Megan"s eyes lit at the question. "I won"t lie. I was scared witless when I accepted the Grandspire job. But I was also more excited by it than by anything I"d experienced to that point. I like a challenge. But what I learned from the experience there is that it"s not all about me. I built a family at the Grandspire, and as with any family, we all have our strengths and weaknesses. It takes getting to know your family to know who is best at which tasks. If someone is talented but struggling with their role, perhaps that role needs to be adjusted. Perhaps the person needs more education or training to meet the challenge. But to do that, you need a foundation built on mutual trust. That"s what created the success at the Grandspire."
Megan"s gaze took in the committee members one by one, lingering on Stefano before she turned back to Natalie. "When an undertaking is larger than life, even when it seems impossible, trusting those around you makes facing that challenge a lot of fun and ultimately, very rewarding. That trust enables you to leave your fear at the door and work with the belief that everything will fall into place."
A muscle twitched in Stefano"s jaw. Megan meant for him to understand the deeper meaning of her statement.
She hadn"t come for the job. She"d come for him. And she wanted him to trust her.
Natalie consulted her notes, then said, "In that case, we"re about done here. You should know that we have one more candidate for the position, whom we"ll be interviewing later today. However, if we were to offer this position to you, would you take it? Or are you considering other offers?"
"Technically, that"s two questions" -Megan"s full lips twitched in amus.e.m.e.nt, but her voice remained serious- "but they have one answer. This is the offer I want. It gives me a chance to help develop a brand-new facility and put my own mark on it, and that"s rare in this business. In fact, I turned down a very good offer when I learned that this position was available. It was a risk, but I couldn"t ask for anything better than a life and a career here in Sarcaccia. It"s a risk I was willing to take."
That earned Megan a satisfied nod from Natalie, who pushed back from the table to stand. "Thank you. You"ve given us a great deal to discuss. We"ll make our decision by tomorrow, so expect to hear from me soon."
A flurry of activity ensued as the committee members" chairs squeaked back from the table, though Stefano sat riveted, his heart in his throat. He watched as Megan made the rounds, shaking committee members" hands and thanking them for their time. Only when two men beside him began whispering about how the other job candidate would compare did Stefano shake himself to the present.
She turned down Gladwell.
Still, no matter how well she"d done today, as she"d told him in the hospital, there were no guarantees in life. Ever. The other candidate was solid, too. Megan could be hunting for a job again just as Anna was about to start a new school year.
Without speaking to those seated near him, he shoved back from the table and threaded his way through the room, determination propelling him forward. Trying to reach her in the crowded room reminded him of his thwarted attempts to get her alone on the Grandspire roof the night of the fireworks. He couldn"t be so patient this time. He was only a few feet from Megan when Natalie signaled that she"d escort Megan to the front of the restaurant.
"I can call a taxi for you, if you like," Natalie offered, pulling a cell phone from her handbag. "Are you headed to the airport?"
"My flight"s not for a few hours." Her gaze flashed past Natalie to Stefano, then back again. "But a taxi to the city center would be great."
"I"m heading that direction," Stefano said, inserting himself in the conversation. "I"d be happy to give you a ride."
"Your Highness?" The room quieted at the shock in Natalie"s voice.
Stefano"s eyes didn"t leave Megan as he said to Natalie, "I"ll be back before the next interview. In the meantime, I"ll show Megan what Sarcaccia has to offer."
He imagined tongues would wag the moment he left the room. It was a risk he had to take. He had to know what she was thinking.
His heart leapt at the mixture of hope and surprise that pa.s.sed over Megan"s face before she squelched it in favor of a more professional demeanor. "If you think that"s possible, Your Highness, I"d love it."
Chapter Thirty-Two.
"You know, the polite thing to do when visiting is to call first."
"Who says I wasn"t planning to call when I finished the interview?"
Megan settled back against the soft leather seat of Stefano"s car. She hadn"t expected him to drive a plain sedan. Something more along the lines of a Ferrari or perhaps a James Bond-type Aston Martin seemed more suited to a wealthy bachelor prince wishing to hug the curves of Sarcaccia"s mountain roads. Then again, she hadn"t considered that he"d drive himself at all.
His laughter echoed through the car. "Of course you were."
