The Prince's Devious Proposal - Holly Rayner Page 0,54

than I am. I’ve always admired that.”

“Really?” Naomi was surprised.

“Really,” Sarah said. “You impress me.”

“He was so nice to me in the beginning,” Naomi said, swirling her wine and staring into the glass pensively. “He really seemed like he liked me.”

“That was part of his act, I’m sure.”

“Maybe,” Naomi said. “I don’t know. There was so much that just wasn’t necessary. He didn’t have to treat me as well as he did.” She hesitated. “And when we met up for the last time, he told me that he’d changed his mind.”

“What do you mean?” Sarah asked.

“He said he didn’t want to take the money anymore,” Naomi explained. “That all he wanted was me. That he’d fallen in love with me for real.”

“You can’t just take him at his word,” Sarah said. “Not after what he did to you.”

“I know that,” Naomi said. “But when I spoke to the lawyer, he said that my husband would have been able to claim the money on my behalf. Petr could have gotten it, if he had wanted to, but he didn’t.”

“That doesn’t prove anything,” Sarah said. “Maybe he didn’t know who your lawyer was. Or maybe he’s trying to figure out a way to have his cake and eat it too.”

“You mean, stay married to me and still get the money?”

“Right,” Sarah said. “You’re a catch. Maybe he wants to take your money without driving you to divorce him.”

“So…so you definitely think I should divorce him, then?” Naomi asked.

Sarah frowned. “Are you considering not doing that?”

“I don’t know,” Naomi sighed. “I don’t know which version of Petr is the true one. I don’t know what to believe. What if he’s telling me the truth now? What if he really loves me, and he regrets the fact that he tried to trick me?”

“Does it matter?” Sarah asked. “It doesn’t erase what he did.”

“But what he did…” Naomi said. “It was a plan his whole family made to save themselves. It was a plan that was made before he and I ever met. I’m not saying it wasn’t wrong, but isn’t it possible that our relationship woke him up to how wrong it was? Isn’t it possible that knowing me changed him?”

“I suppose anything’s possible,” Sarah said. “But how could you ever put your trust in him again after what’s happened?”

“I don’t know,” Naomi said. “But I have to admit that there’s a part of me that wants to. I want to believe that he’s changed. That what he’s telling me now is the truth, and that the things that happened between us were real.

“You need to be careful,” Sarah said. “Losing some of your inheritance is one thing. It’s only money. But I don’t want to see this man break your heart.”

Chapter 18

Petr’s name and face continued to float in and out of Naomi’s mind over the next couple of weeks.

Fortunately, there were plenty of distractions. Jamie and Ella remained thrilled with her presence. Every morning they came bounding down the stairs to greet Naomi as she drank her morning coffee, clamoring to show her a favorite toy or persuade her to join them for their morning cartoons. She became familiar with the soothing music and bright primary colors of children’s programming, and by the end of the first week, she was singing along with the kids to the theme songs of their favorite shows.

Harry turned out to be an absolute blast to spend time with. Naomi had never gotten to know him well—he and Sarah had met after she had moved to New York, so they had never spent much time together—but she discovered to her surprise and delight that she really liked him.

She had known he liked to cook, but she had never realized how skilled he was. On her first morning, he made omelets to order for everyone. Sarah and the kids took it in stride, as though having their breakfast made to their request was an everyday occurrence, and Naomi soon came to realize that it was.

Dinners were another matter. Harry cooked experimentally, setting out ingredients at random and combining them by instinct to see what he could make, inviting anyone who wanted to add an ingredient to his prep table. Naomi got into the habit of joining him, trying to challenge him with increasingly obscure or difficult ingredients, but he was always up to the task. The end result was always delicious.

Every night, after the dishes had been cleared away and the kids had been put to bed, Naomi