“The horses are named Gold and Silver. Don’t ask me to tell you the names in German or French; I couldn’t pronounce them.” Roarke removed his glove and gently but confidently ran his elegant masculine fingers down the nearest horse’s nose. It huffed and bumped his hand in greeting.

  “You want to try?” Roarke asked.

  “Can I?” She removed her gloves hesitantly.

  “Stroke him gently, but don’t move too fast.” Roarke stood right behind her as she reached out and touched the horse. Its coat was soft, almost silky. The tip of his nose had a funny sort of fleshy texture that was also soft to the touch. She laughed when he bumped her hand like he hadn’t Roarke’s.

  “They are beautiful,” she breathed.

  “Here is nobility without conceit, friendship without envy, beauty without vanity...” Roarke said.

  “It’s true, isn’t it? They are strong, beautiful, with such a quiet nobility. It’s humbling to stand before them.” Shana leaned back against him, and he wrapped an arm around her from behind, holding her close. She could have stayed in his embrace forever.

  “Let’s sit down in the sleigh. I’m sure the horses are anxious to be off.” He escorted her to the sleigh and they climbed in. A large, thick, faux fur blanket of pale gray lay on the seat and after she and Roarke sat down, he tucked them both beneath the blanket. Then he retrieved a pair of thermoses and handed her one.

  “Hot chocolate,” he said. “With Bailey’s Irish cream.”

  “Oh God, that’s my favorite.”

  “I know.” He winked at her and then told the driver they were ready to go. The driver clicked his teeth and lips before gently tapping the horses’ flanks with a flexible rod, and the sleigh began to move.

  As Shana watched the landscape around her, she wondered how long Roarke had been noticing her without her noticing him like that. He knew so much about her, her likes and dislikes, her passions. She’d been too busy mourning her breakup with Jared to notice anyone else like that, and it made her feel like a fool. If she’d only pulled her head out of the proverbial sand she would have seen Roarke in the shadows, waiting for her to notice him back. She burrowed closer to him and curled one arm around his stomach, savoring his warm, hard body beside her.

  The sleigh toured through the town, which was blanketed with a fresh layer of snow. Merry lights twinkled from the roofs and hung across pedestrian shopping streets. Dozens of people filled the streets, stopping to buy presents and eat at restaurants. Shana liked seeing so many people have a wonderful time so close the holidays.

  For a long while they didn’t speak. She and Roarke simply enjoyed the clopping of the hooves and merry ring of sleigh bells. It was almost surreal, like living in some sort of dream. She’d thought she’d never find her prince charming, that a girlish dream like that was silly, but she realized princes did exist… Roarke was one of them.

  Yes, he masked his charms to others with sarcasm and dark humor and enjoyed riling Jared and the others up a lot in business deals. But with her … he was every inch the dream prince. He had only shown her compassion, affection, and care while they’d been here. It didn’t feel like it was a game for him to be with her; he wasn’t playing her while looking for his next conquest. This wasn’t a façade that would fade. She felt that, deep inside, in a way she’d never been so sure of anything else in her life.

  “So what about you?” she asked, going back to their earlier conversation. “Are you a pets-and-kids kind of guy, or a bachelor with dozens of women in dozens of cities waiting for you to visit?” She was trying to tease him, but he didn’t smile. She honestly didn’t think he had a dozen women in different cities, but she wanted to see if she could get him to blush the way he was always making her.

  “I would actually love pets and children, but not with just anyone. When I tie my life to someone else’s, it won’t be done casually. I don’t want to be like my parents. I won’t marry old money or for social reasons. No marrying a woman for her looks or how she is in bed. I want a woman to want me and a life with me, without a thought to money or social connections. If she doesn’t want me, then it’s not meant to be. I want a partner in life and love.”

  Shana held her breath as she absorbed his words. “Would you get up at one a.m. to feed a crying baby or change a diaper?” she asked. She remembered how tired Felicity and Jared were after Hayley was born, but somehow, being in that moment together, the two of them as parents were united in their love for their child and both working to help each other. It had deepened their love.

