The coolness behind his question took Alexa by surprise. ‘Of course not.’ Her incredulous gaze met hostile blue. ‘Your brother is an honourable man.’
‘And I’m not?’
Sensing that his emotions were barely leashed beneath the facade of civility, Alexa moistened her lips. ‘I didn’t say that. But I was unaware that honour was so important to you.’
‘It isn’t.’ The Prince gave her a benign smile that belied the tension emanating from his large frame. ‘As you pointed out previously, I have very different priorities to my brother. That aside, I believe it’s time for us to leave, dear wife.’
It took a moment for her mind to process his words but then she frowned. ‘What do you mean, us?’
‘Generally it denotes oneself and the person one happens to be speaking with.’
‘Don’t be smart,’ she retorted. As far as she had understood, Rafe would head back to London alone, claiming that they would take a honeymoon later on, when time permitted. ‘I’m not leaving with you. That was never part of the plan.’
‘Alas no, but then nor was our actual marriage. But one must improvise.’
‘I’m not big on improvising. And we agreed to delay our honeymoon so that we didn’t have to have one.’
‘Once the international press bought into our love story, I thought you’d realise that we would have to present a united front. You were the one who first mentioned that our people would wa
nt to see us together, if I remember correctly.’
‘Yes, but I was projecting into the future. I can’t leave with you now. I have people to see next week. Meetings to take.’
‘It’s not negotiable, Alexa. I’m not leaving here without you.’
The way he said her name sent a frisson of sensation skittering along her nerve-endings, flustering her. ‘Why can’t you stay here instead?’
The Prince arched a brow. ‘Because it might be a bit hard to open my club from here next weekend—considering it’s in Chelsea.’
‘Oh.’ She hadn’t thought of that. ‘Well, I need more time to think about this.’
‘You have an hour.’
Feeling as if her life was spinning out of control again, Alexa tried to hold her ground. ‘Maybe I can join you in a few days.’
‘Fine. You do that. And while you’re at it you can explain the delay to the press and your father, who happens to be watching us closely.’
Knowing she was defeated because she did not want to face her father right now, Alexa groaned. ‘But I haven’t packed.’
‘Throw an overnight bag together. Anything else you need can be sent on.’
‘How long do you expect me to be gone?’
‘Allow for two weeks. That’s the usual time allotted to a honeymoon, isn’t it?’
‘Honeymoon?’
Her startled gaze met his and something sizzled in the air between them, making it hard to breathe. The room seemed somehow oppressively hot and all Alexa could think about was that blisteringly short kiss at the altar. Her heartbeat picked up and she really wished she knew what he was thinking.
‘Not a real honeymoon,’ he drawled gruffly. ‘Unless that’s what you want, of course.’
For a moment Alexa nearly said yes, and the shock of that realisation was enough to have her vigorously shaking her head. ‘No, no, it’s not.’ She hated how she sounded like a frightened rabbit, but it was exactly how she felt.
‘I didn’t think so.’ He gave her a tight smile. ‘Which is why we’ll spend two weeks in my London apartment. I’ll meet you at the palace airstrip in...’ he checked his watch ‘...fifty minutes.’
Fifty minutes?
That was nowhere near long enough for her to work out how she was going to survive two weeks holed up in an apartment with a man who tempted her like no other, but who couldn’t be more wrong for her.