Page 51 of A Royal Temptation

If only it would be that easy.

But he had to try.

Outside of his bodyguards, he hadn’t told a soul of their breakup. He couldn’t bring himself to share the news so soon after publicly announcing their happy engagement. He had hopes of winning Portia back, hopes of restoring their love. He’d vowed to bring honor and credibility back to the monarchy of Alma as well as to carry out his grandmother Isabella’s dying wishes for the country. He wanted, needed Portia by his side. He and Portia belonged together. She was the love of his life.

Living without her would only be half a life.

Hours later, the plane touched down in Los Angeles, a place Juan Carlos had visited often. But this time, he had more than business to attend to—he had come to retrieve his woman. He’d managed to get a few winks of sleep, shaved and changed his crumpled clothes while they were in the air. Now he felt human again and more like himself, rather than the shell of the man he’d been this past week. Dressed in a slate-gray suit and neatly groomed, he planned on sweeping his princess off her feet again.

Returning home without her wasn’t an option.

“Are you ready, Your Highness?” Eduardo asked, rising from his seat.

“Yes, and you have our little surprise all set?” he asked.

“I do. If it doesn’t help your cause,” Eduardo said, grinning, “nothing will.”

Juan Carlos nodded. He couldn’t disagree.

* * *

A frozen waffle popped up out of the toaster and Portia set it next to the scrambled eggs on her plate. She doused the waffle with maple syrup, grabbed a fork and took the plate over to the kitchen table. Breakfast for dinner was always an option when one didn’t have the stomach to really cook. Or eat for that matter. Her belly squeezed tight as she looked at the food. She’d promised Jasmine she would eat something tonight.

Her friend had apologized profusely for breaking their dinner date. Jas had planned to cook a roast prime rib tonight, her specialty. They were going to do it up right with champagne and soufflé, and have a fun girls’ night watching Turner Classic Movies on television. It was the only reason Portia had put on a dress, instead of wearing her usual comfy gray sweats. She didn’t want to disappoint her friend.

“Poor Jas.” She’d come down with a bug. Hopefully it wasn’t the flu. Portia felt a little guilty about it, having dominated a lot of her time lately. Jasmine had been the best friend she could ever hope to have. Every day she’d come over to help Portia clean out her closets or rearrange furniture or cook a meal. Jasmine would bring in Mexican food on Taco Tuesdays and play card games with her until very late at night. She understood Portia needed to kill time so she didn’t have to think too hard.

Now her friend was sick.

“For you, Jas, I’m going to eat this.” She took a bite of her eggs and chewed and chewed. The eggs went down like rubber. She’d overcooked them again.

The waffle wasn’t much better. It was still frozen in the center. Two bites later, she figured she’d fulfilled her promise and took her dish to the sink, dumping the contents down the garbage disposal.

Now what? She glanced around the condo. It was spotless. She’d been cleaning all week long. She had no official work to do. She hadn’t been back to the office yet—they weren’t expecting her anyway since she’d taken a three-month leave to deal with wedding plans and her new life as wife to a king.

She’d truly questioned whether to go back to her job. Could she continue with the pretense? How could she go back, when her friends and associates still believed her to be Princess Portia of Samforstand? Could she go about her life, living the lie? And what if she decided it was impossible to resume her life as usual? What if she revealed all the lies about herself and her family? What would that mean for Juan Carlos? His humiliation would be monumental. He would hate her. And appear a fool, a man easily duped.

She was at a crossroads in her life, and didn’t know which way to proceed.

No one could possibly know how she felt right now. She was a phony, a fraud and an imposter. Jasmine kept telling her it wasn’t her fault and no one would blame her if the truth got out. But Portia didn’t know who she was anymore. Her life had been ripped out from under her. She felt at odds, lonely and bereft. Her emotions were all over the place. Anger took up residence, but sympathy crept in sometimes, as she imagined her family’s plight after the war. Still, those emotions didn’t come close to the emptiness she felt deep inside her heart. Because of something that had happened decades ago, she had had to give up the man she loved. The price was high, costing her her happiness.

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