"I wasn"t told you"d be there," she replied. When Natalie said the interview would consist of the committee plus a few representatives from the hotel and transportation sectors, the words "one of whom is royal" weren"t spoken. She stole a sideways glance at Stefano. "I also had no idea Mohamed Said recommended me for the job. Or that Natalie Costa is a cousin of Ilsa Jakobsen"s. Did you?"
"I did." His hands glided over the steering wheel as they turned from the hotel"s tiny parking lot onto the two-lane highway skirting the cliffside, heading toward the marina and modern hotels she"d spotted earlier from the restaurant patio. No other cars were on the road, it was only the two of them, the warm air, and the sunshine.
"You didn"t say anything," she pointed out as she rolled down the window a crack to enjoy the seaside air.
"I needed you to trust me when I said I wasn"t the one who gave the committee your name. I wanted you to know that, for once in my life, I wasn"t trying to control the situation."
She smiled at that. "And I interviewed for the conference center job without telling you because I needed you to trust me."
"Trust you to...what?" His eyes went to the rearview mirror. He squinted as if searching for something before focusing once more on the road ahead. "Make a stupid decision and turn down a great job in a place you love? A place that"s perfect for Anna?"
"No. I needed you to trust me to make the choice to come here even if you"ve convinced yourself that the situation is impossible."
"Because if people trust each other, anything is possible?"
She grinned at his mimicry of her interview answer and raised a finger in the air as if she were a schoolteacher. "That was only part of what I said. I also said that everyone needs to understand each others" roles and adjust accordingly."
His gaze flicked to the rearview mirror once more before he cut to the left, taking a rutted road off the highway. Her fingers curled around the armrest as her purse b.u.mped off her lap.
"Even I know this isn"t the way to the marina or to central Cateri." She drew in a sharp breath as the car skirted the side of the cliff. The road looked more suited to sheep or horses than vehicles. "One wrong turn will take us into the sea."
"Hang on. You"ll see where we"re going." The car jostled downhill for a few hundred yards until they reached a flat area set into the side of the cliff that offered just enough room to park two or three cars. Stacked stones framed the end of the s.p.a.ce and separated it from a small beach. Stefano rolled to a stop and cut the engine.
"I"m not dressed for this," she noted.
"Me, either. But no one followed us, we"re completely shielded from view, and I thought you might want privacy."
"With you? On Sarcaccia?"
"With me. On a beach."
"Impossible," she teased.
"Being on a beach with me, or the privacy?"
"You tell me."
That drew a slow, s.e.xy smile from him, one that made her pulse jump. He opened his car door and signaled for her to do the same. "Come on."
She followed him to the front of the car. He extended a hand as she approached the stacked stones, helping her to step over them, then brushed off the top so she could sit without ruining her suit. The breeze was light here, with the cliffs protecting them, yet it was enough to keep the air cool and comfortable. Better yet, the water in the cove was calm. The waves lapped the sh.o.r.e in such a gentle rhythm even a child could wade out without fear of being pulled under. How Stefano found this hideaway, she couldn"t imagine. "This is gorgeous."
"One of my favorite places. I don"t come here often. I"m too afraid it"ll be discovered. One of my sister"s boyfriends brought her here once." He tilted his head, as if remembering. "I gather the relationship didn"t end well, but she loved the spot. She says it"s the only place on the planet she can feel completely alone and safe. The narrow road and the angle from the cliff don"t allow for anyone to photograph this spot from a distance, and no one can approach without being heard."
Megan could understand why he kept the location secret. Which reminded her....
"Last time we looked out at the waves together, a photographer did snap a picture of us." She pulled off her heels and sank her toes in the sand. "I don"t know if you"ve looked, but as far as I can tell nothing has shown up anywhere yet."
"No." He sat atop the stone wall beside her, his shoulder inches from hers, and looked out to the sea. "Nor will it."
"How do you know?"
"I purchased them."
She turned her head slowly to study him. "You...really? How?"
