wonder. He hadn’t exactly ruined a way to stop this wedding, but he was participating when he should just keep his mouth shut and let it all apart.
Time slowed to a crawl.
His father cocked his head, but after only a few seconds he smiled. “You know what? He’s right. We are the ones who said it was time for the marriage to take place. We’ll pay for the wedding.”
Sally gasped. “But, Your Majesty—”
“No buts, Sally. Alex is right.”
Sally wrote something in one of her big black books. “Fine.” She turned to Rose. “I’ll have coffee sent to the living room where we can discuss designers.”
Rose said, “Great!”
Rose and Karen began chattering about dresses, but Eva turned to Alex as he sat again.
“Thanks.”
He felt color rise to his cheeks. Confusion and anger with himself met and merged into an emotion that made him want to kick his own butt.
“It means nothing. The way I see it, our kingdom can absorb whatever loss results when we cancel this thing.”
“Because you know my mom and I have no money.”
He shrugged. “That’s temporary.”
She put her hand on the back of his. “Yes, but you saved us from being embarrassed.”
“Is that enough to earn the payback of you backing out of the wedding?”
She laughed lightly, obviously relieved, but also the way someone would laugh with a friend. “No.”
Damn her for being so cute. His mouth tugged upward until he couldn’t stop a smile. “Don’t make me like you.”
She peeked up at him from beneath lush black eyelashes. “You’d rather hate me?”
The heat that roared through him nearly stopped his heart. Her magnetic blue-gray eyes held his. Her pretty hair rippled around an even prettier face. Everything inside of him chanted that he should lean forward and kiss her.
Kiss her.
Kiss her.
Kiss her.
But that was the real problem, wasn’t it? She was pretty enough, tempting enough, that maybe she should be the woman he married.
And then what?
Fall in love for real?
The very thought tightened his throat. He’d loved two women in his life and lost both. Only a crazy man set himself up for that kind of pain.
“I will talk you out of this.”
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