Leopold: Part Four (7 page)

“Perfectly fair,” I tell her.

She doesn’t say anything else for a long moment, just continues to study the rose in front of her as if it’s the most fascinating thing in the world.

Finally, she looks back at me and says, “I’ve never been to New York.”

I feel a smile spread across my lips. “New York it is, then.” I glance at Matthias. “Please tell Captain Smythe that we’re ready to be on our way.”

“Of course, Your Highness,” Matthias says with a smile.

As he heads toward the pilot’s cabin, I turn back to Elle. “Matthias has his own private room at the front of the plane, so we’ll have plenty of privacy during the flight.” I close the distance between us again. “Elle, I know you don’t feel like you need such gifts, but—”

“But they’re part of the
royal date experience
, right?” she says, turning fully to face me again. “So if I’m to get the full experience, I should just roll with it?”

“I…well, that is certainly the spirit.”

She gives a small nod, as if making up her mind about something, and her lips curl up into a slow smile. “Okay, then. I guess I can live with that for one day.”

“I certainly hope you’ll do more than just
live with
them—”

“I’ll enjoy them,” she says. “I’ll
indulge
, as you so eloquently put it.”

In spite of my reservations, I find my mouth turning up into a smile that mirrors hers. “Good.” I reach around her and grab the bottle of champagne. “Shall we have a toast?”

Before she can respond, the plane begins to vibrate as the engines come to life.

“Maybe
after
we take off,” she says, still smiling.

“Of course.” I grab the champagne flutes as well. “I recommend sitting in one of the chairs and buckling yourself in. This is the finest in luxury aircraft, but you will always experience a little turbulence during takeoff in a plane of this size.”

She nods and walks over to one of the luxurious padded seats. I take the chair next to hers and stow the champagne safely in the compartment beside me.

A few minutes later, when we’re safely in the air, I pull them out again.

“Would you care for a glass?” I ask her as I pop the cork.

Something sparkles in her eyes. “Why not?”

I smile and pour us each a glass. Perhaps she’s only humoring me, but her response gives me hope. Maybe by the end of today, she’ll see it’s not so terrible a thing to accept a gift or to treat herself to something lavish. To me, she is worth every one of these luxuries—worth
more
than these luxuries, truth be told.

“Before we do anything else, I want to thank you, Elle,” I say.

She glances over at me in surprise. “Thank me?”

“For allowing me this chance.”

My gaze locks on hers, but even though her eyes darken slightly, she’s still guarded.

“We both needed some closure,” she says slowly. “It seemed like an opportunity to have one last hurrah so we can both move on with our lives.”

I frown. “Perhaps I haven’t made myself clear, Elle. I’m here because I have no desire to move on with my life.”

She breaks my gaze and gives a bitter laugh. “Stop with the bullshit, Leo. I
know
you’ve been with other women since me. The whole world knows. You can’t say things like that and expect me to believe them. Not anymore.”

“Elle, there’s been no one else—”

“Except that little blond actress everyone’s been drooling over, or that supermodel who just scored that big lingerie campaign—” She cuts off abruptly. Her cheeks redden slightly as she seems to realize that she’s accidentally admitted she’s been paying
very
close attention to my romantic life these past few months. “Look, Leo. You have every right to sleep with whoever you want, whenever you want. But please don’t come in here and lie to me about it. Give me that much.”

“I’ll admit there was a time, shortly after we parted, when I tried to occupy myself with other women,” I say. “But I never slept with any of them, Elle.”

“You didn’t sleep with any of them?” She doesn’t look the least bit convinced. “Even the lingerie model?”

“Not even the lingerie model,” I say. “Yes, I took them out. Yes, I kissed them. I even went home with a couple of them—but I couldn’t go through with it. Something always stopped me.” I think about that encounter with Lady Karina—the one encounter I was certain would cure me of my madness—then shake my head.

She freezes with her champagne glass at her lips, watching me closely. “What stopped you?”

