Paul could never live up to the memory of Alex. Sometimes it felt like a figment of her imagination. Something so special that only she could remember. The only person she ever spoke to about it was Polly.
She’d tried to forget about him—she really had. She’d even lived with a lovely guy called Luke for a couple of years. But things just hadn’t worked out between them, and in her heart she knew why. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t forget about her mysterious prince.
Rena smiled and touched Ruby’s arm. ‘Well, you’ve obviously got a devoted, secret admirer. It’s romantic. It’s mysterious. I could probably work it into a book somewhere.’
Ruby laughed. ‘Rena, you write about murder and mayhem. I’m not sure I want to end up in one of your books!’
She cast her eyes over the flowers again. Stunning. Really stunning. Beautiful tropical colours. Red, pinks, yellows and oranges. Like a burst of sunshine on a rainy day.
She swallowed. The flowers had stopped for a few years. Right around the time when it had been all over the news that Prince Alex had married Princess Sophia of Leruna. A perfect fairytale princess. Dainty and blonde—nothing like Ruby. A baby had followed quickly afterwards. Followed by her tragic death due to breast cancer.
All that crammed into the space of two years. And not a single bunch of flowers over that time.
The coincidence played on her mind. The deliveries had started again around eighteen months ago. Could the flowers have been from Alex all along?
Something coiled deep inside her.
She walked over to the window and stared outside at the pouring rain of London. Another wasted five minutes thinking about her prince.
Her prince. What a joke. She’d never used those words out loud and never would. It was bad enough that they circulated around her brain.
Alex might have had tragedy, but he’d also had a life. Promotion for Ruby had come at a price. She’d been working so hard these last few years. Trying to change the lives of children who had been born with speech difficulties. It had left no time for her, no time for relationships, and no time to think about having a family.
The responsibilities of being in charge of a department in one of the best hospitals in London were relentless.
Sometimes she felt like a hamster, running in a wheel that she could never get off.
A porter brushed past, sending the scent of the beautiful flowers to meet her. It brought her back to reality quickly.
There was no point dreaming. She was nobody’s princess.
And it was time to get back to work.
* * *
She was dashing around like a mad woman. Everyone in this hospital was the same. It had taken five different attempts for him to finally get some directions.
He stopped for a second to breathe. Ten years. Ten years since that night in Paris.
How different his life might have been. If his father hadn’t been taken ill he would have met Ruby a few hours later in Paris and taken her sightseeing. That thought still made his stomach tighten.
She looked almost the same. Her dark curls were a little shorter. Her figure was just as curvy. But the expression on her face was more serious. Tired, even. And there were little lines around her eyes.
He didn’t even want to look in the mirror lately. Although only ten years had passed since they’d last seen each other he was sure he’d aged about twenty.
The flowers he’d sent were sitting on the desk behind her. She wasn’t even looking at them. Everyone else was oohing and aahing over them. But Ruby was too busy. Ruby was focused.
He watched her hurry around; she had a pile of cards in her hands.
‘Seventeen new referrals,’ she said to a nearby colleague, ‘and Caroline is stuck in a traffic jam in the middle of London. How on earth are we going to get all these children assessed?’
He sucked in a breath. He’d never doubted for a second that Ruby would be dedicated to her work. But would it stand in the way of what he wanted her to do?
She tucked a curl behind her ear. It made his fingers tingle. He’d done that once.
‘Can I help you?’ someone asked him.
He shook his head. It was now or never.
He stepped forward. ‘One of those referral cards will be from me.’
Ruby spun around to face him. The professional mask fell as quickly as the cards from her hand. His accent was unmistakable; she couldn’t fail to recognise it.
‘Alex,’ she said. Nothing else. Her eyes locked on to his.
‘Ruby.’
She tilted her head to the side, as if she were contemplating a million different questions, before sucking in a deep breath and giving a visible little shake of her head.
Ten years. Ten years since he’d run his fingers through those soft dark curls and looked into those chocolate-brown eyes. Ten years since he’d felt the silky softness of her skin, tasted the sweetness of her lips.
Every sensation, every touch, every taste flashed in front of him in an instant.
But Ruby wasn’t caught in the same spell that he was.
She bent down to retrieve the cards and he knelt to help her. It was inevitable that their hands touched as they reached out towards the same card.
She pulled her hand away as if she’d been stung. ‘Why, Alex? Why are you here?’
It was as if someone had reached into his chest and twisted his heart. There it was. In a few simple words a whole multitude of hurt. No one else would hear it. No one else would understand. But Ruby’s deep brown eyes were fixed on his and he could see everything there. She looked wounded. Ten years on and her hurt was still easily visible.
But what did she see when she looked at him? He wasn’t Alex the twenty-four-year-old any more—the bachelor Crown Prince with the world at his feet. He was a father. He was a widower. He was Prince Regent. The Prince continually in waiting.
And he was desperate.
In his head this had all been so easy. Find someone you would trust with your daughter. Find Annabelle the expert help she needs.
It had even seemed sensible to the palace advisors. If they’d questioned his choice of therapist at first, once they’d researched Ruby’s qualifications and seen her recent publications all queries had vanished.
But now he was here in the flesh it was so much harder. Now he could see her. Now he could hear her. Now he could smell her. Her light floral scent was drifting around him.
He’d had no idea of the effect seeing Ruby again would have on him. Ten years... Ten years lost. Ten years of what might have been.
‘Alex?’
The word jolted him and he smiled. No one called him Alex any more. No one had ever really
called him just Alex.
He straightened up and handed her the final cards.
‘I’m here because I need your help, Ruby.’
* * *
Any minute now a bunch of unicorns would come cantering along the hospital corridor, with exploding rainbows all around them.
She’d dreamt about Alex before. But never like this. Never in her workplace. All those dreams had been set back in Paris. Or in the Euronian palace that she’d looked at online.
But Alex standing in front of her at work, asking for her help...? She was obviously losing her mind.
He reached out and touched her bare arm. Short sleeves were essential in a hospital environment, to stop the spread of infection. This time she didn’t pull away. This time she let the feel of the pads of his fingers spread warmth through her chilled arm.
He was really here.
This wasn’t a strange hallucination due to overwork or lack of chocolate.
Ten years she’d waited to talk to this man again. Ten years waiting to ask him what the hell had happened back in Paris and why he’d never contacted her.
Alex—her Alex. Her prince was finally standing right in front of her.
He was every bit as handsome as she remembered. Better, even.
Tanned skin, dark hair and bright blue eyes. She’d sometimes wondered if she’d imagined how blue they were. But she hadn’t. If anything she’d underestimated their effects. But, then again, she’d never seen Alex in daylight.
She wasn’t imagining any of this. All six foot four of him was standing right in front of her.
Her eyes lowered to where his hand was touching her. Tiny electric pulses were shooting up her arm. She didn’t know whether to cry or be sick.
Every part of her imagination had just turned into reality.
In a way, it was a relief. She had met Alex. He did remember her. So why was that making her so darn angry right now?
He pulled his hand back from her arm and she lifted her head, pulling her shoulders back. He’d taken his hand away. And it had left her feeling bereft. Now she was feeling angry with herself. She didn’t have a sensible thought in her head right now.