be quiet,’ she whispered furiously. ‘I want you to stop goading me and start doing something else instead.’
‘Something else?’ He towered over her but still didn’t touch her.
‘You know already,’ she growled at him. ‘You want it too. You’re as dishonest about that as I am. You didn’t come back to kiss me? That was such a lie, Alvaro.’
‘But you agreed it wouldn’t be wise.’
‘And it wouldn’t.’ She nodded, never more sure of that than she was right now.
This entire trip wasn’t wise. Because she was so tempted by him and it was utterly impossible. Getting close to him again? Exploring that magic with him again?
She couldn’t. Because it hadn’t been ‘just sex’ for her. He’d made her want so much more.
‘I’m supposed to be considering marriage to another man,’ she said, reminding herself more than telling him.
Never mind that it was no longer the truth, it was a viable reason to make herself step back.
But the look in Alvaro’s eyes flared and he stepped forward. ‘Was that ever a serious consideration? And now? After...’ He frowned as she coolly met his gaze. ‘Wow. Is it seriously still on the cards for you?’
She suppressed a shiver and stood her ground. If there was one way to put their chemistry on ice, this was it.
‘I haven’t ruled it out. But I need to see what he wants,’ she fudged, regretting bringing the subject up.
‘What he wants? So if he wanted to proceed, you would?’
‘It’s my duty—’
She broke off as he made a sound in the back of his throat.
‘It is my duty,’ she repeated, ‘to do what is best for my country. Nothing and no one can come before my duty to the Crown.’
‘You really believe that?’ he softly, lethally questioned, leaning far, far too close. ‘You really think that what you want comes second? That you have to sacrifice your life because of some duty you think you owe just because of some stupid birth order?’
She glared up at him, because she did believe exactly that.
‘You’re using it to hide,’ he savaged her. ‘Because you’re too scared to stand up for yourself and for what you really want.’ He drew in a jagged breath. ‘I get that your father was strict, but you don’t have to do as he says any more. You don’t have to do as anyone says. You can be your own woman.’
‘I’m the Queen of Monrova, Alvaro,’ she said bloodlessly. ‘I can never be my own woman.’
He pulled a torn piece of paper from his back pocket and shoved it into her hands. Jade stared at him a few seconds longer before dropping her gaze to unfold what he’d wanted to show her. It was torn from a newspaper—a spread of photos that she barely glanced at before holding it back out to him. ‘I’ve already seen photos of Juno and Leonardo.’
‘When?’
‘The other day.’ She’d seen those ones from the Winter Ball where they’d been dancing.
‘Before we were together?’ Alvaro’s gaze drilled into her.
She hesitated and looked down again, smoothing out the paper he’d not taken back. ‘It was after I’d asked you.’
‘But did this impact on that decision?’ he probed.
She shook her head. ‘I did what I wanted.’
But now she stilled as she scanned the other pictures of Juno and Leonardo in this paper. Her sister looked happy. They were on a walkabout and Juno was bent, talking to a small child. She looked more relaxed than Jade ever felt on such an engagement and the obvious chemistry between them had columnists frothing at the mouth. And it certainly wasn’t based on nothing. A wave of tenderness swept through Jade.
‘Does he know?’ Alvaro asked.
Jade couldn’t bear to think about that. The press and the rest of the world thought that was her—Jade—with Leonardo. That this was the beginning of a great romance and the world was now anticipating a royal wedding to end all royal weddings. It would be an absolute fairy tale. It certainly would be fiction. How could they possibly continue with this when she returned to Monrova and they switched back? They wouldn’t, of course.
‘He knows she’s Juno, right?’ he asked again.
Surely Leonardo did. Jade trusted Juno; she was sure this would work out. Juno had been vehemently anti Jade’s possible marriage of convenience with Leonardo. There were obviously feelings there that Jade hadn’t been aware of. Maybe Juno hadn’t been fully aware of them either.
But Jade could feel Alvaro watching her now. ‘Stop trying to analyse me.’
‘I’m trying to figure out