Matched to a Prince

Two

“What?” Finn zeroed in on Juliet, piercing her with steely blue eyes she remembered all too well. “Is this your idea of a joke? Did you beg Elise to contact me?”

Is that what he thought? Her brother was dead and afterward, Finn had abandoned her when she’d needed him most. Juliet would never forgive him. Why would she extend one small finger to see him again?

“I had nothing to do with this!” Hands on her hips, she waded straight into the rising tension, eyes and ears around them forgotten as the emotions Finn elicited zigzagged through her torso. “I thought you were getting married. What happened to your princess? What are you doing signing on with a matchmaker?”

A muscle ticked in Finn’s forehead. “My father does want me to get married, as soon as I find a bride. That’s what I’m doing here. I was promised the perfect match. Amusing how that worked out.”

Finn wasn’t engaged? There wasn’t even a potential princess on the horizon? She’d left Delamer based on something that wasn’t even true.

“Yeah, hilarious. I was promised the same.”

In tandem, they turned to Elise. She smiled and escorted them both to an unpopulated corner, likely so the coming bloodbath wouldn’t spatter her guests. Finn’s muscled companions followed and melted into the background.

“Do you remember the profile question about love?” Elise tucked her hair behind one ear with a let’s-get-down-to-business swipe. “I asked you both what you’d be willing to give up in order to have it. Juliet, what did you say?”

Arms crossed, Juliet glared at Elise and repeated the answer. “You shouldn’t have to give up anything for love. It should be effortless or else it’s not real love.”

No compromise. Why should she have to completely rearrange her entire belief system to appease one very stubborn man? The right man for her should recognize that she’d tried to upset the status quo only because she’d been forced to.

The right man for her would know he’d been everything to her.

“Finn?” Elise prompted and he sighed.

His gaze softened and he spoke directly to Juliet. “You shouldn’t have to give up anything. Love should be easy and natural, like breathing. No one asks you to give up breathing so your heart can beat.”

He had. He wanted her to forget Bernard had died serving the king’s ego, wearing the same uniform Finn put on every day. She slammed her lids closed and shoved that thought away. It was too much.

“Right. Easy and natural. That part of us wasn’t hard.”

And with the words, the good and amazing and breath-stealing aspects of her relationship with Finn lit up the darkness inside her.

Everything had been effortless between them. If Bernard hadn’t had that accident, she and Finn would probably be married by now and living happily ever after.

“No. Not hard at all.” Finn shook his head, his eyes still on her, searching for something that looked a lot like what she constantly wished for—a way to go back in time.

Which was impossible and the reason she’d fled to the States.

But she’d left Delamer because she thought Finn was marrying someone else. If that wasn’t true, what else might she need to reexamine?

Elise put her hands out, placing them gently on their arms, connecting them. “Do you remember what you each said you were looking for in a relationship?”

“The calm in the storm,” Juliet said, and her ire drained away to be replaced by the tiniest bit of hope.

“A place where I could just be, without all the other pressures of life,” Finn said, his voice a little raspy. “That’s how I answered the question.”

He didn’t move, but he felt closer. As if she could reach out and touch him, which she desperately wanted to do. Curled fingers dug into her thigh. Her heart tripped. This was not a good idea.

“So? We answered a couple of questions the same way. That’s no surprise.”

Finn agreed with a nod. “I would have been surprised if we didn’t respond in a similar vein.”

They’d always been of one mind, two hearts beating as one. When they sailed together, they never even had to talk, working in perfect tandem to reef the main or hull trim. They’d met while sailing with mutual friends, then fallen in love as the two of them skimmed the water again and again in Finn’s boat.

“So,” Elise said brightly, “maybe the better question is whether you can forget about the past and see how you both might have changed. You’re in America. The divide you had in Delamer doesn’t matter here. It’s safe. Take some time on neutral ground to explore whether that effortless love still exists.”

That was totally unnecessary. She’d never fallen out of love with Finn and being here in his presence after a long, cold year apart solidified the fact that she probably never would.

But that didn’t mean they belonged together.

“Are you a relationship counselor or a matchmaker?” Juliet asked Elise without a trace of guile.

“Both. Whatever it takes to help people find happiness.”