“You know the answer to that, Elle,” I say, dropping my voice and leaning toward her. “
You
did. I couldn’t get you out of my head. Whenever I went on a date with another woman, I could only think about how I wanted to be out with
you.
Whenever I kissed another woman, I could only think about how I wanted to be kissing
you.
Whenever I went home with a woman—”

She throws up a hand. “Stop. I don’t need to hear this.”

I gently push her hand aside. “Actually, you do. There were nights when I fully intended to sleep with other women. Nights when I thought that drowning myself in pleasure was the only way to escape the thought of you. You don’t understand what you do to me, Elle. You
haunted
me, no matter what I did.” My hand is still on hers, and I curl my fingers around hers. “I had a woman stretched out in front of me on the floor, completely naked and begging me to take her, and even though I told myself to do it, told myself it was the only way to move on, I couldn’t. I just couldn’t.”

She pulls her hand out of mine. “You seem to have a habit of abandoning naked women.”

“That’s not…”
Bloody hell, this isn’t how I meant this to come out at all.
“Elle, my point is that I looked at her—this beautiful woman who was begging me to do all manner of things to her—and I felt absolutely nothing. I don’t just mean emotionally—I mean physically, too. My brain was telling me I should want her, telling me she was exactly the sort of woman I should want, but I was paralyzed. If it had been you on that floor, you begging me—”

“I don’t want to hear this.” She puts her glass on the table and tugs at her seatbelt. The moment she’s free, she springs out of her chair. “If your goal for this day is to upset me or insult me, then you’re doing a pretty damn good job. Otherwise, I’d appreciate it if you just shut up about this.”

Fuck me, I’ve made it even worse.
How did this happen? I’m saying all the wrong things, tripping over my tongue trying to explain to this woman how I feel about her. This isn’t like me at all.

And then it hits me.

“You’re jealous,” I hear myself say.

“I most definitely am
not.
”

“But you are.” I’m grinning again as I undo my seatbelt and rise. “Just like you were with those teenage girls back in Santa Monica—”

“I’m
not
jealous,” she insists, but the color of her cheeks says otherwise. “And you are enjoying this way too much.”

“I’m not enjoying this,” I say, even though we both know that’s a lie. “Elle.” I take her by the shoulders and look her in the eyes. “I assure you, you have nothing to be jealous of.”

She purses her lips, and I can see the wheels turning behind her eyes.

“There is nowhere else I’d rather be than here with you,” I say. “All other women pale in comparison to you.”

“There you go, being cheesy again,” she says, shaking her head. “Can I give you a tip, Leo?”

“Of course.”

“Don’t talk about having sex with other women when you’re on a date.”

“Once again, in my defense, there was no sex—”

“Then don’t talk about
almost having sex.
Or kissing. Or whatever it was that you did.” She gives me a wry look. “Really, Your Highness, I would have expected you to know better. You’re the self-proclaimed dating expert, after all.”

“I never called myself that.”

Something of the sparkle is back in her eyes. “But you did promise to sweep me off my feet. And if this was what you meant—”

“Point taken,” I say. “It was a classless move on my part. I apologize.”

Her eyes widen in feigned shock. “What’s this? Prince Leopold is
apologizing
? And admitting he’s
not
an expert in seduction—”

“I never said
that
, either.”

Her lips spread into a full grin. “Really, it’s a good thing I came along. Someone needs to call you on your bullshit more often. To help keep you honest, of course.”

To keep me honest.

If I were honest, I’d tell her I have her passport in my pocket. If I were honest, I never would have run away from her in the first place.

“How’s this for honesty?” I say, pulling her close. “I’m going to give you the best day of your life.”

T
here’s
something about the tone of his voice that’s making warning bells ring in my head. It’s not that I don’t
want
to believe him—I do. Sort of. I think. But the way he’s saying things is making me think he might have more than a weekend fling in mind.

