Rebecca Winters - Wedding Vows - Say I Do - Matrimony with His Majesty / Invitation to the Prince's Palace / The Prince's Outback Bride

“Thanks a lot, Roy.”

Her allusion to Roy Rogers, the famous cowboy, would be lost on Jules, but Alex and Phillip laughed.

“Come on, Dad.”

She felt Alex’s gaze compelling her to look at him, but that was all over. She didn’t dare allow herself another second alone with him. She didn’t want a postmortem of what had happened up on the mountain. Until Alex and Isabella sorted things out in the next couple of days, she intended to stay sequestered in the apartment away from everyone.

Turning on her heel, she took a path through the trees that would lead back to the castle without her having to see Alex’s mother.

One day they would have to meet, but not right now. Not while the feel and taste of her son’s hands and mouth had rocked Darrell’s world.

ALEX left Phillip and the boys in his mother’s apartment. She’d invited all of them to lunch. Knowing they’d be occupied several hours at least, he slipped out to take the inevitable phone call from Isabella.

Her parents expected him for dinner. That gave him three hours to talk to Darrell before the helicopter took off.

He had an idea she’d barricaded herself in the suite. The passion they’d shared had not only scared the daylights out of her, but it had changed him into someone he didn’t know anymore.

He took the stairs down to the second floor and walked through the hallway until he reached her door. Before he knocked, he pulled out his cell phone to call her.

There was no answer, however he hadn’t expected her to pick up.

He knew instinctively she was hiding from him. Maybe she would answer the door if he knocked, thinking it was the maid. But there was no response—no sound to indicate she was inside.

In his gut he knew she’d made up her mind not to open it, not even for the king.

But the man could gain access to her without anyone knowing about it—the man Alex had been repressing since that wild night years ago—the man who seemed to have been reborn since discovering he had a son…

The only way to do this meant going through the music room on the first floor located directly below the Saxony apartment. The rope Chaz had attached from the balcony to reach both floors still hung outside the window.

Driven by a need he could no longer control, Alex went downstairs and stole inside the room past the grand piano. He opened the window to test the rope’s strength, figuring it would still hold him. If it didn’t, he’d fall in the lake. It had happened many times before without incident.

After getting out on the ledge, he grasped the thick cord and started climbing hand over hand.

It wasn’t as easy as it used to be. The years had taken a toll on his athletic prowess. If Chaz saw him now, he’d laugh his head off.

One more burst of energy and he would be home free.

“Darrell Collier?” he called out to her. “I’m coming up to you so be warned!”

In the next instant he heard an answering scream. Luckily the thick castle walls would have muted her cry.

“I hope you’re presentable because I’m almost there. We have to talk.”

He threw his arm over the balcony wall and hoisted himself so only his head and shoulders were visible.

She stood there clutching the lapels of her robe to her throat. “Are you out of your mind, Alex?”

He could read several emotions coming from those violet eyes, but the dominant one was fear for his safety.

“That all depends on your definition,” he drawled.

She stamped her foot impatiently. “You’re going to fall!”

“It wouldn’t be the first time.”

“Be serious,” she begged. Her face had gone pale.

“I’ve never been more serious in my life. I have to fly to Italy in a little while, so I won’t be able to see you or Phillip until tomorrow.”

Her appealing body was trembling. “You could have phoned me with that information.”

“I tried. When that didn’t work I knocked on your door.”

She bit her lip. “I—I was asleep.”

“Here at the window you mean?”

Suddenly her color came flooding back into her cheeks. “This isn’t funny, Alex. You could plunge to your death. Please come inside,” she implored him.

“You’re sure? I wouldn’t want you accusing me of taking advantage of you.”

“Yes, I’m sure!” she practically shouted at him.

“Since you asked me so nicely, I think I will.”

Another lunge brought him within a foot of her. She backed away like a frightened fawn in the forest.

She had every right to be nervous of him. At the moment he was feeling invincible. But it was the wrong decade, the wrong country, the wrong woman.

“I’m not going to apologize for kissing you today. I thoroughly enjoyed it. You’re a beautiful woman. It was one of those incredible summer mornings, and I couldn’t resist.

“That’s no excuse, but it’s the best explanation I can offer. As long as I’m engaged to Isabella, I swear it won’t happen again. That’s what I came to say. I want you to be able to trust me. If we don’t have that, we don’t have anything.”

“I agree.” Her voice caught. “What happened was both our faults. Of course I trust you. I think the situation with Phillip threw us, but no longer.”

Phillip had nothing to do with the chemistry between them, Alex reasoned to himself. But he decided to let her remark pass because he had tangible proof she desired him, too. She could deny it all she wanted, but the fact remained they were both on fire for each other with no help in sight.

“You sound totally recovered.”

“I am,” she assured him. After pausing for breath she asked, “Where’s Phillip now?”

“With mother and the boys. Though she’s not ready to admit it yet, she’s having the time of her life getting to know her grandson. The boys are in shock. The reality of Phillip has already shaken Vito out of his morose state. As for Jules, he’s just plain delighted with his upstart cousin from across the Atlantic.”

Her mouth curved upward, bewitching him. “Upstart is right.”

“Darrell—” he said before she could say anything else. “I know how hard the situation is on you. I don’t expect you to remain in this limbo forever. Just give me until tomorrow. After being with Isabella, I’ll know a lot more.”

She nodded. “It’s all right. I checked with Jack. He told me to use this time for my vacation.”

Alex’s hands curled into fists. No doubt Jack was counting the hours until she flew back. What a fool her boss was to let her out of his sight.

“Is there anything I can do for you before I leave? Anything at all?”

She shook her gilt-blond head without looking at him. “I feel like I’m living in a dream. How could I possibly want anything more?”

How indeed.

“I’ll be in touch with you in the morning and we’ll go from there. Do me a favor and answer the phone so I don’t have to risk my life a second time in order to have a conversation with you?”

She lifted anxious eyes to him. “I’m sorry. I promise to answer it.”

Before he proved that he couldn’t keep a promise to her five minutes, let alone a lifetime, he slipped back over the side of the balcony.

“Alex—”

She sounded terrified for him, but he kept on going, not daring to let her cries stop him or heaven help them both.

When he’d swung himself back inside the music room and had locked the window, he phoned the palace security guard out in the hall. “There’s a rope hanging from the balcony of the Saxony apartment to the outside of the music room. It’s a security risk and needs to be removed ASAP.”

“I thought you didn’t want it cut down.”

“I’ve changed my mind.” I don’t trust myself anymore.