A Bride for the Island Prince / The Last Goodbye: A Bride for the Island Prince

He continued on his way to Dottie’s apartment. After he knocked, she called out, “Yes?”

“It’s Alex.”

The silence that followed was understandable. He’d never used his given name with her before, or given his permission for her to use it. But considering the amount of time they’d been spending together since her arrival at the palace, it seemed absurd to say anything else now that they were alone. “Would you be more willing to answer me if I’d said it’s Zoe’s father, or it’s your Royal Highness?”

He thought he heard her chuckle before she opened the door a couple of inches. “I was on the verge of crawling into bed.”

Alex could see that. She’d thrown on a pink toweling robe and was clutching the lapels beneath her chin. “I need to talk frankly with you. Zoe has decided you’re her new mommy. She got hysterical tonight when I tried to tell her otherwise.”

“I know. She’s told me on several occasions she wishes I were her mother. This happens with some of my youngest students who don’t have one. It’s very normal. I just keep telling them I’m their teacher. You need to go on telling her in a matter-of-fact way that Princess Teresa was her mommy.”

“I did that.”

“I know. I saw the photograph and see a lot of the princess’s beauty in Zoe. What’s important here is that if you don’t fight her on it, she’ll finally get the point and the phase will pass after a while.”

“That’s very wise counsel.” He exhaled the breath he’d been holding. “You made a breakthrough with her tonight.”

“Yes. I’ve wanted her to feel confident about one sound and now it has happened.”

“How did you know she would do it?”

“I didn’t, but I hoped. Every success creates more success.”

Talking through the crack in the door added a certain intimacy to their conversation, exciting him. “Her success is going to help me sleep tonight.”

“I’m glad. Just remember a total change isn’t going to happen overnight. Her vowels are coming, but G is only one consonant out of twenty-one. Putting that sound with the rest of a word is the tricky part.”

“Tricky or not, she mimicked you perfectly and the way you read that book had her spellbound.”

“There was only one thing wrong with it.”

“What’s that?” He found himself hanging on her every word, just like his daughter.

“It didn’t have a page that said the prince stopped rrrrruling and said good-night.”

Alex broke into full-bodied laughter.

Her eyes smiled. “If you’ll forgive me, you should do that more often in front of Zoe, Your Highness.”

“What happened to Alex? That is my name.”

“I realize that.”

“Before I leave, I wanted you to know that I’ve worked things out with my internal affairs minister so I can eat dinner with my daughter every night. From now on he’ll take care of the less important matters for me during that time period.”

“Zoe’s going to be ecstatic!” she blurted, displaying the bubbly side of her nature that didn’t emerge as often as he would have liked to see.

“I hope that means you’re happy about it, too, since you’ll be joining us for our meals. Good night, Dottie.”

“Good night, Alex.”

She shut the door on him before he was ready to leave. After being with her, he wasn’t in the mood to face his grandmother. As he made his way back to her suite, he thought about his choice of words. The only time he’d ever faced the queen was when he’d been a boy and had a reason to feel guilty about something.

Tonight he had a strong hunch what she wanted to discuss with him. After Zoe’s nightmare, now he knew why. If she’d told Yiayia that Dottie was her new mommy, nothing would have enraged his grandmother more. She would have told Zoe never to speak of it again, but that wouldn’t prevent his daughter from thinking it in her heart.

Until the phase passed, Dottie had said.

What if it didn’t? That’s what disturbed Alex.

Zoe’s insistence that Dottie was her new mommy only exacerbated his inner conflict where the speech therapist was concerned. Since he’d peered into a pair of eyes as blue as the flowers fluttering in the breeze around the palace in Aurum, he couldn’t get her out of his mind.

In truth he had no business getting physically involved with someone he’d hired. He certainly didn’t need the queen reminding him of what he’d already been telling himself—keep the relationship with Mrs. Richards professional and enjoy the other women he met when he left the country for business or pleasure.

