Courting His Royal Highness (20 page)

Was he that dense?

“I thought you’d be thrilled to spend time with me.”

How could he not see? How could he not understand? Spending time like that with him would be worse than what she was going through now. Choosing places to take the
Courting His Royal Highness
contestants on his dates? Was he crazy?

“Please talk to me.”

“I’m not doing it, Max.”

Silence filled the small space between them.

“Chloe?” he pleaded softly.

“I want to go back down. Now.” She took a couple deep breaths before turning around to face him. “I’m not doing this.”

Max looked away from her, focusing on something unknown over her shoulder. “That’s not possible.”

“Why?”

“Because they’ve already written it into the show. You’ll be getting the new information today.”

She was flabbergasted. “But I haven’t given my consent.”

“It doesn’t matter, Chloe. This is how it works. You signed on and they can do anything they want. Reality shows are like that.”

“And I suppose you’re the expert?”

“No. I’m not. But I know what we signed. Do you?”

She had to admit she hadn’t read the contract very thoroughly. She’d been so overjoyed to have an actual job in the entertainment business, she’d signed rather quickly on the dotted line.

Well, now she’d learned her lesson. She’d never do that again. If only she’d known she was signing over her heart. She wondered if the contract stated anything about that—relationships on set, or something. It probably did. She wouldn’t be surprised.

“It was my idea.”

“Why didn’t you talk to me?” she asked. The warm rays of the morning sun couldn’t chase away the chills in her body. “Why?”

His eye gazed into hers, and she saw the pain in the blue depths. She knew he hadn’t meant to hurt her. He’d only wanted to give them more time together, to explore the feelings between them. But how could they do that in front of the camera lens? She didn’t want that; how could he? And in the end, they couldn’t be together anyway. He had to pick one of remaining girls to be his bride.

“I’m sorry. I thought I was doing something good for us.”

“Us?” She laughed, a cold and bitter laugh. “There is no
us
.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“You have to.”

“I don’t.”

Chloe tore her gaze from his. She knew she’d lose all hope of keeping her composure if she continued to look into his eyes. “You can’t have everything, Maximilian,” she whispered sadly. “You can’t have me.”

“I can!” he exploded.

Chloe jumped as he grabbed her roughly by the arms and drew her hard against him. “Let me go!” she cried.

“No. I’m not going to let you out of my arms until we’ve had a chance to clear the air.”

“Clear the air? What are you talking about?”

“You and me. I don’t give a damn about this show. Not now. Not after meeting you. You have to believe me.”

She struggled against him, unwilling to look into his intense eyes, unwilling to yield to him. “Let me go!”

“No! Not until you understand. Not until I’ve explained. I was going to wait until the end, but I see that’s not possible. You have to know now. I see that now. I can’t play with your emotions.”

“What end are you talking about? You’re not making any sense?”

“Stop struggling and calm down so we can talk like two rational adults!”

But Chloe had no intention of calming down or of staying in his arms. She had no intention of listening to him any longer. She needed to run from him before she broke down and cried in his arms and confessed everything in her heart.

“If you care for me, you’ll let me go,” she hissed angrily, pushing at his chest with the palms of her hands. “You’re forcing me to stay here. You’re not giving me a choice. Is that what you want?”

He shook his head. “I want you to choose to stay with me.”

“No.”

“I don’t want to let you go until we’ve talked.”

“About what? About this ludicrous idea of yours? I’m not them!” She frantically gestured in the direction of the mansion, where the women waited in anticipation for him to return. “I’m not going to compete for your affections. I’m not going to do it.”

“You don’t have to compete. You already—”

“No! No! No!” She pushed at him again, but he held strong. She stomped on his feet; he refused to loosen his grip. “I care for you, and you know that. How can you take those feelings and manipulate them like this by putting me in this situation? How? Explain it to me if you can.”

“I thought I was doing the right thing for both of us.”

“Well, this is not the right thing. It’s horrible. It’s awful. It’ll make things worse.”

“How?”

