Brooding Billionaire, Impoverished Princess. Robyn Donald

flared briefly in her cheeks. A lover? No such thing in her life—ever.

      ‘No,’ she admitted reluctantly. ‘But I can’t just disappear.’

      ‘Why not? Haruru—the place I own in Northland—is on the coast, and if you’re interested in flora there’s a lot of bush on it.’ When she looked at him enquiringly he expanded, ‘In New Zealand all forest is called bush. And in Northland, my home, botanists are still discovering new species of plants.’

      He smiled down at her with such charm that for a charged moment she forgot everything but a highly suspicious desire to go with him.

      It was high summer, and the small, cheap apartment in the back street of Nice was stuffy and hot, the streets crowded with tourists…Photographs she’d seen of New Zealand had shown a green country, lush and cool and mysterious.

      But it was impossible. ‘It sounds wonderful, but I don’t do impulse,’ she returned lightly.

      ‘Then perhaps it’s time you did. Bring your brother, if you want to.’

      If only! Temptation wooed her, fogging her brain and reducing her willpower to a pale imitation of its normal robust self.

      A trip to New Zealand might divert Doran from his increasingly worrying preoccupation with that wretched video game he and his friends were concocting. Prone to violent enthusiasms, he usually lost interest as quickly as he’d found it, but his fascination with this latest pursuit seemed to be coming worryingly close to an addiction. Serina had barely seen him during the past few months.

      A holiday could wean him away from it.

      It suggested a way for her to avoid the frustration of these past months, too. The sly innuendoes and unspoken sympathy, the rudeness of media people demanding to know how she felt now that her heart was supposedly shattered, the downright lies written about her in the tabloids—it had all been getting to her, she admitted bleakly.

      If she went to New Zealand with Alex Matthews her world would assume they were lovers. How she’d enjoy hurling a supposed affair in every smug, avid face! A sharp, clamouring excitement almost persuaded her to agree.

      For a moment she wavered, only to rally at the return of common sense. Just how would that prove she wasn’t hiding a broken heart or shattered hopes?

      It wouldn’t. The gossips would accurately peg it as bravado, and therefore further confirmation of their suspicions.

      ‘That’s very kind of you,’ she said carefully, ‘and I’m sure Doran would love to visit New Zealand.’

      ‘But?’ Alex said ironically.

      ‘We can’t afford a holiday right now.’

      Broad shoulders lifted in a slight shrug, but his gaze didn’t waver. ‘I share a jet with Kelt and Gerd, so transport won’t be a problem. And I have an appointment in Madrid in a month’s time, so I could drop you both off at Nice on the way there.’ He looked down, eyes glinting, and challenged softly, ‘Scared, Princess?’

      ‘My name is Serina,’ she stated, tipped off balance by the cynical note in his voice. ‘What reason do I have to be afraid?’

      Apprehensive, yes. Her stomach felt as though she were standing on the edge of a high cliff. Alex Matthews was way out of her league. Yet Doran…

      She looked across the ballroom to her brother, laughing with a group of young men, one of whom was his greatest friend, the son of an old associate of her father’s, another exile from Montevel. It was young Janke who’d introduced Doran to the excitement of computer gaming. Together they’d come up with the idea of creating their own game and making a fortune by selling the rights.

      It would be a huge success, Doran had told her enthusiastically, and sworn her to secrecy in case any other video game creator got wind of their idea and stole it.

      At first she’d dismissed it as an amusing fantasy on their part—until the project had taken over Doran’s life.

      A month on the other side of the world might just break the spell.

      Alex said bluntly, ‘You have nothing to fear from me.’

      Colour heated her skin. ‘I know that,’ she said on a note that probably sounded a bit equivocal.

      As though she hadn’t spoken, he went on, ‘And accommodation won’t be a problem—I live in a huge old Victorian house with enough bedrooms for a huge Victorian family. As well as being beautiful, Northland is interesting in itself—the first place where Maori and Europeans met and mingled and clashed.’

      The hairs on the back of her neck lifted in a primitive reaction to…what?

      Nothing, she told herself curtly. Although Alex’s tone was pleasant, it was also impersonal, and his offer to host Doran as well meant he didn’t expect her to fall into his bed.

      Well, not right away…

      Nerves zinging, she said, ‘It’s just not possible,’ and dismissed the subversive thought that a month in New Zealand would provide her with photographs and information for quite a few columns.

      But Alex must have noticed that moment of weakness because he said, ‘Why not?’ And when she hesitated he went on, ‘Why don’t you ask your brother how he feels?’

      He’d refuse, she was sure. ‘OK, I’ll do that.’

      She sent another look across the room, intercepted by her brother, who strode across to them, lean and athletic-looking for someone who’d spent most of the past six months in front of a computer.

      When Alex casually mentioned his suggestion Doran responded with his usual enthusiasm. ‘Of course you must go, Serina!’

      ‘The invitation is for you too,’ Alex said pleasantly.

      Excitement lit up Doran’s mobile face, then faded. He glanced at Serina before saying, ‘I wish I could, but…you know how it is.’ He spread his hands and finished vaguely, ‘Appointments, you see.’

      Alex said, ‘I believe you’re interested in diving.’

      ‘Well, yes.’ Doran’s eager response was a sharp contrast to his previous tone.

      ‘New Zealand has some fantastic sites—in fact, there are two magnificent wrecks not far from Haruru, but friends of mine are going up to Vanuatu in the Pacific to dive the reefs. If you’re interested I’m sure I could get you a berth.’

      Doran’s look of extreme longing increased almost comically when Alex added, ‘They’re talking about diving the Second World War wrecks there, as well.’

      Serina said quickly, ‘Wouldn’t you have to be an experienced diver to deal with those?’

      ‘Serina—’

      Doran’s protest was overridden by Alex’s voice. ‘So what are your qualifications, Doran, and where have you dived?’

      Doran launched into his CV and, when he’d run down, Alex said, ‘That sounds good enough.’ He looked at Serina and added with a smile that held more than a tinge of irony, ‘And, just to reassure your anxious sister, my friends are responsible and expert divers and I’m sure you’re sensible.’ He mentioned the name of a family famed for their exploration of the seas and the subsequent prize-winning television programmes.

      ‘Wow! And I’m a very cautious diver!’ Doran said, clearly forgetting that he’d refused the trip. He flashed an indignant glance at his sister. ‘You know that, Serina.’

      She blinked. She’d had to learn thrift since her parents’ death, so that now the easy way the very rich moved around the world startled her, and the smoothly masterful way Alex had taken control of the situation made her feel the ground had been cut from under her feet.

      ‘Of course you are,’ she said, ‘but you’d have to get to Vanuatu, and we can’t possibly impose—’