Page 48 of Prince Cheating Charming

God, I did love it here. I felt a pang at the idea that in only a week or so I would be leaving forever.

Alexander didn’t say anything as I belayed down, but when I was almost at the bottom, he caught me in his arms, turning me around to look at him.

“You’re stunning up there,” he breathed. “You’re miles better than I am, Delilah. We’re not even in the same league. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I guess I didn’t think you’d like me if I was better than you,” I said, uncomfortably realizing that I had been foolish. “I guess that was silly.”

“I love it!” the King said. “You’re phenomenal. Maybe with some practice I can be as good as you.”

He flashed his big smile at me, and it almost looked genuine this time, even though the dark, haunted circles under his eyes remained.

“But you weren’t silly,” he went on, his fingers slowly brushing a curl from my neck. “I’m sorry. For being an arrogant ass. For not making it clear that I don’t give a damn about status or you looking a certain way. Or pretending you’re not a genius rock-climber.”

There was a lump in my throat at his words. Why hadn’t he said them before? Why must he always do everything too late?

He was so close, and it would be so easy to melt into him, let him put those big arms around me.

But I dropped my eyes and moved my hands to the carabiners.

“Want to give me some tips?” my husband asked, his hands moving efficiently over the harness, that gleaming grin breaking out across his face.

“Keep looking to the left,” I said briefly. “There are some easier handholds that way.”

My husband stretched strong tanned arms up to the rock face, the slight wind rustling his golden hair. I watched him silently as I belayed, watched as he moved slowly through the route, gnawing on my lip as I saw his toned legs stretch, the way he flattened his whole body against the rock, the way the muscles stood out in his arms and across his shoulders as he gripped the deep crevasse.

He had to be slower and more deliberate, and he had to backtrack a few times, listening carefully when I pointed out a far handhold when he was stuck.

He made it too, stretching his toes against the almost sheer rock face and leaping for the hold, holding desperately on even though it was only a tiny ledge.

Alexander was tenacious.

More tenacious than I had expected him to be. . .

“We make a good team,” he said when he reached the ground again.

I turned away. “We aren’t a team at all,” I said in a hollow voice. “Just two people going rock-climbing.”

I could feel his disappointment, almost taste it in the air.

“You don’t understand how much I love you,” he cried out brokenly. “How sorry I am for hurting you. How badly I want to go back to the way things were.”

“We can never go back to how things were,” I said, not looking at him.

How could I ever forget what had happened?

After a moment of silence, I heard him take a deep breath.

“Want to take a rest before we had back?” he asked. “But I can’t stop trying. I won’t stop trying. Because losing you is all I think about, Delilah. I can’t stop trying to fix this.”

We sat on a big rock near the overlook, and he fished around in his backpack, handing me a Tupperware full of cut-up watermelon and blueberries.

For a few moments, we were both silent, watching the sun climb higher in the sky, sending bright rays over the lush green treetops of the forests around Norjava Palace.

“I’m sorry if you don’t want to talk about this,” Alexander said. “But I have to tell you, Delilah. I—remember how I used to see so much love in your eyes when you looked at me. It kills me not to see that when you look at me now. Kills me. Is there no hope of me ever getting it back?”

The pain in his eyes was so raw it almost took my breath away.

My throat tightened, and I swallowed a bit convulsively.

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