The Runaway Princess. Patricia Forsythe

easier if Rachel had handled this in a professional manner, calling and talking to Jace in person, but she’d been afraid of a lawsuit, of being talked into coming here when her heart had been somewhere else, that she’d ducked her responsibility. So Alexis was covering for her. It wasn’t the first time she’d done it. Covering up for people was an old habit of hers because she hated to see her loved ones hurt. Besides, Rachel was a rare commodity, a true friend who’d never spilled anything about Alexis or her family to a tabloid.

      She drew in a deep breath and looked at the hard, curious face of the man sitting across the breakfast table from her. She had to tell him the truth about Rachel.

      She glanced around the kitchen, at Gil and Rocky, and then back at him. Nope. No way out of it. Finally, she picked up her cup and mumbled something into it.

      “What? She what someone?”

      Alexis took a sip of coffee, cleared her throat, then beamed a high-voltage smile at him. “She met someone.”

      “Someone? You mean a man?”

      “Oh, not just any man. Her soul mate.”

      “Soul mate.” The two words dropped into the atmosphere like stones thumping into mud.

      “At least that’s what she said. It was love at first sight. She couldn’t leave him.” Boy, oh boy did that sound lame, and unprofessional, and well, a little stupid. Alexis sighed. “It’s not as bad as it sounds….”

      “She’s not here to fulfill her teaching contract because she met her soul mate and she can’t leave his side. Does that about cover it?” he asked testily.

      Alexis attempted a smile. “Well, it sounded a little more romantic when she said it.”

      He glowered at her.

      She started to her feet once again. “I’ll go get the letter and you can read…”

      “Sit down,” he growled.

      She plopped back into her chair.

      Gil—at least she was pretty sure it was Gil—dragged his gaze away from her face long enough to ask, “What difference does it make, Jace, as long as we have a qualified teacher to teach the kids?”

      “Yeah,” Rocky agreed. “Miss Chastain here is obviously well-qualified.”

      Jace raised a brow at him. Rocky’s eyes were glued on a part of her anatomy that had nothing whatsoever to do with her teaching ability. Blushing, Alexis crossed her arms over her chest.

      Leaning forward, Jace said, “Why don’t you two go out and get to work? I need to talk to her alone.”

      Alexis saw the twins look at their boss as if he’d suggested they hop in the truck and run over their favorite pet. Jace jerked his head toward the barn.

      Grumbling, his two men cleared their places, took their dishes to the sink, and then trooped out glumly, but over his shoulder, Gil said, “Just don’t do anything stupid.”

      When they were gone, Jace said, “What I don’t like here is the unprofessional way this has been handled, and the fact that I feel that I, and the other members of the school board, are being manipulated.”

      “Um yes, I understand that.” What could she say? That she had jumped at the chance offered by her old roommate because she wanted to get away from home? No, that would really make her sound desperate. And she certainly couldn’t tell him that “home” was a two-hundred room palace situated in one of the most beautiful valleys in Europe.

      “Well, then you understand that you have to leave?”

      She blinked at him. “No, I mean I understand how you might feel manipulated.” Quickly, she leaned forward and placed her hands on the tabletop, palms up in a pleading gesture. “I truly am a qualified teacher. I’m certified by the state of Arizona, I’ve done my student teaching. I can do this job.”

      He lifted a thick, dark eyebrow at her as he shook his head. “No, this won’t work.”

      “School starts in less than two weeks,” she said desperately. “Where are you going to find someone else at the last minute? I’m here. I’m available. I want to do the job. Please let me stay.”

      She had made her plea too heartfelt. Now he was staring at her with open curiosity. “Why do you want it so badly?”

      She paused as her mind scrambled for an answer. Anxious perspiration popped out on her top lip. “Why?” she stalled, giving him her most guileless look.

      He crossed his arms on the tabletop and stared at her. “That’s right. Why? If you’re so qualified, why do you want to work here? And on a job that will only last one semester?”

      Because things will have cooled down at home in four months. Her father would have a new project going and would have the let’s-marry-off-Alexis light out of his eyes. And because Alexis would be at least partly over her anger and disappointment with her father. While Prince Michael had been wrangling with his national council, revising the constitution of Inbourg, she had stayed quietly at home as he had requested, supporting him, helping run the household and taking care of her nephew Jean Louis while Anya and Deirdre had been Prince Michael’s ambassadors to the country and to the world.

      She didn’t do any of the things she had planned like living on her own and working on her master’s degree in education so she could help bring the schools of Inbourg up to a higher standard. As soon as the constitution was rewritten and approved, her father had turned his attention to her and begun making sweeping statements about it being time for her to marry. She was the steady, sensible one who wouldn’t make a foolish marriage as Anya had done with her race car driver, nor would she be a flirt like Deirdre. She knew her father loved her, but she also knew he didn’t see her as the professional she wanted to be.

      “Did you forget the question?” Jace asked, bringing her attention back to him.

      “While it’s true that Rachel and I have gone about this job switch in a somewhat…” She flashed him a glance. “…unconventional way, you have nothing to worry about.”

      Jace raised an eyebrow at her again. He was really very good at that, she thought nervously. He could exhibit rank skepticism with the twitch of a few muscles.

      “Unconventional?” he asked.

      Realizing she wasn’t getting anywhere with this tactic, Alexis said, “I want to work here because I need the experience,” she said honestly. “It’s a job I’m qualified for.” She stood. “I’ll get Rachel’s letter and my references as well as a copy of my state certification. You can judge for yourself.”

      She sped to her room, grabbed her papers and was back in a flash. Somewhat breathlessly, she handed them to him and while he read them, she hung over his shoulder anxiously. “Rachel’s letter explains everything. She says how sorry she is, and that she knows me and my qualifications, and…”

      “I can read it for myself,” Jace grumbled, giving her a steady look that had her backing off.

      Chastened, she sat down and ate a few more bites of her breakfast and had a couple of sips of coffee. For the first time since the meal began, she paid real attention to the food. The bacon was perfectly cooked and, before they’d grown cold on her plate, the scrambled eggs had been moist and fluffy. Had Jace prepared this meal?

      She glanced up to see the way he was examining Rachel’s letter of resignation. His angular face was lined in a mighty frown. In the long, third floor gallery of her family’s palace there was a painting of an ancestor who’d been rumored to put to death those who disappointed him. Right now, Jace’s face looked a great deal like that painting.

      He put down the letter and picked up the folder with Alexis’s certificate and letters of reference. She bounced up and hurried around the table to hover at his shoulder once again.

      In a hearty voice, she said, “See? I’m fully qualified.” She pointed to the date