  It was probably a bad idea to throw such a serious question at Roarke, but if she got in any deeper with how she felt about him, she’d want everything with him, the good and the bad. And she had to know… What kind of man was he when it came to the hard stuff? She knew he was the perfect romantic, but how would he handle the tough nights?

  “Yes,” he answered, “and I would go to every birthing class with my wife. We would be partners. I’m not my father, and I refuse to have his or my mother’s marital or parenting failings.” He finally met her gaze. “What about you?”

  “I want the same as you. I want to be a mother, but I want to keep working too. I want a husband who is involved in all aspects of my life and treats me with respect and values me as a human being. I want to be equal parents with equal responsibilities.”

  “You have every right to ask that and more of any man who marries you,” he assured her as he pulled her a little closer to him.

  They grew quiet again, watching the stars above flickering, winking in the velvety black sky.

  “Why did you and Jared break up so often and get back together all the time while we were in law school?” Roarke’s question caught her off guard.

  “You noticed that?” During law school, she’d never thought Roarke so much as looked at her except when they were in study groups preparing for finals. He had kept to himself so much during those three years of school. They’d chatted politely during this study sessions, but she hadn’t thought he’d paid attention to her much beyond that.

  “Of course I did,” he said quietly.

  Shana finished her hot chocolate and realized the Bailey’s Irish creme was making her more honest and emotional than she usually was about things like this.

  “I think he loved the idea of me, not the reality of me, and I … I just wanted to be loved so I didn’t care. It’s so cliché—the girl who had no love growing up looks for it in every man she dates.” Tears gathered thickly on her lashes, and she hastily wiped them away.

  “Wanting love when you’ve been given none is not cliché. It’s human.” Roarke put an arm around her shoulders and tucked her against his side again.

  In that moment, Shana wished it had been Roarke she had met first. If she had … she might have had a different life, a life not burdened with a complicated romantic past which had led to a lonely life. She stared at Roarke’s mouth and then curled her hand in his sweater to pull his head down to hers.

  The kiss burned deliciously, but it was also bittersweet. She could almost taste the life she might have had if only she had met Roarke instead of Jared first.

  Was it too late to change her future? Could she and Roarke make something lasting out of the fire that burned between them?

  Their mouths parted, and he rested his forehead against hers. She still had her fingers curled in his sweater, and she breathed in the natural scent of him, mixed with the slightest hint of cologne. She was beginning to learn Roarke did a lot of things to perfection, right down to not overdoing the amount of scent he used. He seemed to exercise limitless control over himself and his environment. What would happen if he lost control of himself and his world? Would he crumble? Would he break? She had so little control of so much that she felt on the verge of breaking all the time.

  “What are you thinking?” he asked her.

  She dared not tell him.

  “So, are you a cat or a dog person?”

  He closed his eyes and laughed softly. “Such deep concentration for such a simple question.”

  “Well? Which is it? Cats or dogs?”

  “I really like cats, but I would love a dog. There was a golden retriever that lived next door to me when I was a kid. His name was Zeus. He sort of adopted me and seemed to sense how lonely I was.”

  “Zeus?”

  “Yeah, like the Greek God.” Roarke grinned, the boyish expression utterly charming. “He was a brave dog and whenever it stormed, he would always come and sit on the porch with me and watch the lightning streak across the sky. I guess his owners knew that he wasn’t afraid of storms, hence his name.”

  For a moment she pictured the cute little boy he must have been huddled on a porch, his arm around a golden retriever while they watched a thunderstorm. He must have been so lonely, feeling lost in that cavern where his parents’ love should have been.

  “Are you familiar with Greek mythology?” She’d always been interested in mythology, but she’d never really talked to anyone else who was too.