I look into his eyes for a moment, trying almost desperately to read whatever it is behind them. I don’t know what he’s up to, but the warning bells don’t seem to be from the bullshit meter this time. There’s something else going on—something I’m missing.

I let out a long breath. “Leo, I haven’t seen you in three months. And I’ve spent a lot of time working on this stuff. Many hours of…”
Therapy
. Yeah, this is probably not the time to bring that particular issue up.

“Misery.” He tries to finish my sentence. “I know, Elle. I can’t begin to describe the empty feeling I was left with myself. And I realize now that it was my mistake—that my choice to leave may have impacted the rest of my life. And I truly want you to know how grateful I am for the second chance—”

“It’s not a second chance, Leo. I already said this is only for the weekend…” I’m not sure where the emotion is coming from exactly, but my eyes fill with tears. I turn away from him, stepping toward another of the chairs. I grip the back of it and close my eyes.

This
is not how this weekend was supposed to go. I was supposed to get a head start on my trip to Oklahoma for my interview. I was going to stop in New Mexico and see if it might be somewhere I would want to live after my next contract is done. I was going to have a nice, slow trip and only have to drive six or seven hours a day—I was going to enjoy the trip this time, not having anything to run from for the first time in so long. I wasn’t supposed to find myself on some stupid private jet on the way to New York City with Prince Leopold. And I
definitely
wasn’t supposed to be hearing him tell me that I’m supposed to learn to want to be spoiled by his ridiculous luxuries that I don’t need or want or…deserve.

Fuck.

I’ve spent so much time trying to work through this stuff. And I know it didn’t take me three months to become as fucked up in the head as I am—and I know it’s going to take me a hell of a lot longer than three months to get
un
fucked up, if that’s even possible. But having Leo standing here, telling me things that sound like lies to get me to… Hell, I don’t even know what he’s trying to do. I thought at first he was trying to get in my pants again, but he’s already been in my pants—he has an all-access pass to my pants—so none of this makes much sense.

I turn back to him and take in a long breath, though it does little to cover up the shaking in my voice. “What is your objective here?”

His brow furrows and something flashes in his eyes. “Sorry?”

“The point… What is the point of all of this? Your end goal?”

He smiles, though I can see he’s trying to hide something. Pain, perhaps, though I have my doubts. I fail to see how me calling him out on his bullshit could possibly injure him. I know he doesn’t like me questioning him at all, but I don’t like
anything
about this.

“Ah, is this the ‘how does this end’ question again? Because my answer this time is quite different than it was in California, Elle. It is much more hopeful than it was the last time we were together.”

The only thing I can do is shake my head. I don’t really want to hear whatever it is he has to say—I don’t want to hear about how I’ve changed his life for the better. And something about the way he’s looking at me is telling me he’s expecting me to pour my heart out to him.

He turns back to the closet across the plane from where I’m standing. “You really should put on one of the gowns, Elle. I promise I won’t watch.” He grins. “Unless you want me to.”

My glare is the only response I give him.

But his grin doesn’t fade. “I think you might feel more comfortable—”

My gaze narrows even further. “If I’m out of my clothes? No thanks.” I motion toward the closet. “How do you even know those things will fit me?”

He grins again. “I’d like to tell you it was me, but alas… Technology is quite amazing these days, Elle. Even a single photograph is enough for my tailors to make you anything of your choosing, custom fit to your body. And you provided plenty of photographs during our stay together a few months ago.”

My cheeks burn—I had purposely not watched any television shows or looked at any of the tabloids from around that time. I still can’t stand the thought of having people look at me like that.

Leo takes another step toward me, boxing me into the corner of the seating area. He reaches out to pull my hand into his again. “Elle…”

I look up into his eyes again—I have this need to see something there. I want to be able to read the lies. I’m searching desperately for something—anything—to tell me I’m right not to trust him.

But there’s nothing there. Whatever it is he’s feeling seems to be completely genuine, at least to him.

