A Royal Proposal. Barbara Hannay

you can see through Charlie,’ he said, somewhat dispiritedly, ‘I’ve got a problem on my hands, haven’t I?’

      His friend shook his head and smiled. ‘No, not a problem, Rafe. If you play your cards correctly, I’d say your Charlie could be quite an asset.’

      No, Rafe thought, Faysal’s reading this wrong. His friend might have approved of Charlie’s prettiness and sincerity, but he hadn’t seen her horror at the thought of actually having to marry him.

      ‘She’s a temporary stopgap,’ he said firmly. ‘That’s all.’

       CHAPTER FIVE

      ‘SO, ARE YOU going to give me a performance appraisal?’

      Charlie and Rafe were back in the plane and taking off for Europe when she posed this question.

      She’d tried her hardest to be cool and sophisticated in Faysal’s home and she needed to know if her efforts had been satisfactory. After all, there wasn’t much time to lift her act before they arrived in Montaigne.

      She was watching Rafe intently, waiting for his answer, and she didn’t miss his frown, although he very quickly hid it behind a smooth smile.

      ‘You were perfect,’ he said.

      ‘Are you sure?’ She’d tried really hard to lose her accent, but she suspected that he wasn’t being totally honest. ‘I need to hear the truth, Rafe. I don’t want to let you down.’

      Which was a noble way of saying that she didn’t want to face the embarrassment of being caught out.

      ‘You were fine,’ he said with a hint of impatience.

      Charlie wasn’t sure that ‘fine’ was good enough, but she didn’t want to pester him and become annoying. She consoled herself that Rafe would have told her if she’d made a major blunder.

      ‘So there’s nothing you need to warn me about before I arrive in your country?’ she tried one more time.

      Rafe smiled. ‘No, just be yourself, Charlie. It would be different if you really were my fiancée, but for now, I think you’ll do well just as you are.’

      ‘Right.’ Charlie wished the mention of Rafe’s ‘real’ fiancée didn’t bother her so much.

      ‘Just try to look as if you’re enjoying yourself,’ he said.

      She couldn’t help smiling. ‘That shouldn’t be too hard.’

      It was true. Everything about this trip so far had been wonderfully exciting. If Charlie hadn’t been so worried about poor little Isla, she would have looked on this as the adventure of a lifetime.

      * * *

      As soon as they reached their cruising height, Rafe opened his laptop again. Apparently, he was studying everything he could about mining, so that he could outwit the Leroy Mining Company who wanted to wreck his Alps.

      For most of the flight Charlie watched movies. Her head still buzzed with a host of questions—questions about Rafe, about his family and his country, and what he expected of her—but he was clearly preoccupied. And, as he’d made it quite clear, she didn’t have the responsibility of a ‘real’ job.

      That belonged to Olivia.

      Her sister.

      Charlie felt a deep pang at the thought of the girl who was her mirror image. Her sister. They shared the same mother. Had shared the same womb. The same DNA.

      How could her father have kept this secret from her? Learning about it now, Charlie felt hurt. Deeply hurt, as if she’d been denied something precious. The other half of herself.

      She wondered how on earth the decision had been made. Obviously her parents had decided to split and take a child each. But how had they made that choice?

      Tossed a coin? Drawn straws?

      Charlie wouldn’t dwell on the fact that her mother had rejected her and chosen Olivia. It could warp her mind if she let that sink in too deeply. The important thing to remember was that she loved her father very much. She’d had a wonderful childhood and they’d shared many adventures, and they had a great relationship. She couldn’t imagine her life without her sweet, dreamy dad.

      But she also couldn’t deny that her feelings about Olivia were incredibly complicated. On one level she longed to meet her sister and get to know her, but on another level she was stupidly jealous that Olivia was going to marry this deadly handsome Prince.

      When Rafe found her.

      * * *

      They arrived in Grenoble mid-afternoon, descending through thick clouds into a world of whiteness. Snow blanketed every rooftop and field and Charlie was so excited she could hardly drag herself from the window when the flight attendant delivered her coat and scarf.

      ‘Do you have boots?’ Rafe asked, eyeing Charlie’s flimsy shoes. ‘You might need them.’

      ‘They’re packed away in my suitcase.’

      ‘Hmm.’ He came closer and fingered the fabric of her coat.

      Charlie could tell by his frown that the coat was inadequate.

      ‘This should be OK to get you from here to my car,’ he said. ‘But you’ll have to get something thicker and warmer for Montaigne.’

      ‘Yes, I dare say.’ The new coat would probably need to be a good deal more glamorous, too, Charlie thought, as she noted the elegant cut of Rafe’s thick overcoat. In other words, she would have to spend a big chunk of her meagre savings on a coat that she’d only need for a couple of weeks. But she couldn’t bring herself to ask Rafe for more money.

      Despite Rafe’s warning, Charlie wasn’t prepared for the blast of frigid air that hit her as she stepped out of the plane. The cold seemed to bite straight through her coat and penetrate to her very bones.

      ‘Are you OK?’ Rafe asked, slipping an arm around her shoulders. ‘Charlie, you’re shivering. Here, take my coat.’

      ‘No, it’s all right. We’re almost there.’

      Welcome warmth enveloped them as they left the tarmac and the airport’s doors slid open for them. But now there was something else to worry about.

      ‘Are there likely to be paparazzi here?’ she asked.

      Rafe slanted her a smile. ‘There shouldn’t be. I’ve tried to keep my movements undercover.’

      Just the same, Charlie turned up the collar on her coat and tried to look relaxed when heads turned their way. She kept a fixed little smile in place as she walked with Rafe to the chauffeur waiting with a sleek black, unmarked car. All was well. So far.

      * * *

      Grenoble lay at the very foot of the Alps, so it wasn’t long before the car was climbing the mountainous slopes. Snowflakes drifted all around them, and Charlie watched through the car windows in delight.

      ‘It doesn’t snow in Sydney,’ she told Rafe. ‘I’ve seen snow in the Blue Mountains and on the tops of the peaks in Nepal, but we were there in summer. I’ve never seen it like this. With snow simply everywhere.’

      It was only then that she caught Rafe’s warning frown and his quick glance to the chauffeur sitting just in front of him.

      Oh, help.

      Charlie flinched. What an idiot she was. Of course, this chauffeur would talk to the rest of Rafe’s staff about the strange change in their master’s fiancée. Damn. She’d only just arrived and already she’d made a huge blunder.

      Her face was burning as she pressed her lips tightly together. She was such a fool. Turning away sharply, she held her eyes wide open to try to hold back any hint of tears.

      Until