Diamonds are Forever: The Royal Marriage Arrangement / The Diamond Bride / The Diamond Dad

“Do you mind if I order for us?”

He reached for her hand and they started walking toward the entrance. “I’m planning on it.”

“I promised Tomaso I would take advantage of every opportunity.”

His hand seemed to tighten around her fingers before he let it go long enough to open the door for her. “After we eat, we’ll stop by the cathedral to visit with the archbishop. The banns have to go out for our marriage. Then we’ll buy you some clothes for tomorrow.”

She gulped. “Why? I thought we were going to wait until my belongings arrived.”

“There’s no time. My father has already put things in motion. In the morning before the cabinet meeting at ten, the journalists from the major American and European television networks will come to the palace to broadcast the official news of the upcoming coronation and our marriage. I’ll be at your side the entire time and field any difficult questions.”

Her jaw hardened. “You mean, about me following in my mother’s footsteps.”

He lifted a wayward curl off her forehead. “Love is no respecter of persons past or present. Everyone has an equal right to it with whomever and wherever they find it.”

Except for a prince who must do his duty.

Two hours later his words were still revolving in her head as they entered an exclusive boutique in Capriccio where, Lucca told her, his mother and sister often shopped.

The clerk who waited on them recognized him, of course. When Lucca explained what they wanted, she told him she had the perfect outfit for Alex, who was still replete from their delicious meal.

Within seconds the woman produced a knee-length dress of woven lightweight silk in a heavenly shade of oyster. The diamond pin would look fabulous against it. As soon as Alex slipped it on, she had to admit the jewel neckline and tiered short sleeves suited her tall, softly rounded figure.

Lucca said as much when she left the fitting room and modeled it for him. His searching gaze started at her feet and made a slow, intimate perusal of her body. By the time it reached her face, her cheeks were on fire.

“The color of the material matches your eyes.” His gaze flicked to the clerk. “We’ll take it and some other outfits for day and evening. She’ll need shoes and lingerie.” On that note he refocused his attention on Alex. “Take your time, bellissima. We’re in no hurry.”

When Alex was a child, she used to pretend she’d been let loose in a store and could have anything she wanted. It felt like that now. After agreeing to marry him she couldn’t keep going around in the same two outfits. The clothes being shipped might not arrive for weeks and probably wouldn’t be appropriate for many future occasions, anyway. Naturally he wanted to be proud of her.

For once she decided to take him at his word. Unfortunately, she had so much fun they didn’t get out of there until it was close to 6:00 p.m. The clerk told her the packages would be delivered to the palace by eight. It was embarrassingly late already and Lucca had been sitting there for hours!

So much for letting him have time alone with his lover this afternoon. Red-faced, she apologized. “I’m sorry I took so long.”

“I’m not. This has helped me get my mind off affairs of state. I don’t remember the last time I felt this relaxed.” He got to his feet. “You’re good for me, Alexandra.”

She sobered. “Thank you for being so generous. I promise to pa—” but nothing else came out because he silenced her with his lips.

“No talk of repaying me now or ever,” he whispered.

Alex had said the wrong thing again, but she had to remember that when they were out in public, his actions were always orchestrated to convince their audience he was in love. “I promise,” she whispered back, but she did intend to repay him one day. She just wouldn’t talk about it.

They left the boutique through the back door, where he’d parked his car. His security people had set up a barricade on the tiny street to give them space, but people pressed against it, eager for a glimpse of the prince.

Lucca had grown up learning how to handle the public. No matter where they went or what they did, he didn’t seem to give them any thought. Alex wondered how long it would take her not to feel like she was a goldfish on display.

The crowded streets made it impossible for Lucca to zip back to the palace at warp speed, but she gave him credit for trying. “Home at last and in one piece,” he drawled after shutting off the powerful engine.

“At last?” she teased. “A fighter jet couldn’t have arrived here any sooner.”

Suddenly he looked repentant. “Alexandra—I forgot about the helicopter. I should have requested it—”

“Don’t apologize,” she cut him off. “It was the events of the day that knocked me off balance, not the lack of a helicopter. The truth is, I found out in New York you only function at high speed. I like speed, too. If I owned a car like this, I’d be banned from driving it after the first time I went around the block.”

His hand slid from the gearshift to her lower thigh, sending out one heatwave after another. “Next week I’ll take you to a track in Monaco where you can let it rip to your heart’s content.”

“You’d let me drive this?”

His gaze sobered. “Of course. I don’t think you understand yet. Everything I have is yours.” After squeezing her leg gently he levered himself from the driver’s seat and came around to help her. She was glad she was wearing pants. With her long limbs it would be impossible to keep them modestly covered while trying to climb out under his all-seeing eye.

“How much time do you need to freshen up?” he asked once they’d reached the second floor.

Surely he wanted to get away on his own, but being the dutiful prince, he felt he owed her his time in order to look like the attentive fiancé. Today he’d done more than any engaged woman could ask for. Now it was up to her to return the favor.

“Since I’m going to have to face my first press conference in the morning, I’d prefer to have an early night, but in case you need me in an official capacity, I can be ready whenever you want.”

A remote expression crossed over his masculine features. There was a pause. “What I had in mind can wait.”

Of course it could. His thoughts were on his lover. They’d been apart long enough.

“Then if you don’t mind, I’ll ask the kitchen to send up a sandwich while I get started on my writing exercises for Tomaso.”

On impulse she kissed his hard-boned jaw where she could feel the beginnings of his beard. Another enticement she mustn’t dwell on. “Thank you for a wonderful day. I’ll always remember it. Buonanotte, Lucca.”

“I’ll come by your room at quarter past nine in the morning. Sogni d’oro, Alexandra.”

Tomorrow she would have to ask Tomaso what it meant.

Lucca spent a restless night tossing and turning. Her last words to him before running off sounded like a goodbye speech, and they weren’t even married yet. She was more excited about her next Italian lesson than being with him.

He couldn’t fault her for anything where their agreement was concerned. Her performance so far was nothing short of miraculous. Unfortunately, he found himself wanting more from her. Because his feelings for her were growing, it was probably just as well he’d been forced to come back to his room and take a cold shower.

She was right about him. He didn’t know how to take things slow, but it appeared that for once in his life he was going to have to learn that lesson. In the past few days he’d come to realize his whole life’s happiness depended on it.

At eight the next morning, he and Regina ate breakfast in his parents’ suite. By nine o’clock he’d showered and shaved. At 9:10 a.m. he left his suite wearing a dark gray business suit and tie. Aware his need to see Alexandra was over the top, he had to tamp down his excitement, but he couldn’t prevent the explosion of his senses when she opened the door to him, the embodiment of feminine allure.

Her silver high heels added two inches, making it easier for him to capture that supple mouth wearing a light pink frost. He almost acted on his desire to taste her, but remembering who was waiting for them downstairs, he caught himself in time.

If his eyes didn’t deceive him, her heart was pounding faster than normal. The diamond seemed to be in constant motion, pulsating with bursts of green light. Each beat matched the rhythm of his own heart, increasing in speed like his Ferrari.

She raised those solemn gray eyes to his. “Do I look all right? I wouldn’t want to embarrass you.” Her freshly washed hair smelled of peaches, a scent he would always associate with her.

The thing about Alexandra was that she didn’t have one selfish, self-absorbed, narcissistic atom in her body.

“You’ll do,” was all he could manage to say. In an automatic gesture he grasped her hand, twining his fingers around hers as they started down the hall.

“Where are we going?”

“To the conference room of my office on the main floor.”