Royal Bachelor (12 page)

*

He visited her the following day at the Strand. The staff began to recognize him. But when one of them tried to help him find Alice they were at a loss. She was getting more and more difficult to find among the stacks. Luke found it all amusing and a little alarming. Between Jules’ observation and what happened in Nantucket he grew more and more terrified. What if she just simply and quietly stayed away?

But no, she was maddeningly the sweetest woman he’d ever met. He just couldn’t really tell now if he was special to her because she was nice and charming to everyone, except to people who unluckily inquired about a bad book. Since their return the other day she had been sweet but also dismissive towards Luke. They had made so much progress romantically; Luke had never felt this strongly about any of his lovers. But sex had changed their dynamic and in public she gave him a blank smile and kept her distance. He needed to speak with her privately and she seemed to be purposefully avoiding that.

Unable to locate her at the Strand, he gave her space all Saturday and then waited at her doorstep on Sunday morning.

She came out in a black and cream striped dress, black stockings and red velvet shoes. Very classy. Luke hadn’t realized he noticed these things—he was used to women gorgeously dressed—but it seemed he always noticed Alice.

She jumped when she saw him standing there.

“Hi. Mind if I join you?” he asked casually, even though his heart was beating faster than usual in anticipation of being devastated if she said no.

She didn’t say anything. Instead, she went down the steps and slid her hand in the crook of his arm with a smile.

“I missed you.” He couldn’t help saying that any more than he could help kissing her on the forehead.

“I missed you, too. You didn’t stalk me yesterday.”

Luke laughed, but his heart wasn’t in it. She smiled, but she was still distant. He had to warm her feet and relieve himself of this secret all at once.

“Hey, I think it’s my turn to bring you somewhere. You hijacked my invitation when you took us to Nantucket. Can I take you away this evening? You and the gang at Strand,” he added, because she’d started to look less warm. And then he was rewarded by his save. She smiled and nodded.

“Where are we going? Nowhere far, I hope. We have to get to work in the morning.”

“Leave it to me.”

The Lorignac estate was in Old Westbury. They wouldn’t even go out of state. He imagined leading Alice up the steps and into the great hall saying, “This belongs to the House of Lorignac. My house.”

But then she had shivered and looked cold at the prospect and, unwittingly, stupidly, he had offered for her friends to tag along. It would be harder getting her alone with them around. He remembered two things, however: his mother’s sunken garden and the library. Luke smiled. Telling Alice the truth was almost on-par with a marriage proposal and he was nervous, but he knew they could go no further unless she was informed of his secret.

And he wanted to go much, much further.

“There she is. Done hiding?” said Rebecca as she shouldered her bag and linked arms with Alice, ready to go home.

“I wasn’t hiding.”

“Who are you looking for?”

“No one.”

“So you’re just craning your neck at all our sale signs, huh?”

“Yeah. That one’s crooked.”

“He didn’t come today. Maybe he’s gotten tired of you and moved on.”

“Well, that’s a relief.” Alice gave an unconvincing laugh.

But her heart twinged and her stomach twisted and she seriously wanted to maim Rebecca.

When she got home, she immediately unearthed her phone.

No text messages and no missed calls. Usually, there were at least ten of the former and at least two of the latter.

All right, so perhaps Luke had done what he usually did. The excitement and novelty of the pursuit had gone stale and the desire had been quenched—not as thoroughly as either of them would have liked but still. Now her little adventure to wonderland had come to its inevitable end. She’d moved too slowly for him, concentrated too much on the erotic and the drawn-out when he must have wanted a quick fling. He had gotten just that. She could feel her blood rushing to her head just at the thought of it—
them
, all those touches and kisses and thrusts. She could still feel him all over her and inside her. She wanted to slap herself.

She’d pretty much deduced this would be the case, didn’t she? She just wasn’t ready for her heart to break this soon.

Beneath her hard veneer of cynical realism, Alice had to admit to herself that she’d hoped. In the underbelly of her heart, mind, soul and digestive system, she’d really
hoped
that Luke was there for more than a fling.

She’d fallen too fast, too deeply, so she’d thought it wise to be a challenge, a puzzle he had to unlock. Only, she’d messed it up and gave him the code to the bloody puzzle. She would forever love that sweet encounter they had on her parents’ living room floor—but she regretted giving in, nonetheless. It chafed at her and now she was going to be just one of many in Luke’s book.

She had lived for the evenings of getting home from work and finally answering each and every one of his text messages, for those hours at work when he’d surprise her by turning up and being a nuisance to her equilibrium. She thought she’d been stepping on the brakes and slowing the speed down, but now Alice had already slammed against the pole and she was a pretzel around it, stuck and knotted. And now, if Luke had lost interest, she’d be left mangled with nothing but pain and regret.

He had been too perfect. Though she tried to use doubt and thoughtfulness, she had hoped that he wouldn’t mar his own perfection by breaking her heart into smithereens by going away later if not sooner.

She fell asleep already counting those smithereens.