“Because I love you!” Chloe shouted. She slapped a hand over her mouth in shocked amazement. She hadn’t meant to reveal that bit of information. She hadn’t planned on him ever knowing how she truly felt. Not after what had happened.

He released her immediately. Chloe practically fell to the ground. She regained her footing and backed away from him, refusing to look at him. She was afraid of what she’d see on his face, in his eyes. He didn’t love her. He didn’t love her at all. She’d been stupid to think that he did. Why would a man like Max love her? She was nothing special. She was nothing special at all.

“Chloe, please stop. We need to talk.”

She shook her head. Tears blurred her eyes. “Forget I said it. Please forget I said it. I didn’t mean it.”

“You didn’t?”

“I’m sorry I said it.”

“Don’t say that, Chloe.”

She stared at the ground and miserably drew her toe through the sandy soil. It had started out as such a beautiful morning. She wished she could go back. Only an hour. An hour would change everything.

“Chloe, I have something to say to you, but I can’t say it when you’re looking at the ground. Look at me. It’s important.”

“I don’t want to hear it,” she sobbed.

“Yes, I think you do.”

“Nothing you can say will make me feel better.”

“I think I can make you feel better.”

Chloe heard the smile in his voice, but she refused to look up. What could he possibly be smiling about? This was the most mortifying moment of her entire life.

“Look at me.” His husky voice filled the air around her, enveloping her in a cocoon of warmth. “Look at me. Hear what I have to say.”

There was something in his voice. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but something was different—something that gave her hope maybe her outburst had not been in vain.

“There you two are! We’ve been looking high and low for you both. You gave us quite a fright.”

Chloe spun around and was surprised to find Eric Von Stratton coming around the curve in the path. She heard Max mumble a few expletives under his breath. Von Stratton’s appearance was most definitely not part of Max’s plan.

“How are you today, Miss Tanner?” he asked, touching the brim of his baseball cap.

“Just fine. And you?” She’d never seen him in anything but a suit. He looked completely different in a black running suit and cap.

“I’d be a whole lot better if Max had given me specifics about his plans this morning.”

“I don’t have to tell you everything, Eric,” Max snapped. “When I need an hour for myself, I need an hour. I don’t need to explain anything.”

Eric Von Stratton stopped in the middle of the crooked path and shook his head at his boss and friend. “Someone did not wake on the right side of the bed this morning. It is my duty to know your schedule, Max. You’re family would never forgive me if I let something happen to you.”

“What’s going to happen to me in the desert?” Max asked.

“A diamondback could bite you.”

“You have an answer for everything,” Max grumbled.

Chloe smothered a smile. Even in her present state—near a complete emotional breakdown—she couldn’t help but find the exchange amusing. Their interaction always was.

“That’s my job.” Mr. Von Stratton pulled out his black scheduling book and flipped it open. “Now we have to talk about the day’s events.”

“I’m sort of busy right now.”

“I was just leaving,” Chloe said. She walked around Von Stratton, refusing to look at Max.

“But we haven’t finished our conversation, Chloe.”

“I think we have, Your Royal Highness. I think we have.” She finally looked back over her shoulder, forced a sunny smile, and waved at Max and his diligent assistant.

Chloe started to run as soon as she rounded the bend in the path, around the shadowed side of the McDowell’s and out of Max’s sight, and she didn’t stop until she reached the privacy of her bedroom. Once there, she promptly threw herself across the bed and allowed herself a long cry that lasted until she fell into an exhausted sleep.

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“That could’ve gone went a whole lot better,” Max moaned after Chloe disappeared from view. “Thanks a lot, Eric. Remind me to thank you sometime for ruining my life.”

“Don’t be so dramatic. Your life is far from ruined.” Eric pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “What are you talking about? What exactly did I do that was so horrible?”

“You interrupted a very important conversation.” Max slapped his thighs with the palms of his hands. “Damn! Damn! Damn!”

Eric tucked the schedule book under his arm and sat down on a nearby boulder. “Okay, spill. What’s going on here?”

“She loves me.”

“She loves you?”

“Yeah.”

“She actually said that?”