Happiness. That hadn’t been on her list when she came to Elise, broken and desperate for a solution to end her pain. But instead of an American husband, she’d been handed an opportunity for a second chance with Finn.

He was the only man on earth who could rightly be called her match. The only man she’d ever wanted to let into her heart. That had always been true and Elise had somehow figured that out.

That was some computer program Elise used. Juliet had hoped for a bit of magic. Perhaps she’d gotten her wish.

“Elise is right,” Finn said quietly. “This is neutral ground, with no room for politics. And it’s a party. Dance with me.”

Juliet nodded and hoped agreeing wasn’t the stupidest thing she’d ever done.

Elise slipped away, not even trying to hide the relief plastered all over her face.

Juliet’s eyelids pricked with tears as something shuddery and optimistic filled her empty soul. She would wallow in her few precious hours with Finn, and maybe it would lead to more. Maybe time and distance had diluted their differences.

Maybe he’d finally understand what his support and strength meant to her. She’d lost so much more than a brother a year ago. She’d also lost the love of her life.

* * *

Finn led Juliet to the dance floor, a minor miracle since his knees had gone numb.

This whole thing was ridiculous. He’d known there was something off about a matchmaker approaching his father, but he never could have predicted Elise’s actual motivation or the result of his trip to Dallas.

What would the king say when he realized what he’d inadvertently done? Finn had been matched with a woman who’d caused his family immeasurable misery and created a scandal that had spawned countless aftereffects.

Yet Finn and Juliet had met again, paired by a supposedly infallible computer program. Everybody he’d talked to raved about EA International’s process. Raved about Elise and how much she truly cared about the people she helped. So yesterday, Finn had walked through Elise’s extensive match profile, answered her questions as honestly as he could and hoped for the best.

Only to have Juliet dropped back into his life with no warning.

The smartest move would have been to turn around and leave without a backward glance. Staying was the surest method to end up insane by the end of the night.

He’d asked Juliet to dance only because manners had been bred into him since birth. This was Elise’s party and they were business associates. It was only polite.

But now he wasn’t so sure that was the only reason.

Seeing Juliet again had kicked up a push-pull of emotions he’d have sworn were buried. Not the least of which was the intense desire to have her head on a platter. After he had her body in his bed.

Fitting Juliet into his arms, they swayed together to the music. It took mere moments to find the rhythm they’d always shared. He stared down into her familiar face, into the green eyes he’d never forgotten, and felt something loosen inside.

It was Juliet, but in capital, sparkling letters with giant exclamation points.

She’d been transformed.

The alterations were external, and he’d liked her exactly the way she’d looked the last time he’d seen her. But what if more than her hair had changed?

Could he really fly back to Delamer without taking a few hours to find out what might be possible that hadn’t been possible before?

Now that he had her in his arms, the anger he’d carried with him for the past year was hard to hang on to.

“You look different,” he blurted out. Smooth. Juliet had never tied up his tongue before. “Amazing. So beautiful. You’re wearing cosmetics.”

She blinked sultry eyes and smiled with lips stained the color of deep sunset. Even her height was different. He glanced down. Sexy heels showcased her delicate feet and straps buckled around her ankles highlighted the shapely curve of her legs. He had the sudden mental image of unbuckling those straps with his teeth.

That was it. Dancing was officially a form of torture.

This was all so surreal. She was still the same girl who’d stabbed him in the back but not the same. Tension coiled in his gut, choking off his air supply.

“Thanks. Elise gave me a few tips on how to be a girl.” Juliet extended a hand to show off long coral-tipped nails. “Don’t expect me to hoist any sails with these babies.”

Finn couldn’t help but grin. If she was going to play it as if everything was cool, he could too. “I’ll do all the hard work. Looking at you is reward enough for my effort.”

Her brows rose as she repositioned her hand at his waist. “Like the new me, do you?”

He could feel those nails through his jacket. How was that possible?

“I liked the old you.” Before she’d skewered his heart on the stake of her stubbornness. “But this you is great too. You’re gorgeous. What prompted all of this?”

Long nails, swept-up hair. A mouthwatering backless dress he easily recognized as high-end. She was double-take worthy and then some.

