Scandal With a Prince (26 page)

Despite the alteration in what had become an easy routine, this weekend had been as trouble-free as all the others. Even now, as they strolled the boardwalk in the direction of the hotel parking lot, they appeared like any other family enjoying a sunny weekend.
 
She’d chosen a simple sundress, while Stefano sported a plain white T-shirt, jeans, sunglasses, and his usual battered Red Sox baseball hat.
 
Nothing about them stood out.
 
If passersby glanced their direction, it was only to ensure Megan and Stefano had an eye on Anna, who’d run ahead to wait on the bench nearest the stairs to the parking lot.
 
With as much gear as she carried for the sleepover, Anna looked like a runaway.
 
Megan supposed she should’ve expected it when she allowed Anna to pack herself.
 

She sighed, thinking of how independent Anna had become in the last year.
 
It was the age, Megan supposed.
 
The girl seemed to be maturing in leaps and bounds.
 
In no time at all, she’d be sending Anna off to college.
 
At least it felt that way today, with another grade completed and summer upon them.
 
Part of her loved seeing the changes in her daughter, while part wanted to grab Anna and hold on to her forever, to stop her from growing older so they enjoy more time together.

“She prefers to do things on her own, doesn’t she?” Stefano asked, as if reading Megan’s mind.

“She does.”
 

The weekend visits had worked to bring Anna and Stefano closer together, to the point that Stefano could now anticipate Anna’s reaction to any given situation.
 
He knew her likes and dislikes, appreciated her creative mind, and had discerned at least a dozen ways to make his daughter laugh.
 
When she’d turned ten on the first of June, he’d even resisted the impulse to buy Anna a pricey gift, instead taking her to her favorite ice cream parlor for sundaes.
 
By the same token, Anna had grown completely comfortable with Stefano and loved their time together.
 
Sometimes too much, as evidenced by the loud burp Anna let out as they’d left the park this afternoon and Stefano’s resulting applause, but Megan supposed she could live with that.
 
Allowing Anna to build an honest relationship with her father was important.
 
He’d be an anchor for Anna in the coming years should she ever need him.

Megan decided that she even could live with wanting the man herself.
 
As much as she never wanted to
want
, she reminded herself that she met gorgeous, desirable men in her professional life every day.
 
She never dated them, no matter how strong the temptation, no matter how the men might flirt.
 

But oh, Stefano was a master at the game of flirtation.
 
He had enough experience with women to know she desired him and he played that to the hilt, coming just-so-close to touching her back or brushing an arm against hers without actually doing it.
 
Catching her eye and flashing those dimples whenever they shared a laugh.
 
Speaking in double entendres he knew Anna wouldn’t catch but Megan would, then continuing on in a completely innocent manner, as if he hadn’t said anything the slightest bit risqué.
 

Giving her lingering goodbye kisses on the cheek when each weekend ended, but never attempting more intimate contact.
 

For days before he visited, she’d tell herself to regard him in the same light she did the attractive men who drifted through her professional life.
 
No matter who they were, any desire she felt for those men eventually dulled over time by the simple fact they shared a business relationship; it was a pattern she’d learned to expect, which made it easier to resist their attempts at flirtation.
 
The costs of not resisting were too high.
 

But over the last few weeks, Megan recognized that something more existed between her and Stefano, something far stronger than a case of lust.
 
Something she couldn’t resist in the way she’d resisted the other men whom she’d had the opportunity to date.
 
When she first laid eyes on Stefano after a week apart, it was as if a switch flipped inside her, lighting her soul.
 
It was more than the fact they shared Anna.
 
It was in the flash of his genuine smile, the one that reached all the way to his eyes when he and Anna conspired against her, or tried to
convince
her, to engage in a particular activity.
 
It was in his walk.
 
His affable manner with shopkeepers and waiters.
 
His quick and offbeat wit.
 
Even—though she hated to admit it, even to herself—his instinct to protect everyone who entered his orbit.
 

Each hour they spent together brought out some new facet of his personality for her to appreciate.
 
And each hour they spent together, it became harder and harder to resist—let alone hide—her growing feelings for him.
 
She wasn’t sure how many more of these so-called casual weekends she could take without having to physically sit on her hands to prevent herself from touching him.

On the other hand, he hadn’t mentioned his marriage proposal in well over a month, meaning it was possible he’d changed his mind.
 
In that case, maybe the situation would grow easier for her as time went on.
 
They’d establish a visitation routine no different than that of other families with parents who lived separately.

As a bird swooped in front of them, then lit on a nearby trash receptacle, Stefano glanced sideways at Megan.
 
Mischievous dimples deepened in his cheeks.
 

“Oh, no,” she said.
 
“I know that look and it’s never good.”

His smile widened.
 
“While we were in the maze this morning, Anna asked me how old I was when I was allowed to have a computer of my own and whether I was allowed to keep it in my bedroom.”

Megan harrumphed.
 
“Well, you can guess why she asked that.
 
What’d you say?”

Stefano pinched his lips as if considering his response.
 
“Well, naturally I told her that in Sarcaccia, children may have computers whenever they want without having to ask their parents.
 
I explained that the government pays for all the costs of—”

“You didn’t!”

“Of course not.”
 
He chuckled.
 
