HOW TO MARRY A PRINCESS by Christine Rimmer

Rhia...”
    “Just tell me. You’ll feel better.”
    So Alice told her sister about taking Noah to the family beach, about his startling confession that he wanted to marry a princess—Alice, specifically. “Is that insane or what?”
    Rhia shrugged. “He’s very bold. Just like you. And you’ve admitted there is real attraction between you.”
    “But don’t you think it’s wildly arrogant and more than a little strange to decide to marry a princess out of thin air like that?”
    “I’m not going to judge him. Please don’t ask me to. What I think is that you really like him and lately you’re not trusting your own instincts, so you think you shouldn’t like him.”
    “Oh, Rhia. I don’t know what to do....”
    Her sister gave her a tender, understanding smile. “I think you do. You just haven’t admitted it to yourself yet.”
    * * *
    Noah arrived home again from the Bay Area on Saturday afternoon.
    Lucy did not run out to greet him. Still sulking over that damn school she wouldn’t be going to, no doubt. Fine. Let her sulk. Eventually, she would see reason and accept that she needed more time at home, where he and Hannah, her former foster mom, who managed the estate now, could take care of her. Maybe at dinner that night, if she wasn’t too hostile, he could suggest a few online classes. He needed to get her to slow down a little. There was too much stress and responsibility involved in going to college full-time and living on her own. She needed to ease into all that by degrees.
    He thought about Alice. On the plane, he’d read the tabloid stories of their night together at Casino d’Ambre. Just looking at the pictures of her in that amazing gold dress made him want to hop another flight back to Montedoro, where he could kiss her and touch her and take off all her clothes.
    She should have come home with him. But she hadn’t. He had to be patient; he knew it. He was playing the long game with her. And the prize was a lifetime, the two of them, together.
    Unfortunately, being patient about Alice wasn’t easy. It made him edgy, made him want to pick a fight with someone like he used to do when he was young and stupid—pick a fight and kick some serious ass.
    A ride might lift his spirits a little, get his mind off Alice in that gold dress. He put on old jeans and boots and a knit shirt and went out to the stables, where he greeted the staff and chose the Thoroughbred gelding Solitairio to ride.
    He took a series of trails that wound over his thirty-acre estate and on and off neighboring properties. His neighbors owned horses, too. They shared an agreement, giving each other riding access.
    An hour after he left the stables, he was feeling better about everything. The meetings with the streaming start-up had gone well. Lucy would see the light eventually and agree to take things more slowly. And in time Alice would be his wife.
    * * *
    Sunday, Alice went to breakfast at the palace with the family. She was a little nervous that her mother might not approve of all the press from her night out with Noah.
    But Adrienne only greeted Alice with a hug—and congratulated her on getting such a fine price for Orion. Alice was just breathing a sigh of relief when Damien took the chair next to her at the breakfast table.
    He leaned close. “So you sold Noah the horse he wanted.”
    “I did.” Alice sipped her coffee.
    “Well.” Dami spread his napkin on his knee. “Good enough. And now he’s gone back to California where he belongs.” She promised herself she was not going to become annoyed with her brother, that he only wanted the best for her. Dami added, “And you won’t be seeing him again.”
    That did it. She turned a blinding smile his way. “Actually, he invited me to come and visit him in California.”
    Her brother didn’t miss a beat. “And, of course, you told him no.”
    “I told him I would think about it. And that is exactly what I’m doing.”
    Dami gave her a look. His expression