She dressed in her comfort outfit the next morning for Mass. Black and cream and red. She went out the door trying to convince herself she was happy, happy, happy. She was wearing merino wool all over, so warm and nice and soft. Red shoes made her happy. She was happy, that was her decision, and if she stuck to it, it didn’t matter if she never saw a certain man again.

And there he was. In another grey shirt and dark pants with a scarf wrapped around his neck. She was instantly jealous of that scarf.

“Hi. Mind if I join you?” he asked.

Mind! She wanted to laugh hysterically, but managed to keep her cackling inside her cranium. She calmly went down the steps and placed her hand on his arm. It felt so right and so delicious and she could smell his clean and citrusy scent. He kissed her on her forehead and her heart melted. Damn him.

“I missed you,” he murmured, and her heart was suddenly not only whole but so shiny it was blinding. If he missed her, why didn’t he call? Why didn’t he send messages of any kind? But her temper was undercut by a voice asking,
Well, Alice, why didn’t you just call him?
Perhaps she was being too childish and immature. She was playing games with Luke, holding herself back from the inevitable fall.

“I missed you, too. You didn’t stalk me yesterday.” What she wanted to say was;
I think I’ve fallen for you, stupid me. Are you going to work with me on that or am I going to be on call while you’re here, never to be thought of again when you leave?

He chuckled. She was going to miss that chuckle, but she was too cowardly to ask when he would leave the country. And then he was asking to take her away somewhere. And her heart was suddenly encased in steel armor again. She’d given in once. If she gave in twice, where would that leave her? In a country where self-respect was tinier than a button, that’s where. She wasn’t cut out for casual affairs.

A pancake landed on her face.

“What the—”

“Well, you wouldn’t answer the phone so I just came over,” said Rebecca, pinching bits off the pancakes in a plate on her lap and tossing each pinch to her mouth. She also picked up the piece she’d thrown at Alice and ate it. “And then I was talking to you and you didn’t even hear me.”

“I was reading.”

“What?”

“What?”

“What are you reading?”

Alice looked down. Nope, no book in her hands nor on her lap or anywhere near her in the sofa. Nearest ones were stashed in the shelf under the end table.

“Did you have a date?” Rebecca said, continuing to nibble on her pancake. “Nice outfit.”

“I went to Mass.”

“With?”

“Luke,” Alice supplied automatically.

“So he hasn’t ditched you, has he?”

“He still might. He will.”

“Who are you and what have you done to my optimistic friend Alice Martelli?”

Alice didn’t comment. “Hey, Luke’s taking us somewhere tonight.”

“Where? What do I wear? Wait—
us
, really?” She stared at Alice like she had just told a corny joke. Alice wanted to say, to
confide
, that Luke had originally meant just Alice and him, but Luke was sensitive and had backtracked and turned the tryst into a group dinner.

“You, me, Marsha and Clay,” was what Alice said instead. “Wear your usual night-out stuff. He didn’t say where.”

“So how do I know what to wear? Call him and let me ask him.”

Alice took off her shoes. “My phone’s in here somewhere. Be my guest. I’m going back to bed, Rebecca.”

Rebecca found Alice’s phone almost instantly in Alice’s purse which sat on the table lopsided, as if it had been dropped and the coffee table just happened to be there to catch it. “This call log’s funny,” said Rebecca. “Luke’s name is all incoming. You’ve never called him?”

Alice had gotten up, shoes in hand. She sat back down. “No.”

“Honey, that’s no way to treat a man like him,” Rebecca said solemnly. “But, on second thought, props to you for being a good strong woman who makes the man call.” Then she turned on her heel and headed back to her own apartment, leaving Alice free to obsess on two things.

One, Luke.

Two, what to wear.

Scratch that. Two was Luke, too.

She was annoyed at Luke’s chivalry. Everything he did was making her fall dangerously in love with him. She should resent him, or at least regret their heated night together. But here she was, smiling ruefully as she padded up the stairs, dreaming of this unexpected Prince Charming. She’d been softened to the point that she’d not only contemplated but had already accepted the inevitability of extending her coming evening with Luke.

*

Thank you ever so much for taking the time to read my very first novella from my very first series :)

Royal Bachelor was intended to be a Fun and Sexy read (nothing too serious)… I really hope that it delivered and you enjoyed it. 

As a new author I am very interested in hearing from you…my new best friends and readers.  If you’d like to get in touch/connect with me then please use one of the following:

My Facebook Page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Trudi-Torres/327521007365436

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Reviews are my second best friends
(after you, my lovely readers of course ;)
so please take a second to leave me one…it’ll take you a sec and it’ll mean the world to me :)

The Remainder of the Series –
(All Currently Priced at only 99c until Saturday June 15, 2013)

# 1 – Royal Bachelor

# 2 – Royal Desires direct Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Royal-Desires-ebook/dp/B00B7N1DKK/

# 3 – Royal Scandal:
http://www.amazon.com/Royal-Scandal-ebook/dp/B00C2YRGOA/

# 4 – Royal Chaos: Release Date July 02, 2013

# 5 – Name and release date will be confirmed shortly
(on my FB page)

# 6 –
(Final one in the series)
Name and Release date will be confirmed shortly
(on my FB page)

Again, thank you for reading!

- Trudi xx