He pulls my hand into his again, and his touch sends a thrill of electricity up my arm. He seems to sense it—or maybe he feels it, too—and he takes another step toward me until he’s standing right in front of me.

“Elle…” He lifts my hand to his lips again, placing a kiss on each of my fingers. “I’ve longed for this day for what seems an eternity.”

My eyes flutter closed for a moment. His words—it’s almost unfair what he’s able to do to me with what he says.

But I snap myself out of whatever the hell this is, opening my eyes and pulling my hand away. “Leo, I can’t do this again. I just…can’t. I know it’s really cliché to say, but in this case, it’s true. It’s not you—it’s me.”

He shrugs. “I refuse to believe that.”

“You don’t understand.”

“I understand your hesitations perfectly, Elle. I hurt you badly—and I can promise you I’ll never make that mistake again.”

I shake my head. “You can’t make a promise like that. You have no idea whether or not that’s true.”

“Perhaps not. But will you at least allow me the honor of trying?” He lets out a short breath. “For today, Elle. That was all I asked of you. One more day together.”

“Leo…” I try to hide the exasperation I can hear creeping into my voice again. “My original terms were two hours and a conversation about closure. And forgiveness. That was it. And I’ve already agreed to way more than that.” I motion with my arm around the cabin. “I never agreed to some ridiculous, overly extravagant display of the life of excess you seem to enjoy.”

He frowns. “You would enjoy it, too.”

“You don’t know that, though, Leo. Because you don’t know
me
. And for you to just assume things—”

“I know. I remember your little American saying—it makes an ass of me.” He frowns before he tears his gaze from mine and turns away.

“Leo, that silver dress in the closet probably cost more than I make in a week—”

He runs a hand through his hair. “If your current salary is commensurate with the salary my family paid you, it actually cost more than you make in several months.” He turns back to me, anger flashing in his eyes. “And what of it? Why shouldn’t you have the finest luxuries money can buy? And why shouldn’t I be allowed to give them to you if that is my choosing?”

“Because I didn’t earn it, Leo. And because I don’t…” I take in a breath instead of finishing the sentence.
Because I don’t deserve it.

His jaw tightens and it seems like he can read my mind. “Elle, I can think of no one who deserves anything more.” He looks into my eyes for a moment, his expression softening. “One more night. Can you give me one more night to show you?”

Something about the way he looks at me makes my heart speed up in my chest. It almost makes me want him to pull me into his arms again. Want him to do whatever he pleases with me…

That
. That is the problem with this relationship. I have no control over anything—including my brain—when I’m around him. Something about what goes on between the two of us always seems to melt into
more
. And it’s the most uncomfortable thing I’ve ever felt.

I’m not ready to admit anything to him yet—that there might be more here than lust. I’m not sure I even
like
him. But there’s something about what he does to me that I know I can’t be without. There’s something more here that I think we might need to explore. Tonight was not supposed to be the night to do any of this. And maybe it’s wrong and something is still telling me that I’m going to regret it. But I think I can set all those doubts aside, at least for a little while and just
see.
See where it takes me. See what happens.

I gaze into his eyes for another few moments, hoping—almost
willing
myself to see something in them to make me change my mind. But I don’t. All I see is what he’s told me—his regret. His hope. And something else—something I still can’t quite put my finger on.

I have to close my eyes for a second—I’m still so uncertain. But there’s only one thing to do now, and I’ll try to hide the doubt I know is sure to creep back in at some point this evening.

“Okay, Leo. One more night.”

He nods, almost giddy with excitement. “We should change.” He motions to the closet. “I do hope you’ll consider wearing the silver dress. It was hand-beaded—”

“No.” I shake my head and walk over to the closet, pulling out the most simple of the dresses—a black, sleeveless cocktail dress with beaded straps. Even though it’s the least fancy of the many gowns, it’s still beautifully elegant. Leo’s taste in dresses—as with most things, it seems—is exquisite. “This one.”