  “Yeah, I am. I wasn’t a typical middle schooler. My father made a snide comment about my lack of reading one summer so I grabbed the fattest book I could find, which happened to be a huge book of Greek mythology tales. I didn’t think I’d like it, but I wanted to prove him wrong.” Roarke smiled bashfully. “It was interesting. I realized I enjoyed reading it more than I thought I would.”

  “Do you still read? Most lawyers lose their love of reading during law school.” She found she was fascinated by him, and wanted to know everything about him, the way he seemed to know so much about her.

  “I think I read more now than I did in law school,” he remarked with a note of self-curiosity. “I remember a lot of our classmates saying that they couldn’t stand to read once they’d finished reading cases. I never got that. Reading an esoteric constitutional law case is completely different than opening up a suspense thriller.”

  “Or a romance novel,” she added. “Those are my favorite.”

  “I’m not surprised.” He tapped the tip of her nose playfully with his index finger.

  “Is that because I’m a woman or—”

  He silenced her with a gently placed finger over her lips. “Because you’re hopelessly romantic, and that’s not because you’re a woman; that’s just because you’re you.” Then he removed his finger and leaned in, replacing it with his lips, and she sighed in contentment at his kiss. He was so good at it. Jared had been a wonderful kisser, but he never kissed her with the intensity and reverence that Roarke was showing now. He had a relaxed intensity that left Shana feeling dizzy and aroused all at once.

  She wasn’t sure how long they kissed while the sleigh moved through the snowy night. The horses’ harness jingled with bells in a merry, musical way that made Shana feel she was in a place out of time, a realm of magic and wonder. With bells ringing and the smell of baked chestnuts and chocolate being sold on street corners, mixed with the laughter of children chasing each other along the walking paths while throwing snowballs, it all felt so wonderfully cozy. Like the front of a Christmas card.

  Shana used to love Christmas cards, seeing the frosted landscapes and the people living out a wonderful holiday. She’d grown up and discovered that holidays weren’t like that… Or so she’d thought. Here she was living a Christmas card dream with Roarke and it was real, every minute of it.

  But even magic had to end. Finally, they were back in the front of their hotel and it was time to bid the horses goodbye. They thanked their driver, and he held out sugar cubes, which she and Roarke offered to the horses. Shana couldn’t help but laugh when one of the Clydesdales licked her palm while scooping the sugar cube out.

  Then they waved at the driver before the sleigh vanished into the night.

  “You know…” she said in a whisper so she didn’t disturb the peaceful snowy evening, “I think you might be a romantic too.”

  “With you … I certainly am.” He didn’t even try to deny it, and that made her feel warm all over.

  When they went inside, the hotel was full of people and she recognized a wedding party that had been there when she first checked in. A bride stood in a flowing white gown, greeting people in the lobby. Shana watched with an earnest longing when she saw how the groom and bride shot secretive, loving looks at each other.

  “Envious?” Roarke asked.

  “No, not envious. I just love how happy they seem.”

  “Would you ever do a big wedding?” he asked her.

  “No, I don’t think so. Something small and private. Something for just my family and close friends. I thought maybe a destination wedding to Scotland would be fun.”

  “Would your groom have to wear a kilt?” Roarke asked with a smile.

  “No, unless he wanted to.” She winked at him, and he put an arm around her shoulder.

  They carefully worked their way through the guests in the crowd before she stopped to look at him.

  “I forgot!” She pulled away from him and rushed back toward the front desk. She was done speaking to the woman there by the time Roarke reached her.

  “Everything okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I just remembered. The twin beds.”

  “What about them?”

  She tilted her head slightly and shot him what she hoped was a seductive look as she leaned in to whisper.

  “We need them pushed together, remember?”

  “Yes, we do, don’t we?” He seemed pleased at the request and she grinned. “Let’s have a drink at the bar before we go up. That will give them time to take care of our room.”

  They took a seat at the bar and ordered two glasses of wine. Shana was feeling rather good after the little bit of Bailey’s Irish cream in her hot chocolate, but one glass of wine would remove the last of her worries tonight. She wanted to seduce Roarke. She wanted to show him she wasn’t a princess on a pedestal, that she had hungers and desires that matched his own.

