New Year, New Man. Laura Iding

into a story about a little boy and a magic book, a laughing dragon and a secret passage into a special kingdom where a kind princess ruled with a gentle hand. There was an evil giant who never bothered to bathe or brush his teeth. The giant captured the princess. And the little boy and the laughing dragon rescued her with the help of spells from the magic book.

      When the story was over, the children and the ring of adults applauded and the children cried, “One more, Prince Dami! Only one more!”

      He obliged them with a second story, this one about a brave girl who saved Montedoro from an evil wizard who’d cast a sleeping spell across the land. Applause followed that story, too, and a few called, “One more!”

      But Dami only laughed and shook his head and wished them all a richly blessed Thanksgiving. The children went to find their parents and Dami took her hand again and pulled her to her feet.

      “That was wonderful,” she told him. “Did you make up those stories yourself?”

      A so-Gallic shrug. “I’m not that clever. They are Montedoran folk tales, two of many. A century and a half ago a Montedoran named Giles deRay gathered them into a couple of volumes, Folk Tales of Montedoro. We all know the stories. It’s something of a tradition over the holidays for the princes of Montedoro to pass out gifts they’ve bought at the bazaar and tell the children a few of the old tales.”

      “What a beautiful tradition.”

      He was watching her, a half smile curving those killer lips of his. “You find everything beautiful. I think, Luce, that you are the happiest person I have ever known.”

      His words warmed her. “I prefer happiness. It’s so much more fun than the alternative.”

      “You sound like Lili, my brother Alex’s wife—Liliana, Crown Princess of Alagonia.”

      “Oh, yes. I’ve heard of her. And Alagonia is an island country off the coast of Spain, correct?”

      “Yes. We—my brothers and sisters and I—grew up with Lili. My mother and Lili’s mother, Queen Evelyn, were great friends. Lili was always the nicest person in the room. Of course, she ended up with Alex, who was not nice at all. The good news is that he’s much better now since he’s made a life with Lili.”

      “Are they happy, your brother and Princess Lili?”

      “They are, yes. Ecstatically so.”

      “I’m glad. And you’ve got me thinking. Can a person be both happy and sophisticated?”

      He did the loveliest thing right then. He touched her, just the lightest caress of a touch as he traced his finger down her jaw to her chin and tipped her face up fully to him. “What? You’re afraid you’ll have to choose?”

      Her tummy felt all fluttery and her pulse beat faster. Oh, he was very, very good at pretending they were dating. “I don’t want to choose—but if I had to, I would choose happiness.”

      He moved a fraction closer, his finger still touching her chin. “It’s good to know you have your priorities in order.”

      “Dami?”

      “Yes?”

      “Are you going to kiss me?” Somehow she had let her eyes drift to half-mast.

      “Would you like that?” he whispered, his smooth, low voice playing a lovely tune all along her nerve endings.

      She couldn’t stifle the soft, eager sound that came from her throat. “Oh, that would be fabulous. Yes.”

      “Are you sure? The paparazzi are watching. A kiss would definitely make the tabloids.”

      She couldn’t hold back a giggle. “Oh, come on.” She opened her eyes a little and saw that he was smiling down at her, a tender sort of smile that made her tummy more fluttery than ever. “It’s too late to back out now.”

      “Luce, you are so innocent—and yet so delightfully bold.”

      “Bold. Good. I like that a lot. As a matter of fact, I...”

      There was more she’d meant to say. But at that moment, the ability to form words deserted her.

      His warm, soft, wonderful mouth settled, gentle as a breath, on hers.

       Chapter Three

      Kissing Luce.

      And not on the cheek. Not a swift brush across the mouth in passing. Not on the forehead or the tip of her cute nose.

      Kissing Luce in the real way.

      Damien hadn’t actually planned to do that.

      But her sweet pink lips were tipped up to him and her bright brown eyes were halfway shut and she managed to look so very inviting in her adorable clean-scrubbed, cheerfully angelic sort of way.

      Plus there had been the joy of the day with her—and really, there was no other word for it. Joy. Lucy Cordell was a joy. The world through her eyes was a magical place. A good and generous place, a place of endless wonder and simple, perfect pleasures. To see the world with her, through her eyes, was a fine and satisfying experience indeed.

      But he’d already known that. Every time he saw her, it was like that. The world was fresh and new again and he would do anything to hear her laugh, to watch her smile.

      However, the kiss?

      No. The kiss had not been in his clever plan to enjoy the weekend with her, to offer her his company and a large helping of Montedoran tradition and then send her back to New York as innocent as ever.

      Kisses, real kisses, didn’t fit in the plan.

      But in the end, how could he resist?

      His mouth touched hers and she let out the tiniest, most tender of sighs. Her sweetness flowed into him.

      And it was...

      More.

      Much more than he had expected. Far beyond the boundaries of what he’d intended.

      It was a light kiss, a gentle kiss. His mouth against hers, but chastely. Not in any way a soul kiss.

      And yet, still, a revelation.

      He breathed in the scent of cherries and he saw, all at once, what he had been able to keep from himself before. He saw that she was sweet and innocent, yes.

      But she was not a child.

      And now that he’d done it, now that he’d felt her lips against his, breathed in her breath, listened to her tiny sigh, he wasn’t going to be able to unring that bell. The spilled milk would not flow back into the bottle. The cat was out and was prowling around now, thoroughly unwilling to go back in the bag.

      Henceforth and forever, when he looked at Lucy, he would see a grown woman. A grown woman he could so easily desire.

      The temptation tugged at him to reach out and gather her closer, to deepen the kiss, to explore this new Lucy, the one he hadn’t let himself see before. And why not? He’d never been a man who put much store in resisting temptation. What was the point? Better to give in. Life was too short and pleasure too...pleasurable.

      But somehow and for some reason he didn’t even understand, he kept his hands to himself. He lifted his head and she opened her eyes and he felt absurdly, ridiculously proud of himself.

      “Oh, Dami,” she whispered happily, searching his face.

      He touched her neat little chin again, because he could. Her skin was poreless, creamy, fresh. “It was only a kiss,” he shamelessly lied.

      She corrected him with a glowing smile, “An absolutely perfect kiss.”

      He offered his arm. She took it. Together they turned for the car that waited to take them back to the palace.

      *