Kat Cantrell - Matched to a Prince

She’d been pretty successful thus far. Yet in two seconds, he’d done a spectacular job of reminding her sheer will couldn’t stop the flood of longing for the tender affections of one very talented prince.

“Did you quit your job in Delamer?” Finn asked once the chef finished serving the main course of corvina sea bass and asparagus over quinoa.

“I did.”

The short phrase communicated none of the grief she’d experienced over resigning her position teaching English to bright young minds. She loved the children she taught and had hoped to find a way to continue teaching in America.

Then she remembered.

She hadn’t been matched with an American husband. If things worked out with Finn, she could go home, go back to her job, back to the sea. Back into his arms.

Was such a fairy tale actually possible?

With renewed interest, she swept her gaze over the man opposite her. “Are you still flying helicopters?”

“Of course. I’ll do that until the day I die. Or until they ground me. Whichever comes first.”

No shock. He’d always loved flying as much as he did the search and rescue part of his job. The source of contention wasn’t what he did but whom he did it for.

“Hmm,” she said noncommittally and forked up a bite of fish. “I wasn’t going to jump right into this, but I’m on uncertain ground here. Tell me what you hoped to gain from Elise’s match. Are you really looking for a wife?”

Finn set his wineglass down firmly and focused on her, the warmth in his expression all too easy to read. “I can’t keep being the Party Prince. The best I thought I could do was an arranged marriage, like my parents. Means to an end, and I’m okay with that. What about you?”

That focus unleashed a shiver she couldn’t quite control. “I was prepared to marry whomever Elise picked. I couldn’t stay in Delamer. Not with the way things fell apart between us. Marriage was a means to an end for me, as well.”

She’d like to stop there and just enjoy this date. But there were too many unanswered questions for that.

“What is this dinner all about? We aren’t having a first date like we would with the matches we’d envisioned for ourselves. This is something else. We have history we’re avoiding. Important history. History that has to be resolved.”

Finn’s gaze grew keen. “You want to throw down? Go for it.”

“No, I don’t.” She shook her head, though he was certainly the only man who could take whatever she dished out. “We’ve fought enough in our relationship. I want to work things out like adults. Can we?”

With a smile, Finn picked up her hand and rubbed a knuckle with his smooth thumb. “Let’s hold off on history with a capital H. Dinner is about me and you reconnecting. That’s the part of our history I prefer to remember.”

“Okay.”

She’d waited this long. What were a few more hours? The time would be well spent working through what she’d realized she’d done wrong a year ago. Instead of fighting so hard to convince Finn to talk to his father, she should have gone about this a whole different way.

If Finn was truly looking for a wife, what was stopping her from marrying him in order to bring about change from inside the palace gates? Princess Juliet would have far more power to influence the king away from mandatory military service than plain old Juliet Villere.

And then maybe she could finally be rid of the crushing guilt she felt over Bernard’s death.

* * *

Dinner forgotten, Finn nearly swallowed his tongue when Juliet pushed back her chair and waltzed to his side of the table wearing a sultry smile and sporting a very naughty glint in her eye. She extended a hand, which he took silently, and then he stood, allowing her to lead him up the path into a more heavily wooded section of the park.

“Interested in the native fauna and flora?” he asked when the silence stretched on.

“More interested in how well the flora conceals us.” She backed him up against a tree and stepped into his torso deliberately, rubbing her firm breasts against his chest.

Oh, so that’s what she had in mind. Obviously, she remembered how good it had been as well as he did. And apparently she had no problem rekindling that part of their relationship, impending matches to other people notwithstanding. Fantastic.

“That earlier kiss was good. Make this one better,” she commanded.

Instantly, he complied, yanking her into his arms and exploring her back flat-handed. Their mouths met, aligning perfectly, and heat arced between them.

Juliet.

Desire thundered through his body, soaking him with a storm of need. She was in his arms, overpowering his senses as if he’d jumped from his helicopter without a parachute.

Thank God Elise had pulled her devious stunt to put them in each other’s path again, if only for one night. Tomorrow, he and Juliet could both be matched with more suitable mates.

The kiss deepened and Juliet snuggled against him as if she’d never been away. Heat swept along his skin, craving the perfection of Juliet’s beautiful body against it. He groaned and shifted a knee between her legs, and his thigh hit the sweet spot immediately.

That was some dress. The high-heeled and insanely sexy shoes helped too.

He lifted his lips a fraction and murmured, “I’ve missed you. Can we take this someplace more private?”

Her smile curved against his cheek and she nodded.

Grasping her hand, he pulled her in the direction of the newly returned town car, settled her in the backseat and nearly dived in after her.

He’d never been able to resist her, and now he didn’t have to.

Somehow, Finn had been granted a reprieve. The king hadn’t phoned him to demand an explanation for the photographs from last night. Now he had this one chance to recapture a small slice of heaven before submitting to an arranged marriage.

He’d hoped, against all logical reason, that the woman Elise matched him with could heal his broken heart. The odds of that happening with the woman who’d smashed it in the first place were zilch. Especially since he’d never in a million years give it to her again.

So he’d grant EA International another chance. Once he had a new bride by his side, the public would forget about the Party Prince and he could become known for something worthwhile.

The People’s Prince. He liked the sound of that.

In the meantime, he could have Juliet...and all the good things about their relationship. Without getting into the painful past.

“So I take it you thought dinner went well?” he asked with a grin he couldn’t have wiped off his face for anything. “You know, since you agreed to a repeat of the kiss.”

Her hair was a little mussed from his fingers. He itched to pull out all the pins and let those silky locks tumble over him.

“I’m staying open to where the night leads. But it’s been good so far.” She studied him speculatively. “We’re not fighting. We’re connecting, like you said.”

They weren’t fighting because they’d thus far avoided the problem. And he was totally prepared to keep avoiding history with a capital H for as long as possible. “If this driver would step on it, we’d be connecting a whole lot more.”

She laughed. “We have all night. But while we’re on the subject, does connecting mean you’re open to being on my side this time around?”

Apparently she did not subscribe to the same desire for avoidance of the past. “I’ve always been on your side.”

“If that was true, you’d never have taken the stance you did.” Her expression closed in. “You’d have supported me and my family when we tried to talk to your father.”

That was the Juliet he’d last seen in Delamer. His stomach dipped. The connection part of the evening appeared to be over.