did you say?”
Arms crossed, Juliet glared at Elise and repeated the answer. “You shouldn’t have to give up anything for love. It should be effortless or else it’s not real love.”
No compromise. Why should she have to completely rearrange her entire belief system to appease one very stubborn man? The right man for her should recognize that she’d tried to upset the status quo only because she’d been forced to.
The right man for her would know he’d been everything to her.
“Finn?” Elise prompted and he sighed.
His gaze softened and he spoke directly to Juliet. “You shouldn’t have to give up anything. Love should be easy and natural, like breathing. No one asks you to give up breathing so your heart can beat.”
He had. He wanted her to forget Bernard had died serving the king’s ego, wearing the same uniform Finn put on every day. She slammed her lids closed and shoved that thought away. It was too much.
“Right. Easy and natural. That part of us wasn’t hard.”
And with the words, the good and amazing and breath-stealing aspects of her relationship with Finn lit up the darkness inside her.
Everything had been effortless between them. If Bernard hadn’t had that accident, she and Finn would probably be married by now and living happily ever after.
“No. Not hard at all.” Finn shook his head, his eyes still on her, searching for something that looked a lot like what she constantly wished for—a way to go back in time.
Which was impossible and the reason she’d fled to the States.
But she’d left Delamer because she thought Finn was marrying someone else. If that wasn’t true, what else might she need to reexamine?
Elise put her hands out, placing them gently on their arms, connecting them. “Do you remember what you each said you were looking for in a relationship?”
“The calm in the storm,” Juliet said, and her ire drained away to be replaced by the tiniest bit of hope.
“A place where I could just be, without all the other pressures of life,” Finn said, his voice a little raspy. “That’s how I answered the question.”
He didn’t move, but he felt closer. As if she could reach out and touch him, which she desperately wanted to do. Curled fingers dug into her thigh. Her heart tripped. This was not a good idea.
“So? We answered a couple of questions the same way. That’s no surprise.”
Finn agreed with a nod. “I would have been surprised if we didn’t respond in a similar vein.”
They’d always been of one mind, two hearts beating as one. When they sailed together, they never even had to talk, working in perfect tandem to reef the main or hull trim. They’d met while sailing with mutual friends, then fallen in love as the two of them skimmed the water again and again in Finn’s boat.
“So,” Elise said brightly, “maybe the better question is whether you can forget about the past and see how you both might have changed. You’re in America. The divide you had in Delamer doesn’t matter here. It’s safe. Take some time on neutral ground to explore whether that effortless love still exists.”
That was totally unnecessary. She’d never fallen out of love with Finn and being here in his presence after a long, cold year apart solidified the fact that she probably never would.
But that didn’t mean they belonged together.
“Are you a relationship counselor or a matchmaker?” Juliet asked Elise without a trace of guile.
“Both. Whatever it takes to help people find happiness.”
Happiness. That hadn’t been on her list when she came to Elise, broken and desperate for a solution to end her pain. But instead of an American husband, she’d been handed an opportunity for a second chance with Finn.
He was the only man on earth who could rightly be called her match. The only man she’d ever wanted to let into her heart. That had always been true and Elise had somehow figured that out.
That was some computer program Elise used. Juliet had hoped for a bit of magic. Perhaps she’d gotten her wish.
“Elise is right,” Finn said quietly. “This is neutral ground, with no room for politics. And it’s a party. Dance with me.”
Juliet nodded and hoped agreeing wasn’t the stupidest thing she’d ever done.
Elise slipped away, not even trying to hide the relief plastered all over her face.
Juliet’s eyelids pricked with tears as something shuddery and optimistic filled her empty soul. She would wallow in her few precious hours with Finn, and maybe it would lead to more. Maybe time and distance had diluted their differences.
Maybe he’d finally understand what his support and strength meant to her. She’d lost so much more than a brother a year ago. She’d also lost the love of her life.
* * *
Finn led Juliet to the dance floor, a minor miracle since his knees had gone numb.
This whole thing was ridiculous. He’d known there was something off about a matchmaker approaching his father, but he never could have predicted Elise’s actual motivation or the result of his trip to Dallas.
What would the king say when he realized what he’d inadvertently done? Finn had been matched with a woman who’d caused his family immeasurable misery and created a scandal that had spawned countless aftereffects.
Yet Finn and Juliet had met again, paired by a supposedly infallible computer program. Everybody he’d talked to raved about EA International’s process. Raved about Elise and how much she truly cared about the people she helped. So yesterday, Finn had walked through Elise’s extensive match profile, answered her questions as honestly as he could and hoped for the best.
Only to have Juliet dropped back into his life with no warning.
The smartest move would have been to turn around and leave without a backward glance. Staying was the surest method to end up insane by the end of the night.
He’d asked Juliet to dance only because manners had been bred into him since birth. This was Elise’s party and they were business associates. It was only polite.
But now he wasn’t so sure that was the only reason.
Seeing Juliet again had kicked up a push-pull of emotions he’d have sworn were buried. Not the least of which was the intense desire to have her head on a platter. After he had her body in his bed.
Fitting Juliet into his arms, they swayed together to the music. It took mere moments to find the rhythm they’d always shared. He stared down into her familiar face, into the green eyes he’d never forgotten, and felt something loosen inside.
It was Juliet, but in capital, sparkling letters with giant exclamation points.
She’d been transformed.
The alterations were external, and he’d liked her exactly the way she’d looked the last time he’d seen her. But what if more than her hair had changed?
Could he really fly back to Delamer without taking a few hours to find out what might be possible that hadn’t been possible before?
Now that he had her in his arms, the anger he’d carried with him for the past year was hard to hang on to.
“You look different,” he blurted out. Smooth. Juliet had never tied up his tongue before. “Amazing. So beautiful. You’re wearing cosmetics.”
She blinked sultry eyes and smiled with lips stained the color of deep sunset. Even her height was different. He glanced down. Sexy heels showcased her delicate feet and straps buckled around her ankles highlighted the shapely curve of her legs. He had the sudden mental image of