A Very Merry Princess
Page 15

An unexpected confession, she thought. “I’m sorry you have to deal with that. Is it why you’re so conscientious? Just in case?”
“Probably. I want to make the right decisions and not screw up. But every now and then it all comes tumbling down.”
“Tell me about it. I had a horrible experience with a guy in college. I was devastated and went back to El Bahar.” She grimaced. “That’s when I started working in the royal stable. While I love what I do, I can’t see myself staying there for the next twenty years. Yet I have no idea what else I want to do.”
“No room for advancement with the king?” he asked, his voice teasing.
“Not really.” She supposed she could use some of her trust to simply buy a horse ranch of her own, only somehow that seemed like cheating. She didn’t want to step into a position of ownership, she wanted to earn it. Or at least feel she was a part of it.
Their server stopped by the table and told them about the specials. They each ordered a glass of wine.
Conversation flowed easily. Before she knew it, they were done with their meal. She’d had a great time and didn’t want the evening to end. There was something about Cade, something that made her wish their circumstances were different. That she could...
What? Date him? Why couldn’t she? It had been forever since she’d been this attracted to a guy. From everything she’d witnessed so far, Cade was totally honorable. Why not explore the possibilities?
Bethany told herself if she wanted something, she had to be brave enough to go after it, so she took a deep breath and asked, “So why isn’t there a Mrs. Cade Saunders?”
Cade studied her for a second, before smiling. “That’s direct.”
“I’m curious, so I asked.”
“It’s a long story.”
“We could order coffee.”
“Okay.” He reached for his water glass, then drew back. “I always had girlfriends in high school,” he began. “When I moved to Kentucky, I started dating the daughter of the owner of the ranch where I worked. Lynette was different from anyone I’d ever known. More sophisticated, I guess. She had a cute accent and knew exactly what she wanted from me.”
Bethany wondered if she’d made a mistake, asking for details about his past.
“The chemistry was instant,” he continued, “and we both fell hard. Or so I thought. She worried about what her parents would say, so we kept our relationship secret. I missed her when she traveled with her friends or her family, but then she’d be back and it was as if she’d never been away.”
Bethany drew in a breath. She already knew the story wasn’t going to end well.
“We’d been together nearly two years when Lynette came back from one of her trips with a fiancé.”
“Oh no.”
He grimaced. “I was surprised, too. And pissed. The guy was a jerk, but rich. When I confronted her, she told me that I was fun to play with, but that we were never going to get serious and I was only good for sex. She needed to marry someone from her social circle. Or as she put it, I was a workhorse and she was a Thoroughbred.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, wishing she’d kept her mouth shut.
“It got worse. I was mad—she got scared I was going to say something to someone, and she told her mother I’d attacked her. Her family had a lot of influence in town, so I was arrested and charged. Two days later, her father returned from a business trip. Turns out he knew all about our relationship and confronted his daughter.”
Bethany couldn’t believe it. Who would do a thing like that? If she’d ever tried to pull anything like that, Malik would have killed her. Okay, not killed, but she would have been in big trouble.
“The charges were dropped,” Cade said. “I was released, and then fired.”
“How could he do that?”
“How could he keep me around? He helped me get a great job in Texas and told me to stick to my own kind. I didn’t like the message, but I knew he was right. I packed up and left without looking back.” He offered her a humorless smile. “The kicker? Lynette got in touch with me about four months later and wanted to know if we could get together. I told her no. I’d learned my lesson. Next time I’ll fall for a good-hearted, honest woman who knows exactly who she is and exactly who I am.”
Bethany did her best to keep breathing. Her chest was tight but for once not because of her attraction to Cade. Instead she was fighting a sickening realization and doing her best not to bolt from her chair and keep running until she found her way home.
Then the sensation faded and all she could think was that life was incredibly unfair. If Cade didn’t want any more Lynettes in his life, he sure wouldn’t want anything to do with her. A princess from El Bahar was going to be way worse than some heartless, rich man’s daughter.
Worse, she’d lied about who she was and if he found out... Well, she didn’t know what, but it would be really, really bad.
“Beth? Are you okay?”
She swallowed and looked at him. “I’m sorry. My stomach just turned on me. Must be the combination of the rich food and hearing about your horrible ex-girlfriend. I’d say you’re lucky to be rid of her, but you already know that.”
His expression turned to concern. “You look pale.” He waved over the server and asked for the check. “Give me a second and we’ll head back to the ranch.”
“I’d appreciate that.” She tried to smile. “I’m sorry for messing up the evening.”
“You didn’t. It’s fine. I had a good time.”
“Me, too.” Right up until the end when she’d discovered that hoping for anything like a relationship with Cade was never going to be possible.
CHAPTER SIX
BETHANY SPENT THE night tossing and turning only to end up where she’d started—knowing that she was totally to blame for her current situation. While it would be nice to say it was someone else’s fault, it wasn’t. She could have sent someone else to get Rida settled—the royal stable was filled with excellent, caring workers who would have gladly accompanied Rida, but she’d insisted only she could do the job. Given how easily he’d settled into his new home, she knew now she’d been ridiculous.
Maybe it was more than the horse, she realized sometime before dawn. Maybe she enjoyed the drama of her situation a little too much. Maybe she’d been putting off having to make some hard decisions about what she wanted to do with her life. Regardless of which or all of the reasons, she was now stuck in a difficult situation and she had no idea how to fix things.
Telling Cade the truth made the most sense. It was the mature thing to do. The right thing to do. Only she didn’t want to. For one thing, she knew everything would change. While she was pretty sure he liked Beth Smith, he would have nothing but disdain for Princess Bethany. He would see her as Lynette-like, judge her and dismiss her, which would be devastating, because the even-bigger problem, at least to her, was she had feelings for Cade.
He was so funny and charming and capable. She liked how he respected her job and made her laugh and was easy to be around. She liked how his kisses made her feel. She liked pretty much everything about him. Which meant lying to him had been beyond dumb.
She got out of bed and went to the window. As she saw it, she could go one of two ways. Come clean or not. If she told him the truth, she would lose everything they had. If she continued to lie, she betrayed him and everything they had. It wasn’t much of a choice.