He smiles and doesn’t look a bit disappointed. “I thought you would like that one. I asked that the tailors—”

“Leo.” I hold up my hand to interrupt him. “I’m not going to argue about it. I don’t want to hear about how much it cost. I said I’d wear it, and I will.” I pull out the most simple of the shoes he’s chosen from the bottom of the closet and edge around him into the bathroom to change.

I shower and spend a long time trying to make my hair seem somewhat decent. I spend more time than I think I ever have getting ready for a date. When I come out, Leo is dressed in a black suit, obviously also custom-tailored for him.

I have to keep myself from shaking my head. I know I said I’d allow myself to indulge for the evening, but all of this is so ridiculously over the top, and I’m positive he can’t see it.

He also can’t seem to peel his eyes from me. His mouth hangs open for what seems like forever. “Elle… I’m very rarely speechless, but my God.” His eyes roam over my body again. “You’re beautiful. And the word
beautiful
really doesn’t begin to cover it.”

My cheeks burn at his compliment. I’m sure he doesn’t really mean it, but it’s still nice to hear. “Thank you. And you…you look very handsome.”

He grins, extending his elbow to me. “Shall we be seated, then? We’ll be arriving shortly.”

I nod and take a seat next to him, buckling myself in for the landing.

He leads me off the plane after we arrive, guiding me to a waiting limousine.

After he helps me in, he slides in next to me. “I have an amazing evening planned for us, Elle. Since you’ve never been to New York City, I thought before our dinner I might show you how to properly appreciate it.”

“Okay.” I shiver a little as he slides his arm around my shoulders, but I don’t say anything. Night is only just beginning to fall, and I’m mesmerized by the sights I’ve only seen before on television. He seems to be purposely taking me on a tour of the city, allowing me to take everything in.

Every time I look over at him, I expect he’ll be watching out the window, too. But he isn’t—he’s just looking at me, smiling. It’s a little unnerving, but I can’t help myself. I can’t help but admire everything as I see it all for the first time, almost drinking it in.

We finally arrive at our destination, and he helps me out of the car. We’re at a side entrance of a tall building—it’s not one I recognize as a famous building or anything.

I turn to him. “Where are we?”

He grins. “Nowhere of any true significance. But I have a surprise for you.”

My heart speeds a little in my chest as he leads me into the building. A man—I think he’s a security guard—nods at Leo before he leads us over to the elevator.

There’s another attendant on the elevator and he presses the button for the top floor. Leo slides his arm around me, pressing his hand to the small of my back before he leans over and whispers in my ear. “This is my favorite part of New York, Elle. I think you’re going to love it, too.”

I force a weak smile and nod. I’m not sure if I like any of this—it all feels a little too extravagant. A little too over the top.

We finally reach the top floor and the attendant leads us through an empty corridor to another door. He opens it and motions for us to go up the stairs.

Leo smiles and motions for me to go ahead of him. The stairway is narrow—there’s only enough room for one of us to go up at a time, just like the stairway to his jet. But I go up the small flight and push open the door at the top of the landing.

Leo’s hand finds the small of my back again as we exit, and he leads me over to one side of the roof where the sun is setting over the city.

There’s a small table nearby with a bottle of champagne and two glasses. Leo pops the cork and pours us each a glass. He hands a flute to me and lifts his into the air. “To the first night of the rest of our lives together.”

“That is the cheesiest toast I’ve ever heard.” I frown and look down at my glass. “Leo—”

“Elle, look around you.” He motions to the city below with a wave of his hand. “I can give you all of this. Anything you see can be yours.”

“But, Leo—”

He shakes his head, gazing into my eyes. “But nothing, Elle. I
want
to give this to you. I want to share it all with you.” He pauses for a moment. “With
you
. Not with anyone else. I want to give you everything. Everything.”

“But…but, I don’t want everything. I don’t want
anything
. And it isn’t because I don’t think I deserve it, Leo. It’s…” I frown, trying to ignore the twisting pain I feel in my chest—I’m not even sure what it is I’m feeling.