“I said, ‘Anna, are you asking me because you’ve recently asked your mom if you could have a computer for your bedroom?’ and she confessed that she had.”

“Did she also tell you I said no on both counts?”

“I guessed that part.
 
Little devil.”
 
He smiled in Anna’s direction.
 
She sat on a bench near the parking lot stairs with an over-the-top look of annoyance on her face meant to ridicule the adults for taking so long to make their way down the boardwalk.
 
“I told her that you’re a pretty good judge of when she should get certain privileges and that your word is the law.”

“Thank you.”
 
Megan tipped her head and looked at Stefano.
 
“Must say, I’m surprised you didn’t offer to buy her the latest model with all the bells and whistles and have a professional set it up in her room, rationalizing that it’s all in the name of education.”

“Now who’s the devil?
 
You know I wouldn’t do that.” He sidestepped the distance between them and wrapped one arm around her shoulders in a friendly hug.
 
The unexpected contact sent a flash of warmth through her from head to toe, probably exactly what Stefano intended.
 
“Well, unless it meant she could take online cooking lessons.”

“Wow.
 
You really like to torture me,” she replied as he released her, thankful she sounded like she was referring to cooking lessons.
 

“Are you shocked?”
 

Shocked
wasn’t the descriptor she’d use, but she arched an eyebrow in response.

At the same moment they approached the bench, a dark blue Audi sedan circled the parking lot before stopping near the top of the wooden stairs connecting it to the boardwalk.
 
Anna popped off her seat and screened her eyes for a better look, then waved as the car door opened.
 
Julia’s mother, Marta, stepped out and waved in return.
 

Megan told Anna, “Mrs. Pettite will bring you back to the hotel tomorrow at noon.
 
Be sure to thank her for inviting you.”

“I will.
 
Bye, Mom.”
 
She gave Megan a hug, then ran over to Stefano, who had stopped in the shade of a large palm tree where he’d be obscured from the parking lot.
 
A smaller man might’ve been knocked over as Anna launched herself at his waist.
 
“Bye, Stefano!”

“See you soon,
amore mia
,” he said, returning the hug.
 
“Be good for your mother this week.” He adjusted her backpack straps before she took off, her pell-mell run scattering a flock of birds that had gathered around a discarded baguette alongside the walkway.
 

Megan called out her thanks to Marta Pettite while Anna sprinted up the stairs, climbed into the back of the sedan, then collapsed in a fit of giggles with Julia.
 
As Marta pulled out of the lot, Stefano took the seat Anna vacated and scooted to the side, inviting Megan to join him on the bench.
 
“She’s lucky to have such good friends.
 
Does she spend the night away often?”

“Maybe once a month.
 
Sometimes we have Julia or another of Anna’s friends to our place.
 
They love having breakfast at the hotel the next morning.
 
Santi sends up waffles with chocolate sauce if he knows Anna has company.”
 
She couldn’t keep the wistfulness from her voice as she added, “It’ll be hard to give up those treats from Santi when we leave.
 
Wherever we end up, I’ll need to get Anna back here to visit.”

“The man does make a fine meal,” he agreed as he removed his sunglasses and set them atop the brim of his hat.
 
“So does this mean you’ve started interviewing?”

“Not yet.
 
Soon, though.”
 
She’d been too wrapped up in Stefano’s reappearance in her life and follow-up calls from the grand reopening to actively pursue open positions, though she had several promising leads to pursue.
 
But as she and Stefano sat side by side on the shaded bench, gazing out over the sun-drenched beach and the water beyond, part of her wondered,
would it be so bad to accept his offer?

There were certainly positives to living and working in Sarcaccia.
 
Working at one of the island’s luxury hotels or, better yet, working on the development of a new conference center, especially one as modern and extensive as the facility being planned, would provide her the intellectual challenge she craved.
 
Such a position would be long term, meaning Anna could finish her schooling in one location.
 
Her parents would love to visit from Minnesota, since Sarcaccia offered plenty of activities for tourists and provided a good jumping-off point for trips through Italy, Monaco, and the south of France.
 

Then there was Stefano.
 
Judging from everything she’d seen these last few weekends, he’d be a good husband—responsible, honest, dependable—and he’d do anything for Anna.
 
He’d promised as much and she believed him.

But what about her?
 
She needed more than Stefano’s protection, more than job security.
 
More than a marriage of convenience.
 
Or did she?
 
It would be so, so easy.

She breathed deeply, inhaling the warm salt air as if it had the ability to clarify her mind.
 
No, she decided.
 
Nothing easy ever paid off.
 
She couldn’t allow herself to succumb, no matter the temptation.
 
In the long run, a marriage where the feelings were unbalanced wouldn’t work.
 
At least, that’s what her brain said.
 
For her heart, it was becoming an entirely different matter.
 
More and more, she wondered if, maybe, he might love her in return.
 
There were times when she’d catch a glimmer in his eye when he looked at her, a glimmer that made her believe he truly wanted her for
her
, not for Anna or out of a misguided sense of duty.
 

Then again, it might be wishful thinking…or simply convincing flirtation on his part.
 
Never once had he said he loved her.
 
He’d said they could
make it work
.
 
He’d said it’d be
the right thing to do.
 
And what happened when Anna graduated high school and left for college?
 
Would Stefano still feel he made the right decision in asking Megan to marry him?