A tight smile played at the edge of his mouth. "I spotted the same man in the airport that afternoon, waiting to board my plane. He was actively trying not to look at me, even when I walked right in front of him. I knew then he had to be a paparazzo. He went through the boarding line before me and I managed to see his ticket while he was standing in front of me on the jetway. As soon as I got back to the palace, I gave his name to my a.s.sistant. She tracked him down and offered to buy the photos for a rather outrageous sum, stipulating that she would only do so if he signed a contract guaranteeing they were on an exclusive basis." He gave a sarcastic grunt. "Having Barrali money comes in handy now and then. It"s the Barrali fame that"s a pain."
She put her hand over his. Softly, she asked, "Is it? I"m not so sure."
He looked down at her hand, but made no move to take it. "If I weren"t a Barrali, we never would have been separated. We would have raised Anna together. My entire life-our entire lives-would have been vastly different. So yes, I"d call that a pain. I also think that, because I"m a Barrali, it"s for the best if we keep things as they are. I need you to understand that. I can"t have you or Anna put in harm"s way. Or pull you into a life you weren"t meant to live."
"If you weren"t a Barrali, we might never have met." She spun on the stone to face him, waiting until he looked her in the eye before continuing. "You might never have gone to Venezuela. I wouldn"t have had Anna, and I certainly wouldn"t be sitting on a beach with you right now. If you weren"t a Barrali, Anna very likely would"ve died in the hospital. Your fame, as it were, meant you had the connections to bring in a terrific doctor."
He opened his mouth to argue, but she continued, "Most of all, if you weren"t a Barrali, you wouldn"t be you. You"re protective, strong, and unbelievably confident, yet you have a heart of gold. All of those things are a product of your upbringing. I heard what you said to the nurse about meeting that child with meningitis. That"s part of who you are, deep at your core. I was so sure I wouldn"t fit into your world that it blinded me to the fact that I love you for you. All of you. When I hid the job offer and the newspaper photo from you, it wasn"t because I didn"t trust you."
He raised an eyebrow in skepticism. "You didn"t trust me when I proposed to you."
"No, I didn"t," she admitted. "Like I said then, I didn"t think you knew what you wanted. I"d just seen you after years apart, I"d just learned the truth about Ariana, and it was a lot to absorb. But after we spent more time together, I grew to love and trust you. I saw that you were the man I fell for in Venezuela and so much more. I"d decided to accept your proposal and I didn"t want anything to get in the way."
"You were scared I"d tell you not to come to Sarcaccia if I knew about Gladwell. Especially after we"d just been seen by a photographer."
"I didn"t want it to weigh into the discussion because I"d made up my mind. But yes, I was probably scared of what you"d say. Same thing with the newspaper photo. So I did exactly what I"d accused you of doing whenever you wanted things to go your way. I took control. I stuck it over by the sugar canister in the kitchen so you wouldn"t know. And it ended up blowing up in my face." As it probably should have. She should"ve been open with him.
"And now?"
She lifted a shoulder, then let it drop. "Frankly, I"m still scared. I"m scared you won"t want me here. Or that if I"m here, you won"t want to marry me. I"m scared that even if you do, I might fail at being what you"d need me to be as the wife of a prince."
Her fingers tightened over his hand as she finished, "But I"m sure that this is where I belong, even if I don"t land the conference center job. As long as we can be open with each other-if you can trust me to tell you when newspapers print silly photos, and I can trust you with the task of protecting Anna and me-we"ll be fine. Even if it means finding a job at one of the hotels or having to live in a palace with little privacy and a lot of expectations."
"Sure enough to turn down Gladwell? I still think that was foolish. His offer was more than generous. And he"s Jack-freaking-Gladwell. He"s one of the most powerful men in the world. Think of the opportunities you"d have working for him."
She grinned at both his statement and his use of the word freaking, which sounded completely out of character given his lush Sarcaccian accent. "Jack Gladwell doesn"t have nearly as much to offer me as you do."
He was silent for a few long, painful moments before saying, "In that case, I"m afraid I have some bad news for you. It may alter your plans."
His dour tone sent her stomach plummeting. She"d been sure she"d handled the interview well. The committee members seemed happy with her responses and she"d felt a genuine friendliness in the atmosphere. Natalie, in particular, seemed anxious to hire her. So what had happened?
Or did he truly not love her? Was he going to stick to his guns regarding marriage?
"Go on," she urged when he said nothing more.
