Mills and Boon Christmas Joy Collection. Liz Fielding

still crying, the tears slowly trickling down her cheeks. He reached out and touched her cheek but she flinched.

      ‘I’m not the person they say I am,’ she whispered. ‘I don’t want people to write things like that about me.’

      His heart was breaking for her. ‘Ruby, I’m sorry. I should never have invited you to the ball. I should have waited. We should have waited. If we’d introduced you slowly the press would have been easier. My advisors could have told you how to act, what to say. This is my fault.’ He shook his head, ‘I just didn’t want to wait any longer, Ruby. I wanted you to be part of my world—part of Annabelle’s world.’

      Right now he couldn’t care who else was in the room. Right now he was only interested in Ruby. The pain on her face was tearing him apart. More than anything he wanted her to look at him and tell him that was what she wanted too. To be part of his world. But even though she was looking at him it was as if she’d switched off.

      She shook her head. ‘But that’s just it, Alex. I don’t want someone to tell me how to act and what to say.’ She pressed her hand against her chest. ‘What’s wrong with just me—Ruby Wetherspoon?’

      He took both her hands in his. ‘Nothing—nothing at all. We can make this better, Ruby. I promise. I can make this better. We can work together. We can find a way to deal with the press. I’ll find the photographer who took those pictures of us and he or she will never be allowed in Euronia again. This isn’t as bad as you think.’

      There was a noise behind him. The tiniest clearing of a throat...the squeak of a shoe. Ruby’s eyes darted to the advisors behind him. He winced. He didn’t need to turn around to know what the expressions on their faces must look like. He’d heard them talk incessantly since they’d knocked on his bedroom door this morning.

      Their solution was simple: Ruby must go. The good name of Euronia must be protected and if the Prince Regent wanted to date then it must be handled by the press team.

      He hated this. He hated all of this. For the first time in his life he wished he was free of all this. Free of the responsibility. Free of the ties. He wanted to be free to love the woman he’d loved for the last ten years. He wanted to be free to tell the world that. He didn’t need to ask their permission.

      ‘Ruby, talk to me. Tell me what you’re thinking. Whatever it is you’re worried about—we can fix it. We can make this work. You and I can be together. I love you, Ruby. I’m not going to lose you twice.’

      She sucked in a deep breath. It was the first time he’d told her how he really felt about her. But this wasn’t the way he’d wanted to do that. Telling someone you loved them should be for sunsets and fireworks—not bright libraries, with three other people listening to every word.

      Ruby pushed herself up from the chair and walked over to the window, looking out over the gardens. It was almost as if she hadn’t heard his words.

      ‘I need to go, Alex. I need to get away from all this. I can’t think straight.’ She reached out and touched one of the ornate curtains at the window. ‘I need to get away from here. This isn’t my place. This isn’t my home.’ She spun around to face him. ‘I need to get away from you, Alex.’

      It was like a wave of cold water washing over him. She hadn’t reacted to his words. She hadn’t even acknowledged that he’d said he loved her.

      Doubts flooded through him. Maybe he’d been wrong all along. Maybe she didn’t feel the same way as he did. Maybe this was her way of letting him down gently.

      He felt his professional face fall into place—his Prince Regent face—the one he’d never had to use around Ruby.

      ‘Where will you go?’ He couldn’t help it, his words were stumbling.

      This time her eyes seemed more focused. ‘I’d always planned on visiting my mum and dad at Christmas. I’ll go now. They’re in France. I can get there in a few hours.’

      Her shoulders straightened. He watched her suck in another deep breath and look his advisors square in the eyes. She was determined. It was almost as if now she’d made a decision nothing would get in her way. She started to walk forward.

      He tried to be rational. He tried to think logically. ‘I’ll arrange for the jet to take you.’

      She gave him the briefest nod and walked straight out of the door. Not a single hesitation or backward glance.

      His advisors all started talking at once. But Alex couldn’t hear them. All he could focus on was the stillness of Ruby’s skirts as she walked along the corridor. The spark and joy he’d felt around her last night had vanished. Even the sway in her steps had been curtailed.

      His Princess Ruby was vanishing before his eyes.

      * * *

      She couldn’t breathe. An elephant was currently sitting on her chest, squeezing every single breath from her lungs.

      Her legs burned as she climbed the stairs and strode along the corridor to her room.

      Alex had told her that he loved her.

      Alex had told her that he loved her.

      Her heart should be singing. Instead it felt as if it had been broken in two.

      All those conversations. All those questions about whether she was sure, whether she was ready.

      The cold, hard truth was that she wasn’t. Right now she doubted she ever would be. Waking up to see people she didn’t know telling lies about her, people the world over reading and believing those lies, was like being dunked in an icy-cold bath.

      Was this what her life would become?

      She opened the cupboard and pulled out her suitcase, leaving it open on the bed. She started yanking clothes from their hangers, not bothering to fold anything.

      Then she stopped, her fingers coming into contact with some of the more delicate fabrics. Some of the more beautiful designs.

      Were these clothes even hers?

      Should she even take them?

      Confused, she walked into the bathroom and emptied the area around the sink with one sweep of her hand into her toiletries bag.

      There was a movement to the side of her eye. She sighed. Alex. She needed some space.

      Except it wasn’t Alex. It was Annabelle, her eyes wide as she looked at the disarray in the room.

      Ruby was shocked. She dropped to her knees and put her hands on Annabelle’s shoulders. The little girl’s bottom lip was trembling.

      ‘Oh, honey,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry. But I need to go away for a little while. I need to leave.’

      Annabelle shook her head. Her mouth opened and she scowled fiercely.

      ‘No.’

      It was one word. It was a tiny word—fuelled by emotion. But it was the biggest step in the world.

      She flung her arms around the little girl. She hadn’t thought it was possible for her heart to break any more. But she hadn’t counted on this.

      She cradled the blonde curls in her fingers and whispered in Annabelle’s ear. ‘I love you, honey. And I’m so proud of you for saying that word. You are such a clever little girl.’ She pulled back and held Annabelle’s face in her hands. ‘That’s the best word I’ve ever heard.’

      ‘No.’

      Annabelle said it again, and pointed to the case. There was another movement to the side. This time it was Alex. His face was pale.

      ‘Ruby?’

      She nodded. ‘Yes. She spoke to me.’

      She kissed Annabelle on the forehead, then lifted her and handed her to Alex as she continued to pack her case.

      Alex