“Jeff, there is something I have to tell you.” How would he take her news? “I must marry.”
“What?” He stopped walking and turned to her. “Are you proposing, Izzy?”
She closed her eyes and swallowed the bitter taste duty left in her mouth. “No, I can not marry you. I must marry royalty and take my place as Queen of this country.”
“Queen?” He sank next to her on the settee. “You’re going to be queen?”
She nodded. “It is my destiny.”
“Why were you at my hospital? What was your trip to Central America all about? And why under an alias?”
“I believe in helping others. My country funded many charitable works before my father’s death. I wanted to do something beyond monetary. My father agreed under duress as long as I traveled with body guards.” She shrugged. “It was not as if I had not had them my entire life. Even while at university in the U.S., two body guards accompanied me to ever class incognito as students.”
“Why as Izzy Strover?”
She shrugged, knowing he could never understand the burden of constant surveillance and expectations. “I did not want to be treated differently than any other volunteer when I visited mission sites. Being a princess can bring undue attention. I wanted a chance to just be a woman.”
His jaw tightened. “Is that what I was all about? Making you feel like a woman?”
“I will always treasure the time we spent together.” She placed her hand over his. Her heart sped at the contact of his skin against hers. Goosebumps covered her skin. It had been so long since she had felt the heat of his touch.
Jeff’s gaze dropped to their hands. “I don’t understand why I’m here.”
“I had to know how I felt abou
t you.”
His blue eyes searched hers. “And do you?”
Heaven help her, she did. “My heart has belonged to you from the first time you kissed me.”
“At the hospital.”
“Yes.” Memories flooded Isabella.
Jeff twined his fingers with hers. “You took my breath away, Izzy.”
“As you did mine.” His musky scent tantalized her senses. She inhaled deeply, embracing the powerful way her body reacted to his male fragrance.
“You are engaged?”
“Soon.” She leaned closer, her gaze focused on his lips. She wanted him to kiss her. She wanted much more than that. Which was wrong. They had no future. She would not use him to satisfy the ache within her chest.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?” But she knew.
“Like nothing has changed between us.”
“Has it?”
“You know it has.”
“No. Everything is as it was. Only now you see more clearly who I am. Who I must be.”
“A queen?”
“Yes.”