’s not so keen on being in the article.”

“I figured as much. I’m not sure that talking about the past is the right way to go. My family is used to the spotlight, though.”

“That is true. What did Steven’s mum say?”

“I heard he was going to Berne to talk to her in person. Steven believes this kind of article will help investors feel that the Everest Group is secure and that they won’t need to worry about the future once Malcolm kicks it.”

“Kicks it?”

“You know what I mean,” Henry said.

“Steven has a lot of ideas about the company and they are usually solid. Edmond is very meddlesome when it comes to running our businesses,” Geoff said.

“He is, and he’s not afraid to butt into your personal business, either,” Henry said.

“Indeed.”

“I saw the photo of you and Amelia in
The Sun.
I don’t think there is anything to worry about, but Edmond is of a different generation. He saw Malcolm almost lose the entire Everest Group when the situation with our
mums went public. He’ll do whatever he has to make sure that the company stays solvent.”

“I don’t answer to him,” Geoff said.

“I hear you,” Henry replied. “Your life is your own. Just watch your back—Edmond’s not going to let you, Steven or me mess up the Everest Group.”

“Thanks. How’s the record label?”

“Good. I never thought I’d like it as much as I do,” Henry said.

They chatted a few more minutes before he arrived at the hangar where his plane was kept and he hung up with Henry. He thought about what his half brother had said about Edmond, and Geoff knew he’d have to work the older man carefully because he wasn’t about to give up Amelia.