Love and Lies at The Village Christmas Shop. Portia MacIntosh

asked, blushing a nice pink and staring at the framed artwork over the couch.

      “Nope.”

      She closed her eyes and sighed. Hank hid his smile. He was enjoying this way too much. He couldn’t wait to see what Lady Wendy was like after a couple of tequila sunrises and a little two-stepping.

      Grabbing the bag containing the pretty Texas T-shirt he’d picked out earlier, she stalked across the room like some British general going to battle. “We’ll go to this Riverwalk for one hour,” she said, obviously trying to compromise. “I suppose you do deserve a little time off for being such a good sport.”

      “With an attitude like that, we’re bound to have a good time,” he said with a chuckle.

      GWENDOLYN COULDN’T remember ever being this frustrated and confused. Hank McCauley was the most exasperating, most difficult man she’d had the misfortune to meet. First, he’d insisted on driving his own vehicle—a monstrously large truck, no less. Then he’d driven right up to the front portico of the hotel, despite her instructions to go to the service entrance. He’d kissed her quite deliberately so she’d appear more like one of the women he preferred—except she knew she didn’t look a thing like the busty, flirtatious young tarts who flocked to such testosterone-rich cowboys. He’d needed a nap once they were checked in. Now, after only several hours of fittings, a haircut and lessons, he needed a little holiday on this Riverwalk!

      “Damn you, Prince Alexi,” she muttered under her breath. “I hope you’re having a perfectly miserable time, wherever you are.”

      If he were having a terrible time with his truck-stop waitress, he would end his trip promptly. Everything would return to normal and her job would not be in jeopardy. She would not retreat to England in disgrace to face her overly critical father, who believed she should find a titled, moneyed peer and settle down to a life of charitable works and social engagements, and produce her husband’s heir and a spare.

      The key word there was settle. She had no intention of giving up her career to fit the image of what her stuffy, antiquated father thought was proper for an English lady.

      She lifted the soft T-shirt from the bag. A pristine white background held a line of blue flowers—she supposed they were the famed Texas bluebonnets she’d seen on various publications—and a prettily lettered “Texas” in green below. The shirt was certainly a far cry better than some she’d seen—and even imagined Mr. McCauley preferring—which featured ugly animals called armadillos and crude sayings regarding beer, sex and other suggestive activities.

      Perhaps Hank McCauley wasn’t quite as bad as she’d assumed when she’d first heard the term retired rodeo cowboy used to describe him. Or when she’d been told he lived on a ranch outside a small town called Ranger Springs. Or when he’d come to the door dressed only in a pair of nearly indecent jeans.

      Heat suffused her cheeks as she remembered how he’d looked when she’d first met him, just out of his shower. Lean and sculpted with impressive muscles and smooth, tanned skin, he could have appeared on an ad for Texas, cowboys or anything else he’d wanted to endorse.

      In the suite, he’d made a remark about his “beat-up body,” but Gwendolyn hadn’t noticed any scars or deformities—at least from the waist up. What was he hiding below the waist of his trousers?

      More heat. She had to stop thinking about Hank McCauley’s assets. She had to forget the line of white briefs that had appeared when he threatened to lower his slacks.

      At least she knew the answer to the question, boxers or briefs?

      In her many years of acquaintance with Prince Alexi, she’d never speculated on his underwear. She had no idea what he preferred, nor would he ever show her his preference by lowering his trousers in her presence. He was too much a gentleman.

      Her father was a gentleman, and look at what a stuffy bore he was.

      Gwendolyn felt like clamping a hand over her mouth for even thinking such a thought. Prince Alexi was not like her father. Hank McCauley was not more exciting than either of the men. He was just…different. More difficult. More…male.

      They were going out for one hour, she decided as she unbuttoned her silk blouse. She’d wear the T-shirt to make Hank McCauley happy, she’d even take a sip of one of those tequila sunrises he’d mentioned earlier. But she was absolutely not going dancing.

      She sincerely doubted he knew how to waltz or fox-trot—or any of the other ballroom dances she’d learned as the daughter of an earl—and she refused to make a fool of herself attempting one of those fast and complicated western steps she’d seen in movies and on the telly. No matter what he said or how persuasive he was, she would not be humiliated on the dance floor.

      “HANG ON, LADY WENDY. It’s time to twirl again.”

      “No more twirling!” she managed to gasp as her arms circled his neck. “I believe I’m quite dizzy.”

      “But you’re doin’ such a good job of polishing my belt buckle.”

      “What?”

      “Dancin’ real close, darlin’,” he replied, his breath a whisper against her ear. The sensation made her even more dizzy and she sagged in his arms.

      “You should have told me you couldn’t handle your liquor,” Hank said.

      Somewhere between a deliciously decadent appetizer called nachos supreme and a wonderfully tasty drink called a tequila sunrise, her pretend prince had become Hank rather than Mr. McCauley. She heard the humor in his voice but couldn’t muster the outrage she should be feeling. He’d been teasing her unmercifully for the past half hour, but instead of becoming angry, she was beginning to find his remarks witty.

      She’d definitely had too many sips of the sweet yet tangy drink. Hank McCauley was bossy, opinionated and manipulative. He was also the sexiest man she’d ever met…and he made her feel like dancing.

      She tried to unwind her arm so she could see her wristwatch, but Hank simply pulled her tighter. She gave up with a sigh, knowing she wasn’t going to win this battle any more than she’d won the rest of their skirmishes.

      As soon as she’d dressed in the T-shirt and a casual skirt, Hank had knocked on her door. He’d grinned his approval, grabbed her hand and guided her to the elevator. He’d given her a history lesson of the River-walk. She’d learned how San Antonio had taken a rundown, foul-smelling river and turned it into one of the best-known attractions in Texas. When they’d walked out of the Hyatt Regency, they’d entered another world. The humidity of the river provided a perfect backdrop to the tropical foliage and abundant flowers. Fun-loving tourists crowded the sidewalk. To Gwendolyn’s surprise, there was no fence or railing. The concrete merely stopped at the water, which was really a dredged-out canal.

      No telling how many people had sipped too many alcoholic drinks and fallen into the river! Hank had merely grinned and told her it was only three or four feet deep, so she didn’t need to worry.

      The idea of not worrying about tumbling into the murky river was as foreign to her as thinking of Hank McCauley as Prince Alexi.

      “We should be going back to the hotel,” she said. She wasn’t sure when exactly she’d lost control—whether it was when she’d first knocked on his screen door or when she’d decided to accompany him to the Riverwalk—but she was certain he was now making decisions for them both. While that realization should have caused panic, at the moment she only felt an increasing interest in what he would insist upon next.

      “With any other woman, I’d take that as an invitation. But I kind of doubt you were asking me up to your room, were you?”

      “Of course not!” she managed to squeal as he steered them across the floor between some very young dancers and a middle-aged pair. How he avoided the other couples was a complete mystery. “We barely know each other.”

      “How much more do you need to know?”

      “Well, I…That’s