Too bad for his grandmother that he saw through her machinations and had done so from an early age. She always had another agenda going. Since Teresa’s funeral, she’d been busy preparing the ground with the House of Helvetia. But until Stasi married, she was biding her time before she insisted Alex take Princess Genevieve of Helvetia to wife for the growth and prosperity of the kingdom.

Lines darkened his face. The queen would have to bide away forever because Stasi would be the only one doing the growing for the Constantinides dynasty. He was the firstborn, Heaven had picked him to rule Hellenica. Ring out the bells.

Alex had a different destiny and a new priority that superseded all else. He wanted to help his daughter feel normal, and that meant coaching her. With Dottie’s help, it was already happening. She understood what was going on inside Zoe. Her story about her own stuttering problem had touched him. He admired her strength in overcoming a huge challenge.

His first order of business was to talk to Stasio tonight. His brother needed to come home now! With Alex’s work schedule altered, he could spend the maximum amount of time with Zoe and Dottie throughout the day. It was going to work, even though it meant dealing with his ministers in the early morning hours and late at night when necessary.

Once Stasio was home, Alex would move back to the island of Aurum, where he could divide his attention between helping Zoe and doing the work he’d been overseeing for the country since university. With Dottie installed and a palace staff and security waiting on them, Zoe couldn’t help but make great strides with her speech and he’d convince Dottie she couldn’t leave yet.

CHAPTER FOUR

LIKE pizza dough being tossed in the air, Dottie’s heart did its own version of a flip when the prince entered her schoolroom a few days later with Zoe. They must have just come from breakfast with the queen. Zoe was dressed in pink play clothes and sneakers.

Dottie hardly recognized Alex. Rather than hand-tooled leather shoes, he’d worn sneakers, too. She was dazzled by his casual attire of jeans and a yellow, open-necked sport shirt. In the vernacular, he was a hunk. When she looked up and saw the smattering of dark hair on his well-defined chest, her mouth went dry and she averted her eyes. Zoe’s daddy was much more man than prince this morning, bringing out longings in her she hadn’t experienced in years.

He’d been coming to their teaching sessions and had cleared his calendar to eat dinner with Zoe. Dottie was moved by his love and concern for his daughter, but she feared for him, too. The prince had the greatest expectations for his child, but he might want too much too soon. That worry had kept her tossing and turning during the night because she wanted to be up to the challenge and help Zoe triumph.

But it wasn’t just that worry. When she’d told Alex she’d had other patients who’d called her mommy, it was a lie. Only one other child had expressed the same wish. It was a little boy who had a difficult, unhappy mother. In truth, Zoe was unique. So was the whole situation.

Normally Dottie’s students came by bus or private car to the institute throughout the day. Living under the palace roof was an entirely different proposition and invited more intimacy. Zoe was a very intelligent child and should have corrected her own behavior by now, but she chose to keep calling Dottie Mommy. Every time Zoe did that, it blurred the lines for Dottie, who in a short time had allowed the little girl to creep into her heart.

To make matters worse, Dottie was also plagued by guilt because she realized she wanted Alex’s approval. That sort of desire bordered on pride. Her aunt had often quoted Gibran. “Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.” If she wanted his approval, then it was a gift she had to earn.

Did she seek it because he was a prince? She hoped not. Otherwise that put her in the category of those people swayed by a person’s station in life. She refused to be a sycophant, the kind of person her aunt had despised. Dottie despised sycophants, too.

“GGGRRRRRR,” she said to Zoe, surprising the little girl, who was a quick study and gggrrrred back perfectly. Alex gave his daughter a hug before they sat down at the table.

“Wonderful, Zoe.” Her gaze flicked to him. “Good morning, Your Highness.” Dottie detected the scent of the soap he’d used in the shower. It was the most marvelous smell, reminding her of mornings when her husband—

But the eyes staring at her across the table were a fiery black, not blue. “Aren’t you going to gggrrr me?

I feel left out.”

Her pulse raced. “Well, we don’t want you to feel like that, do we, Zoe?” The little girl shook her head, causing her shiny brown curls to flounce.