“It’s part of Elise’s deal. She has a lot of high-powered, influential male clients and they expect a certain refinement in their potential mates. She spends a couple of months enhancing each of us, though admittedly, she spent far more time with me than some of the others. Voila. I am a new creation. Cinderella, at your service.” Juliet glanced at him with a sweeping once-over. “She didn’t tell you how all that worked?”

“Not in those terms. It was more of a general guarantee that the woman she matched me with would be able to handle everything that comes with being a princess.”

Which, in Juliet’s case, had never been a factor. He couldn’t have cared less if she flubbed royal protocol or never picked up mascara. Because he’d loved her, once upon a time.

But that was over with a capital O and in an arranged marriage, he might as well get what he paid for—a demure, non-scandal-inducing woman who could erase the public’s memory of the past year.

“Are you disappointed you got me instead?”

His laugh came out of nowhere. “I honestly don’t know what I am, but disappointed is definitely not it.”

Juliet could have been a great princess. She’d always understood his need to escape from his position occasionally. Finn gave one hundred percent to his job protecting Delamer’s citizens, gladly participated in charity events and didn’t have a moment’s guilt over taking time away from the public eye. A lot of women wouldn’t support that, would insist on being treated to the finer things in life.

Juliet had been perfectly content with a beach date or sailing. Or staying in, his own personal favorite. No, it wasn’t a surprise the computer had matched them.

The surprise lay in how much he still wanted her despite the still-present burn of her betrayal.

“What about you?” he asked. “Has the jury reconvened on whether seeing me again is a pleasant surprise?”

“The jury is busy trying not to trip over your feet while wearing four-inch heels.”

The wry twist of her lips pulled an answering grin out of him.

He relaxed. This was still neutral ground and as long as everyone kept a sense of humor, the night was young.

“Let’s get some champagne. I’m dying to know how you ended up in Dallas in a matchmaker’s computer system.”

As they turned to leave the dance floor, light flashed from the crowd to the left and then again in rapid succession. Photographs. From a professional camera.

Finn sighed. With the time difference, his father’s phone call would come around midnight unless the king’s secretary somehow missed the story, which was unlikely.

Finn would ask Elise to match him with someone new. Later.

Juliet waited until he’d led her to the bar and handed her a flute of bubbly Veuve Clicquot before responding. “It’s your fault I sought out Elise.”

“Mine?” He dinged the rims of their glasses together and took a healthy swallow in a futile attempt to gain some clarity. “I didn’t even know Elise existed until a few days ago.”

“It was the engagement announcement. If you were moving on, I needed to, as well. I couldn’t do that in Delamer, so here I am.” She spread her hands, flashing coral tips that made him imagine what they’d feel like at his waist once he’d shed his jacket and shirt.

The temperature in the ballroom went sky high as internal ripples of need spread. He’d only thought he was uncomfortable before.

“Like I said, there’s no engagement. Not yet. My father and I agreed it was time I thought about settling down and he went on the bride hunt. Here I am, as well.”

It was a sobering reminder. They’d both been trying to move past the scandal and breakup by searching for someone new. Was that what she truly wanted?

The thought of Juliet with another man ripped a hole in his gut. A shock considering how angry he still was about what she’d done.

“As much as I’ve tried to avoid it, I’ve seen the pictorial evidence of why your dad thought you needed to settle down. You’ve become the Party Prince.” She shot him a quizzical glance, her gaze flat and unreadable. “It seems so unlike you. Sure, we had some fun dancing at clubs and stuff, but we usually left after an hour or so. Did I miss the part where you wanted to stay?”

“I never wanted to stay. I was always thinking about getting you alone.”

“Some of the pictures were really hard to take,” she admitted quietly, and he didn’t need her to elaborate.

Heat climbed up his neck and flushed across his ears.

He’d always known she’d probably see all the photographs of him with other women and hear about his exploits, but he’d honestly never considered a scenario where they’d have an actual conversation about them. There wasn’t a lot about the past year that filled him with pride.

“As long as we’re handing out blame, that was your fault.”

To her credit, she simply glanced at him with a blank expression. “How so?”