"I hate to tell you this" -he reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear, leaving the palm of his hand to cup the side of her head- "but if you accept the job, which I am quite sure you"ll be offered-"
"How could you know-"
"-you won"t be living in the palace."
His tone remained serious, but a glimmer in his eyes led her to say, "No?"
"You have the option of getting your own apartment, of course. My guess is that the committee will be so anxious to have you that you could negotiate a stipend to cover the cost. But I"d much prefer you live with me. In my home."
"Live with you?" She felt her jaw go slack as she processed the second part of what he"d said. "Wait...in your...did you say home?"
"More of an apartment," he clarified. "When you received the offer from Jack Gladwell and I returned to Sarcaccia, the palace felt suffocating. I decided it was high time I moved out."
She stared at him in stunned silence. No one moved out of the palace, not the children of the monarch, at least. She"d read enough about Sarcaccia over the years since Anna"s birth to know that much about its traditions.
"I don"t believe it," she said. "That"s...that"s not done!"
A self-satisfied grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Being with you showed me how much I value my independence. The best times in my life have been when I"ve been away from the palace and its strictures. When we volunteered in Venezuela, when I was in the military, and especially when I was with you in Barcelona. I could be myself."
"In disguise," she pointed out. "That"s the ant.i.thesis of being yourself."
Laughter erupted from him. "In disguise, when necessary. But still myself, the man I truly am on the inside. When I couldn"t have you in my life because you"d be working for Gladwell-or so I thought-I decided I had to be true to myself if I ever wanted to be happy. While I can never get away from the media completely, or from my role in the royal family, being away from the palace will give me s.p.a.ce."
"I take up s.p.a.ce. So does Anna."
"There"s plenty," he a.s.sured her. "It"s the top floor of a gorgeous old building, but it"s been completely modernized on the inside. There"s a doorman, underground parking, and four large en suite bedrooms. The international school is a half-mile away and there"s an enclosed park out back if one would like to, say, walk a dog or play ball. Oh, and there"s an ocean view. You might like it. In fact, I"ll admit that when I bought it, my first thought was that you"d love it. It even has one of the decorative cornerstones I told Anna about the day we explored the Gothic Quarter."
"It sounds like heaven." Especially if she shared it with Stefano.
"In that case, I have an important question to ask." His other hand came up to frame her face, the intensity in his gaze making her dizzy. She knew with a certainty that he was going to propose. For real, this time.
And this time, she"d give the answer she knew would make them both deliriously happy.
"Would you, Megan Hallberg, consent to" -he paused dramatically, then raised an eyebrow- "owning a dog with me?"
For a split second, she was taken aback, but soon laughter spilled from her with such intensity that tears sprang to her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. "A dog?" she choked out. "Why yes, Stefano Barrali, I will consent to owning a dog with you. I"m sure it"ll make Anna very, very happy."
"Will it make you happy?"
She nodded. How could she ever live without this man? "It will."
He leaned in to brush his lips against hers, the slight touch sending a shiver of satisfaction through her. She expected him to kiss her again as she leaned forward and moved her hands to his thighs, but instead, he eased back and said, "Perhaps we should do things in the proper order. Marriage first, then the dog? It should be raised by two loving parents. If not, there"d be a scandal. Sarcaccia"s an old-fashioned country that way."
She punched his chest. "You"re miserable, you know that?"
"Only without you." His thumbs caressed her cheeks, wiping away her tears. "I love you, Megan. With all my heart and soul."
A deep sigh escaped her as she looked into his brilliant green eyes-so much like Anna"s-and absorbed the depths of emotion there. "It took you long enough to tell me. That"s all I wanted to hear the day Gladwell offered me the job. All I wanted to hear when you proposed marriage in the first place."
He grimaced and leaned his forehead against hers. "I was so worried you"d think I was trying to manipulate you into marriage, I didn"t want to say the words. I"m an idiot."
"Yes, you are. A royal idiot. But you"re also s.e.xy, intelligent, controlling, impetuous, witty, and-if I may say so-mind-blowing in bed. You"ve shown me that you love me, even if you haven"t said it. And I love you. The whole package."
He shifted to study her face. "Does that mean you"ll marry me?"