Their Royal Wedding Bargain

The look he gave her was one of surprise. ‘Why would I do that? They have their lives, and I have mine.’

‘It might be healthy,’ she offered. ‘How do you know they’re not suffering in some way?’

She saw a muscle pulsing in his jaw as if she’d hit a nerve, his eyes suddenly remote. ‘Jag and Milena both have my number if they need me. And you—’ he said with silky emphasis ‘—do not need to concern yourself with any of this. I’m fine, Alexa. There’s nothing missing from my life.’

What about love? she thought.

He didn’t have love, but nor did he want it. As soon as the thought entered her mind a deep sense of misery filled her whole body. Misery for the boy whose parents had cared more about their own needs than those of their children. And misery at the wounds their behaviour had inflicted—inadvertent or otherwise. But at least now she had some understanding as to why he was the way he was.

Where she had always craved connection to others as a result of the lack of warmth in her own childhood—often to her personal detriment—Rafe had been let down by the very people who should have had his back, so he didn’t let anyone close. He didn’t try at all.

And she would do well to remember that because he didn’t want that to change, and she’d be a fool to want it to be otherwise.

CHAPTER EIGHT

SOMETHING TICKLED HER ribs and Alexa swatted at it. ‘Don’t wake me.’

‘I thought you were a morning person.’

She rolled over and groaned when she saw the clock. ‘I am when I’ve managed to get some sleep.’

Rafe sat down on the bed beside her. ‘I have coffee.’

‘Coffee?’ Alexa sprang up and blinked the sleep from her eyes. She breathed deeply and there it was, that delicious aroma.

Rafe laughed and handed her a mug. ‘So predictable. But drink up. I have a surprise for you.’

‘You do?’

‘How do you feel about going on a road trip?’

‘Don’t you have to work?’

‘Hannah’s been nagging me about taking time off so I’ve cancelled my appointments for the next couple of days. If you need any further incentive, the road trip involves my bike.’

‘It does?’ Feeling helplessly happy and knowing it was dangerous to keep indulging in an emotion that had everything to do with the man creating it, Alexa shelved the voice in her head that said she was letting herself feel too much and nodded. ‘Give me five minutes.’

Rafe laughed, leaning in to give her a lingering kiss. ‘Now I really am jealous of my bike.’

A couple stretched into five days of exploring the English and Scottish countryside, as well as each other.

Rafe had taken her to Cambridge and the pub he’d frequented during his student days. From there they’d spent an afternoon climbing the ruggedly green Old Man of Coniston in the Lake District, before skipping over the border to explore Scotland. They’d stopped at Glasgow for a few nights where Rafe had checked out the nightclub scene and a couple of buildings he said he was thinking of investing in. One in particular, a grand old Art Deco cinema, Alexa had fallen in love with, totally on board with his vision of restoring it to its former glory rather than tearing it down.

Now they were by Loch Ness, standing under a cloudy sky and staring at the inky black waters of the lake.

‘I’ve always wanted to see the monster,’ Alexa said, her eyes searching for a tell-tale ripple or sign of an arched neck.

Rafe slipped his open coat around her body and hugged her closer against the sudden drop in the temperature. ‘There is no monster.’

‘Don’t ruin the fun of it.’ She burrowed even further into him against the cold. ‘I’ve decided I’m going to do this every year.’

‘Look for the Loch Ness monster?’

‘No.’ She jabbed him playfully. ‘Take off for a week where no one knows who I am or where I am. I might even get my motorbike licence.’

‘The Princess who rides?’

‘Absolutely.’