She had changed. The Juliet of before would have blasted him over such a stupid statement. “Well, not your fault, per se, but I was trying to drown out the memories. Focus on the future. Moving on, like you said.”

“Did it work?”

“Not in the slightest.”

Their gazes crashed and his lips tingled. He wanted to pull her against him and dive in. Kiss her until neither of them could remember anything other than how good they felt together.

She tossed back the last of her champagne as if she hadn’t noticed the heavily charged moment. He wished he could say the same as all the blood rushed from his head, draining southward into a spectacular hard-on.

“What do we do now?” she asked.

“Have dinner with me,” he said hoarsely. “Tomorrow night. For old time’s sake.”

Neither of them thought this match was a good idea. He knew that. But he couldn’t resist stealing a few more forbidden hours with Juliet. No matter what she’d done in the past, he couldn’t walk out of this ballroom and never see her again.

“I should have my head examined. But okay.”

Her acceptance was fortuitously timed. A svelte woman and her friend nearly bowled Juliet over in an enthusiastic attempt to get a photo with him.

It was a common-enough request and he normally didn’t mind. But tonight he wanted to be selfish and spend as much time with Juliet as he could, before his father interfered. Before all the reasons they’d split in the first place surfaced.

She’d always be the woman who burned a Delamer flag at the palace gates. The people of his country had long memories for acts of disloyalty to the crown.

And so did he.

There was no way crossing an ocean could create a different dynamic between two people. Because Juliet would never see he couldn’t go against his father, and never understand that as the second son, Finn had little to offer the crown besides unconditional support.

If she ever did finally get it, all her sins would be forgiven. By everyone, including him.

That would happen when it snowed in Delamer during July.

Until then, he’d indulge in Juliet, ignore the rest and then ask Elise to match him with someone else.

Three

Juliet stared in the mirror and tried to concentrate on applying eye shadow to her lids as Dannie and Elise had shown her. Multiple times. Her scrambled brain couldn’t focus.

Dazed and breathless well described the state Finn had left her in last night, and it hadn’t cleared up in the almost twenty-four hours since. Finn’s clean scent lingered in her nose, evoking painfully crisp memories of being with him, loving him.

And suffering the agony of finally accepting that he cared nothing for her. Cared nothing for her pain at losing the brother she’d helped raise.

All Finn cared about was zipping himself into the uniform of Delamer’s military and wearing it with nationalistic pride.

Madness. Why had she agreed to this date again?

Elise stuck her head in the door of Juliet’s room.

“Almost ready? Oh. You’re not even dressed yet. What are you wearing?”

A flak jacket if she was smart. And if they made one you could wear internally. But she’d come to America in hopes of finding a new direction. She’d stay open to the possibility that time had dulled Finn’s zealous fervor.

One date. One night. What did she have to lose?

Her eyes narrowed. She’d stay open, but that didn’t mean Finn didn’t deserve to suffer for his sins.

“I want to wear something that will show Finn what I’ve endured in your makeover program because of him. The sexier and more painful for him, the better.” Hours and hours of hot rollers, facials and balancing on four-inch heels were about to hit his royal highness where it hurt.

“Yellow dress, then. I brought you something.” Elise held out a velvet jewelry box.

Mystified, Juliet opened the lid to reveal a silver heart charm dangling from a matching chain, and another heart dangled from the first, one clutching the other to keep it from falling. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”

Simple but elegant, perfect for a tomboy who’d rather be doing something athletic than primping.

Elise clasped it around Juliet’s throat. “I give all my makeover clients a necklace. I’m glad you like it.”

When the hired car with dark windows rolled to a stop outside Elise’s house, Juliet was slightly ashamed to realize she’d been haunting the window for nearly fifteen minutes waiting for its appearance. How pathetic.

She swung open Elise’s front door, and the sheer heat in the pointed once-over Finn gave her swept everything else away.

“Hi.”

“Wow,” was all he said in response.

Little pinpricks worked their way across her cheeks in a stupid blush. “Yeah? It’s okay? Elise picked out the dress.”

And what was under it, but odds were slim this date would go well enough to model the silk lingerie.

In answer, he grasped her hand and led her out of the house. “I like what I see so far. Come with me so I can properly evaluate the rest.”