Carrie Alexander - Once Upon A Tiara

“IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED, lovely Lili?” Trey crooned as he snaked his arm around her shoulders and dragged her across the front seat of his convertible toward himself.

Technically, she had to admit that it was. Going for a moonlit convertible ride was supposed to be so Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. Instead it felt more like—like—

Lili cast about for the name of the television serial that had played endlessly on Grunberg’s one local TV channel. Oh, yes—Happy Days! Or better yet, Laverne and Shirley.

Like that lovably wacky duo, Lili had gotten herself into another predicament. It was turning out that, despite his promising first impression, a little Trey Stone went a long way. So did his arm, unfortunately.

She lifted his large hand from its familiar position, fingers dangling within brushing distance of her breast. Trey gave her shoulder a squeeze, apparently quite comfortable to be driving with only one free hand. Lili stifled her sigh.

She looked up at the dark sky, studded with stars to rival the tiny diamonds in her ears. “This is very nice.” Then why aren’t I enjoying myself?

After one quick drink and much smooth talk in the nearly empty lounge, Trey had hinted that they should move their party to a private location. Lili, nervous about being spotted, had rashly agreed. Although Trey was also staying at the hotel, he wasn’t quite so bold to invite her up to his room. Not that she’d have gone. She wasn’t so stuck on the idea of a madcap fling that she’d throw herself at the first Casanova who came along. It was true that she’d had high hopes for Trey, particularly when he suggested they go cruising in his convertible, but her enthusiasm was fading…for some reason.

They’d driven around for a while, even stopped at the drive-in restaurant that Simon had mentioned. Now they were traveling a country lane outside of Blue Cloud. Lili wasn’t sure where, exactly. A needle of doubt poked through her blanket of assurance. The problem with always being taken care of was that she hadn’t developed good self-defense mechanisms. Trey had better be trustworthy!

He glanced at her, his face classically handsome in the moonlight. “She walks in beauty like the night of starry skies and cloudless climes…”

“How sweet.” How uninspired. She smiled up at Trey, locked under his weighty arm. He said all the right things, he really did. He was glib, charming and ever so slightly devilish. Aside from groping her shoulder, he hadn’t made a wrong move all night.

Maybe that was it. She was taken with Simon’s peculiarities. And the awful, hokey pickup lines he blurted out when he was trying to be charming.

The sporty convertible took the curves like a race car. Fresh, pure country air whistled past the windshield. Lili was a little chilly, but she couldn’t snuggle up to Trey without sending him the wrong signal. She wrapped her arms around herself. “This truly is lovely,” she said to fill the silence. “Truly.”

Trey’s white teeth gleamed at her. “We can pull over, if you like.”

Lili knew what that meant; the kids on Happy Days went parking on Blueberry Hill. It wasn’t as popular a practice in Grunberg, where cars weren’t commonly owned by teenagers, and princesses on dates were trailed by hot-and cold-running bodyguards.

Trey didn’t wait for her approval. When they came to a clearing in the trees that bordered the road, he slowed and drove a short way into the grassy area. A large graceful willow tree hung over the car, its drooping branches rustling slightly in the wind. “This is pleasant,” Lili said, keeping her voice unimpressed, even though he probably wouldn’t take the hint. She probably shouldn’t come right out and say, “Shove it, buster.” Princesses were always polite.

“Nice, sweet, lovely, pleasant,” Trey said teasingly, shifting his large body around so he was facing her. One arm was draped on the steering wheel. The other had released her shoulders, although now his hand rested heavily on the back of her neck. Lili wanted to shrug it away. But she ought to give him a chance. He certainly looked like the kind of man she’d imagined she’d meet in America—tall, dark and handsome.

“I’m a princess,” Lili explained with a touch of irony. “I live in a sugar-spun fairy tale where life is beautiful all the time.”

“And you come complete with tiara.”

She laughed politely. “Sorry to disappoint! I don’t wear the tiara as common practice.”

Trey’s fingertips crawled along her nape. “You must have tried it on at least.”

She blinked. “The Brunner bridal tiara?”

He leaned closer. “Yesss.”

“Um.” Why did men think that hissing in her ear like a snake was seductive? “Actually, no. Even though my sisters and I begged my mother to let us try it on, she never would. There’s a legend…” Lili lost track of her words because Trey had dropped his arm around her shoulders again and was drawing her toward his mouth. “Only Brunner brides are supposed to…” Goodness, he had a lot of teeth.

His breath was hot. Minty.

Yeesh, she thought as Trey landed a kiss that consumed the lower half of her face. The kiss was much too wet and loose. She struggled a little, but he held her tightly, applying his mouth to hers like a suction hose. Slurp.

She put her hands on his chest and pushed. Still polite, but plenty firm. His mouth left hers with a wet pop. She gagged a little and swiped the back of a hand across her lips. Spittle wasn’t polite. “Urg. Slow down, big guy.”

For an instant, Trey didn’t look so pleasant. Then he smiled again and winked at her, a thick lock of dark hair fallen rakishly across his forehead. “You said you wanted a real taste of America.”

Yes, indeed she had. “But not all at once, thank you.”

He fingered her hair. “You’re a cute kid.”

She squinted. “Meaning?”

“You’re nothing like your sister, are you?”

“Which one?”

“Natalia.”

“How do you know Natalia?”

Trey stroked her cheek. “Oh, I don’t. I read about her in the tabloids. She’s the wild one, right?”

“I suppose there are some who call her that. To me, she’s just my sister. I’m the youngest, so she’s closer to Annie than I am.” Lili tilted her head to get away from Trey’s persistent fingers. “I’m surprised you’ve read about us. We’re not all that well known in America. Aside from here in Blue Cloud, of course, because my grandmother was born here—”

She stopped, struck by suspicion. Over drinks, Trey had claimed that he was in town to visit friends. She’d asked about his job, but she realized now that he’d evaded the question, leading her to believe, with a few casually dropped comments, that he was independently wealthy. Meanwhile, he’d probed for information about her, the Brunner family, their castle in Grunberg. He’d even hinted around for VIP passes to the grand opening of the jewel exhibit and an invitation to the formal ball. It was pretty clear that he was more interested in the princess than the woman.

In her eagerness for experience, she’d been too trusting. Suppose he was playing her?

Suppose?

“What did you say you do again?” she asked.

Trey grinned. “I didn’t.”

“You’re not a reporter, are you?”

He threw back his head and laughed. “Hell, no!”

“Then why the interest in me and my family?”

“No sinister motives.” He leered, his eyes glinting at her from the pattern of light and shadow cast by the moonlight filtering through the branches of the willow tree. “If you must know, I collect pretty girls.”

She pushed his hand away. “Some might consider that sinister.”

He buffed his nails on his expensive suit. “What can I say? I’m a ladies’ man.” He was practically boasting. “I assumed you’d had plenty of experience with suave European suitors. And you sure seemed eager enough to partake of the American variety.”