Mills and Boon Christmas Joy Collection. Liz Fielding

It seemed like something she could actually do.

      The car turned down the driveway towards the palace and she gasped. The pink palace was outlined in dozens of white lights. It was spectacular. People from the city were within the grounds. It seemed the party had already started.

      The car pulled up in front of the palace doors and a guard opened the door and held out a hand to help her out.

      She glanced at her watch. Eleven o’clock on New Year’s Eve. Eleven years ago she’d been in Paris. Eleven years ago she’d met Alex for the first time. Eleven years ago they’d shared their first kiss.

      Alex. He was standing at the top of the steps waiting for her.

      She’d thought she’d hesitate when she saw him again—she’d thought she’d waver.

      But she didn’t. She moved away from the car and took her first step towards him.

      * * *

      Her dress was shimmering silver, crying out to be touched, but he kept his hands firmly at his sides as she climbed the steps towards him.

      The designer who’d made it had assured him it would look perfect on her. But ‘perfect’ wasn’t close enough to how it actually looked.

      The silver beads sparkled in the white lights around the palace. If Annabelle were watching she’d think that Ruby was some kind of fairy. It was almost as if a movie spotlight were shining on her.

      She stopped just a few steps away, her hair curled around one shoulder, brown eyes fixed on his and her red lips inviting his kiss.

      He held out his hand towards her. ‘I’m so glad you came, Ruby. I was worried you would never come back to Euronia.’

      ‘I wasn’t sure if I wanted to.’

      He could see the uncertainty on her face. She still hadn’t decided what she wanted to do. This was it. This was his final chance to convince her to stay.

      ‘I don’t want to be part of someone’s plan, Alex. I appreciate the work that your staff has done. But I don’t think I can live my life like that.’ She gave a sorry smile and a little shake of her head. ‘I can’t wait to love you, Alex. I can’t wait to love Annabelle. But I don’t have royal blood. I haven’t been brought up in the same circumstances as you.’ She held out her hands. ‘I think we both need to face facts. I just don’t fit in around here.’

      Her dress shimmered some more, reflecting light back up onto her face. She’d never looked so beautiful. She’d never looked so radiant. And he couldn’t bear not to touch her for a second longer. His heart was filling with joy and breaking at the same time. She’d told him that she couldn’t wait to love him. She couldn’t wait to love Annabelle. But it was too hard. There were a million obstacles in their way.

      But all that mattered to Alex was the fact that Ruby loved him and his daughter just as much as they loved her.

      At the end of the day, what more did he need?

      He would do anything to make this work.

      He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.

      ‘Eleven years ago in Paris I met the woman of my dreams. Eleven years ago I met the woman I was destined to be with for ever. Fate tried to get in the way. Life tried to get in the way. But from the first time I met you—from the first time I kissed you—I knew, Ruby. I just knew. I think that you did too.’

      The palms of her hands were resting against his chest. Her bottom lip was trembling.

      He smiled at her. ‘Ruby, I don’t ever want to let you go. You are the only woman I want by my side. But more than anything I want you to be happy. You are the best woman I’ve ever known. I love you, Ruby. Annabelle loves you too. I’d love to tell you I don’t care what the media says—but that wouldn’t be true.’

      She flinched and he pressed on, moving one hand from her waist and pressing it above her heart.

      ‘I care because you care. I don’t want anyone to hurt you. I don’t want anyone to upset you. I want you to be happy. I want you to be safe. I want to love you, cherish you and keep you for ever. I want you by my side whatever I do.’

      ‘But what about me, Alex? What about my work? I’m not a stay-at-home kind of girl.’

      Even as she said the words she wondered how true they were. She’d already been thinking of changing her role at work and trying to find a less stressful kind of job. She loved her patients. She just didn’t love the bureaucracy.

      He smiled. ‘I want what you want. I want to support you in any work you want to do. What is it you want to do, Ruby? Can you do it Euronia?’

      She nodded slowly. ‘I want to work with people, Alex.’

      ‘Then you can. We have a hospital here. You can be the people’s Princess Ruby. If you want to work there—you can.’

      ‘Really?’ Things were starting to seem more real. More possible. More within her grasp.

      ‘I want you to be the person I turn to when I need guidance. I want you to be the person Annabelle comes to when she cuts her knee, quarrels with her friends and...’ he grimaced ‘...needs boyfriend advice. I want you to be the person holding my hand and squeezing it when Annabelle says her first sentence. When she starts school. When she’s crowned Queen of Leruna.’

      Her voice trembled. ‘That’s a whole lot of wants, Alex. Some parts even sounded like wedding vows.’

      He nodded slowly. ‘They did—didn’t they?’ He reached up and tangled his fingers in her hair. ‘Here’s another one, then. I want to make this work. I want to make this work for you and me.’

      Tears were forming in her eyes. ‘I want this to work too, Alex. I’ve missed you, and I’ve missed Annabelle these last few days. I felt as if I’d left part of me behind. But I still want to be normal too, Alex. I’ll let you down. I’m not cut out for this kind of life. I’m just Ruby Wetherspoon from Lewisham.’ She gave the slightest shake of her head. ‘I can’t be Princess Ruby.’

      One tear slid down her cheek. He pulled her closer and whispered in her ear. ‘I think you can. I think you and I can figure this out together. There’s no one else for me, Ruby. It’s just you. Tonight is our anniversary. Tonight, eleven years ago, someone was smiling down from up above and telling me to reach into the crowd and pull the girl in the red coat up next to me. And that was it.’

      He pulled back and pressed his hand over his heart.

      ‘That was it for me, Ruby. Our defining moment. Everything in between has been just smoke and mirrors. Everything that’s happened has brought us to here and now.’ He held out his hand over the palace grounds. ‘This is where we’re supposed to be right now. This is what we’re supposed to be doing.’

      ‘Paris was a fairytale, Alex. Every girl knows that fairytales don’t come true.’

      He smiled and slipped an arm around her shoulders, turning her to look out over the crowds. ‘But fairytales are magic, Ruby—don’t you know that? Every girl doesn’t get a prince. Just like every guy doesn’t get a princess. But I’m hoping that tonight my fairytale comes true.’

      The fireworks started immediately.

      The crowd in the gardens all turned towards them. They were spectacular. White and gold Catherine wheels streaking across the black sky. Flashes of blue and red confetti cannons. Roman candles and rockets firing into the sky and exploding in a cascade of brilliant lights. The effects were dazzling.

      Multi-coloured waterfall fireworks came at the end of the display, mirroring the fireworks in Paris eleven years ago. They’d been put there at Alex’s special request. Would Ruby remember them?

      Of course she did. She turned and smiled at him.

      ‘It’s almost identical.’ Her voice