Their Royal Wedding Bargain

‘You don’t.’ The blunt words were edged in steel and made all the insecurities left over from Stefano, and King Jaeger’s, rejection come storming back to her. What was she doing? She wasn’t some femme fatale! She was the woman that men walked away from.

But you already know he’s going to walk away, a little voice reminded her. It’s why you chose him.

Emboldened by that voice, her slinky dress and the hard, hot man beside her, Alexa decided she could either give into her inadequacies or throw caution to the wind and see what happened. With her heart in her mouth she embraced the latter, slowly crossing one leg over the other and gathering her hair in one hand to bring it forward over her shoulder. ‘Why don’t you let me be the judge of what I want? I’m not a child, Rafe.’

‘I know you’re not a child,’ he bit out. ‘Nobody looking at you in that dress could mistake you for one.’

‘You don’t like my dress?’

Before he could respond a laughing Hannah stopped by their table. ‘Everything okay, boss?’

‘Everything is fine, Hannah. You can officially clock off duty now and have a drink.’

‘Oh, thank goodness.’ She gave Alexa a wide smile. ‘I’ve been desperate to hit the dance floor. Have you had a dance yet, Your Highness?’

‘Please, just call me Alexa. A title seems so inappropriate tonight. Tonight I just want to have fun.’

‘Then let’s dance. Do you want to come, boss?’

‘No.’

‘Mind if I drag Alexa along?’

‘Yes.’

But Alexa was already sliding from the booth seat. ‘Don’t listen to him, Hannah. I’d love to go dancing. It’s what I’m here for.’

Hannah laughed. ‘I like this one. Make sure you don’t do anything to lose her.’

Weaving her way down the stairs, Alexa could feel Rafe’s gaze on her the whole way but she refused to turn and glance back at him. Somehow she knew the steps to the timeless game he had started playing with her at the Summer Palace, which had stalled when her father had forced them to get married. Well, no one was forcing him to do anything now, and if he didn’t want her she’d find someone else who did. After all, that had been the point of her initial mission—to buy herself some time to find a man she did want to marry.

Unfortunately, her mind seemed inconveniently stuck on one man right now. Her Prince.

‘This club is going to be on everyone’s list of where to go for years,’ Hannah stated, raising her voice above the upbeat music. ‘I love my job!’

She waved her hands in the air, her enthusiasm catching, and Alexa found herself loosening up as she gave up any semblance of self-consciousness and moved her body in a way that felt sexy and liberating.

‘So you like working for Rafe?’ she asked.

‘Oh, he’s amazing. The best boss in the world. And I’m not just saying that because you’re his wife—it’s true. He’s generous and disciplined and so kind. Last month he asked me to organise an all-expenses-paid holiday to the Caribbean for a month, along with six months off with full pay, for one of our accountants whose wife is ill.

He’s a dream boss.’

A dream boss? Hannah had just described her dream man. She certainly hadn’t described someone Alexa had believed to be self-centred and hedonistic.

‘You’re a lucky woman to have captured him,’ Hannah continued. ‘I think a thousand women lay heartbroken in their beds on the day you married.’

‘You can stop talking now, Hannah.’

Alexa turned at Rafe’s droll tone to find him standing stock-still in front of her, the gyrating bodies of the other dancers surrounding him like caricatures in a stage play. She slowly dropped her arms from over her head, unable to take her eyes from his.

‘I thought you didn’t want to dance?’ Hannah laughed.

‘I don’t.’ Rafe’s gaze slid down over Alexa’s body with such searing heat she turned liquid inside. ‘Go get a drink, Hannah. Your duty is done here.’

‘I can see that.’ Hannah grinned and melted into the surrounding dancers.

Alexa didn’t notice Hannah disappear; she only had eyes for Rafe, who was looking at her as a wolf might look at a helpless deer.