Max nodded. “And I was about to tell her I feel the same—before you showed up uninvited.”

“You’re quite angry, aren’t you?”

“That’s an understatement, my old friend. I’m angry with you, with me, with her, with this entire situation. I should’ve never done this. This show was a huge mistake. Colossal, actually.”

“I did warn you; however, it wasn’t because I thought you’d fall in love with Miss Tanner. I like her. I like her a lot, and I think she would make an excellent Romalian princess.”

“You do?”

“I do. I also know your family would absolutely adore her.”

“I hurt her. I hurt her real bad. If only you’d seen the look on her face, the pain in her eyes. I’ve really messed this one up. I wanted to surprise her. It was the wrong decision.”

“How did you hurt her?”

“I thought I was helping. I suggested to the producers that Chloe be even more involved by helping me pick out the perfect dating event for the last four candidates.”

“And you thought
that
was helping?” Eric started to laugh. His eye sparkled at Max. “How so? Especially after what happened between you two. People have to be blind not to see the sexual tension between you and Miss Tanner. It must be torture for her to do this crazy show, knowing she can’t show her true feelings about you or be alone with you or have a chance at being your wife. You’ve really done it this time, Max. You’re in over your head, and you’re drowning.”

Max dragged fingers through his hair. He couldn’t forget the sadness in her luminous eyes. It was hard to push aside the image of her tears and the emotional trembling of her lovely voice. He’d broken her heart. He knew that and regretted it with his entire being.

He never wanted to cause Chloe pain. He never wanted her to be alone or feel sad or unloved or betrayed. But something had gone horribly wrong. He’d been so thrilled at the concept of spending more time with her, even if it was in front of the cameras and hundreds, eventually millions, of people. He thought she’d feel the same. He’d been wrong, so horribly wrong. He’d had a plan. And that had been just one small part of it. It had seemed so perfect. And now it was crumbling to pieces around him.

But she did love him. Her passionate words echoed through and through his mind over and over again. Chloe loved him. She’d admitted it. Her feelings went deeper than mere physical attraction. She loved him.

And he returned her love tenfold. He’d planned on telling her, but now he wondered if she’d even listen to him. She was so angry, so bitter, so hurt.

She probably wouldn’t speak to him again unless the script called for it. And even then, it wouldn’t be her speaking—it would be her character, the beautiful hostess helping the bachelor prince select a bride. The mask and armor would be on full force. He wouldn’t be able to reach her.

“So, should we go over the schedule for today?” Eric asked, opening the black book, pen at the ready.

“For once be my friend, you blockhead! I don’t need an assistant!” Max roared. “Give me some advice. I need advice from my best friend.”

Eric looked up at Max and offered him a sympathetic smile. “I feel for you, Max, I truly do. But I’m not sure what advice I can possibly give you. I don’t have much experience with women. I’m far too busy managing your life—and we need to talk about that, by the way. I do know you love her. I’ve never seen you so affected by a woman. You never take your eyes off of her when she’s in the room. You never stop talking about her. I still can’t believe this all started as a one-night stand.”

“I fell in love with her then, Eric. I never believed in love at first sight, but I do now. It does happen. It happened to me and to Chloe. And now I have to find a way to make it right. I have to give her the happily-ever-after she deserves.”

“The fairytale ending you both deserve.”

Max smiled sadly. “Thanks.”

“I mean it. You can be the most exasperating friend and boss, but you’re a great guy and you deserve happiness. If Chloe is your happiness, then you should do anything and everything to be with her.”

“That’s your advice?” Max asked.

Eric nodded. “Most definitely.”

“I have a plan.”

“Is it better than the idiotic one you just mentioned?”

“Better. Actually, this fiasco was but one small part of the bigger plan.”

“Wonderful. You’ll have to tell me all about it, but it’ll have to wait until this evening. The schedule’s packed for the day. We won’t have a chance to discuss it unless you want to fill me in on the way back to the mansion.”

“I’ll fill you in. It’s a great plan, better than great. I only hope Chloe loves me enough to forgive me for what I’m about to do and understand why I had to do it.”