  She would enjoy being with him while she could.

  Shana was up to something, but Roarke wasn’t sure what. They sat at the bar and had drinks with another couple. The man was named Zeno Villani, the woman Chloe Taylor. Roarke felt like he’d heard of the Villani family, and their reputation was a bit iffy, but he liked Zeno. The man was sarcastic and cocky and had no filter whatsoever. Roarke didn’t mind at all when someone was unapologetically themselves without worrying about what others thought.

  Chloe was sweet, a college kid with big dreams to be a social media influencer. They were an odd pair together, but Roarke felt like they worked somehow. Not that Zeno or Chloe seemed to be aware of their growing attraction to each other. It amused Roarke. He was good at reading people, their faces, their bodies, their voices. It was what made him a successful lawyer. These two had it bad for each other and were only just starting to realize it.

  “So, what brings you guys here to Switzerland?” Shana asked the couple while she sipped her wine.

  “A wedding,” they both said the same time and laughed. Zeno’s green eyes sparkled as he glanced at the petite blonde beside him.

  “I’m the maid of honor and Zeno is the best man,” Chloe explained.

  “Aww.” Shana smiled. “How fun.”

  “It is,” Chloe said and shot a shy glance at Zeno. “What about you guys? Honeymoon?”

  Shana choked on her wine. “Oh, no, no… Roarke and I are business associates. We were supposed to be doing a business deal, but the other side we were supposed to meet with got stuck in Berlin.”

  “Business associates?” Zeno raised his dark brows as he looked to Roarke for confirmation.

  “And friends...” Roarke gave a playful tug on a lock of Shana’s hair. “We used to be enemies,” he added, teasing her with a wink.

  Shana blushed and rushed to correct him. “No we weren’t, not really.”

  “She just dated my worst enemy,” Roarke said.

  Before Shana could protest this, Zeno added, “That’s fucking hot.” Zeno sipped his beer and shot Roarke a knowing grin.

  A group of people walked past the bar. Spotting Zeno and Chloe, they shouted at the two to join them.

  “Oh, that’s the rest of our wedding party. We’ve got to run. Nice to meet you guys!” Chloe hugged Shana and beamed at Roarke before dashing off to grab the bride’s arm and walk away with her. Zeno nodded at Roarke and Shana before heading in the direction of the remaining people waiting for them.

  Shana glared at Roarke when they were alone. “We aren’t enemies. We were never enemies.”

  “But imagine if we were,” Roarke leaned in to whisper. “Imagine you and me facing off over a boardroom table … negotiations getting heated, clothes getting ripped off next. We would fuck each other to within an inch of our lives…”

  Her eyes dilated, and he knew she was imagining what he’d said.

  “Or … after work you sneak over to my apartment, and I take you on every flat surface we can find all night long. Can you imagine that?”

  Shana gulped down the last of her wine, set the glass on the counter and fixed him with a hot and desperate look that made him hard as nails. He was forced to adjust his pants before he stood up.

  “Let’s go upstairs. Now,” she ordered. He finished his drink with a chuckle and followed behind her so he could watch her cute butt as she walked ahead of him toward the elevators.

  The second the elevator doors closed on them, he moved. Roarke pushed Shana back against the wall and pinned her arms above her head while he kissed her hard. She moaned as he claimed her mouth roughly. She drove him insane like no other woman in his life ever had or ever would.

  Shana tasted like a dream. She was fire and sweetness, and it made him desperate to be inside her again, to feel her pulse around him and join herself to him in a way that could never be undone. Roarke wanted to mark her, to own her and possess her, but he knew he never would. She was as free as a falcon riding the winds. He was but a humble man on the ground, gifted with the vision of watching her fly.

  He reached over and hit the stop button on the panel. The elevator slowed to a pause between floors.

 

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