Not-So-Perfect Princess. Barbara Wallace

Please, oh, please. Say yes.

      Enrique squeezed her hand again. “Sailing on the sea is too dangerous.”

      Jules felt as if someone had wrapped a line around her heart and pulled hard. She had to make him understand, to see how important this was to her. “I am a careful sailor. I would never take undue risks.”

      “You are on the ocean. Weather can change. No one, not even the best sailors in the world, can remove all the risk.”

      She understood that. She wasn’t a complete idiot.

      Desperate to make this work she sought another test. “Sailing is a pleasurable leisure activity. Something we could do together in our free time.”

      “I don’t have a lot of free time.”

      “It wouldn’t have to be that often. Only once in a while.”

      “We may have just met, but I must admit I understand your father’s concerns.” Enrique spoke to her as if she were a child. “You are to be the mother of my children, my wife, my queen. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you as it did your mother.”

      Disappointment settled in the center of Jules’s chest, but she didn’t allow her shoulders to slump. Being here was still better than Aliestle. “So I’m only allowed to sail on lakes and rivers?”

      “I’ve seen what sailing has done to my brother. The sport killed your mother. Once we are married, I do not want you to sail again.”

      The air rushed from Jules lungs. Tears stung her eyes. She clutched the railing. “But I’ve always been able to sail. Just not on the ocean.”

      “That was your father’s decision. This is mine.”

      No! Her chest tightened. This was so much worse than she imagined. It wasn’t only the sailing. The tone of Enrique’s voice told her she would be exchanging her controlling father for a controlling husband. Her freedom would be curtailed here, too.

      “Don’t look so disappointed,” Enrique chided. “This isn’t personal. I’m not trying to be cruel.”

      “What are you trying to do then?”

      “Be honest and help you,” he said. “It’s time for you to grow up and put childish things aside, Julianna. You may believe sailing is good for you, but it’s been brought to my attention that sailing brings out a wilder side in you.”

      She drew back. “What have I done?”

      “Kissed Prince Niko.”

      “One kiss. We were engaged at the time.”

      “There have been other reports,” Enrique said calmly, as if they were discussing business and not her life. “Such a pursuit is inappropriate for a future queen. You must embrace the bigger duty you’ll now have.”

      Jules forced herself to breathe. Carving a new life for herself and helping Aliestle would be an uphill battle. She would be constrained here on the island, too. “What is to be my role here? My bigger duty?”

      “You are to be my wife. You will provide me with heirs.”

      Both of those things she’d known about. Accepted. But she doubted that was all Enrique would want from her. “And?”

      “You will be a conventional princess and queen the people can respect. It’s in your best interest to do what I say and not bring any embarrassment to our name.”

      Her best interest? What about their best interest? Enrique seemed to want to tell her what to do, not have a real relationship with her. How could love grow out of that?

      Emotion clogged her throat.

      What was she going to do?

      Returning to Aliestle in disgrace and marrying a nobleman would be the worst choice for her, Brandt, her country and her future children. Doing something more drastic didn’t appeal to her, either.

      Other women might run away. But if she turned her back on her responsibilities she would be exiled. Her father would keep her brothers from seeing her. Not only that, her father would also denounce her. Conditions would worsen for the women in her country. She couldn’t give up on everything she’d sacrificed her whole life for and her family.

      That left one choice—going through with the wedding. Her stomach churned.

       Think of the bigger picture, the future, others.

      Jules would be able to help Brandt and Aliestle. Her children would have a better life and more choices on the island. Those things would make up for everything she was giving up. In time, Jules would see she made the right decision.

      But right now, it still … hurt.

      In an apartment on the ground floor, Alejandro tried to relax. But being back at the palace made him antsy. So did something else. Someone else …

      Julianna.

      Maybe she wasn’t as bad as he originally thought. She seemed different tonight, warmer and more genuine. But if that were the case, he couldn’t understand her icy facade earlier.

      Not that he should be thinking about his brother’s fiancée at all.

      Alejandro sat on the floor and used a laser pointer to play with the kitten. This was the same room he’d had as a teenager, though the furniture had been replaced, the floors refinished and the walls painted. The decor wasn’t the only change. Back when he’d been a teenager, a guard had always been stationed outside the back door that led to the beach path to keep him from running away. Not that a guard had been able to stop him. At least his father hadn’t posted anyone there tonight.

      The kitten sprinted across the hardwood floor after the red dot, pawing and pouncing until he plopped onto a hand-woven rug and purred. His eyes closed.

      As Alejandro moved from the floor to a chair, a flash of blue passed outside the window. The same blue as Julianna’s gown.

      He stood to get a better look.

      Silky fabric and blond hair billowed behind her as she hurried down the path leading to the beach, making her look almost ethereal with the starry night sky as her backdrop.

      Not his type, Alejandro reminded himself.

      He glanced at the clock. Eleven o’clock. A little late to go beachcombing. Not that what she did was any of his business.

      But no one seemed to be with her. Not Enrique. Not her bodyguard.

      That didn’t sit well with Alejandro.

      She shouldn’t be alone. It was dark. She could lose her way.

      On a lighted path, an inner voice mocked.

      Something could happen to her. Alejandro ignored the fact that he could find his brother and send him after Julianna.

      Alejandro stepped outside onto the patio. The tile was hard beneath his bare feet. Planters full of fragrant flowers lined the edge. Lanterns hung from tall wrought-iron poles.

      Maybe Julianna wanted a closer look at the water, or to dance on the beach under the moonlight … or skinny-dip.

      As his blood surged at the thought, he quickened his pace. Now that he would like to see. Ice princess or not.

      The lighted path stopped at the beach. Alejandro’s bare feet sunk into the fine sand. Thanks to the moonlight, he saw Julianna standing at the water’s edge holding her high heels in one hand. The hem of her gown dragged on the sand. Wind ruffled her hair and the fabric of her dress. Waves crashed against the shore, the water drawing closer to her. She didn’t move.

      Mesmerized by the sea or thinking? About him?

      He scoffed at the stupid thought. She would be thinking about Enrique. Her fiancé. Alejandro should leave her alone.

      Yet he remained rooted in place, content to watch her.