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.”His grandmother placed a reassuring hand on his arm.“Juliet is stronger than you give her credit for.”“I know she’s strong.I also know that none of this—” He waved his hand at the surrounding crowd “—is her idea of a good time.She’d much rather be reading a good book.”“She’d much rather be in your arms,” his grandmother said with a sparkle in her eyes.“Go on, go find her and tell her how you feel.Life is too short to wait, you need to grab your happiness and follow your heart.I’ll support you, Luc.I won’t make the same mistake I made with my son, I promise you that.”“Thank you, Grandmother.” He kissed her cheek.“You have a heart of gold after all.”“Just be sure you don’t let anyone else know about that.I have a reputation to uphold, you know.” She playfully smacked his hand with the painted fan she’d used to cool herself with all evening.“Now be off with you!”Juliet had brought the kittens with her in a cat carrier placed on the floor of the passenger seat.Their mews made her feel guilty for taking them, but she’d needed them.She was leaving everything else she loved behind.Surely she could be forgiven for taking Mittens and Rascal?Tears threatened again but she bit her lip to keep them away.There was no time for weakness now.She’d think about everything later, when she was safely away.At the moment she was heading toward France, and she’d stop whenever she got tired.She’d always wanted to take a road trip, have the freedom to come and go as she pleased.This was her chance.She turned on the car radio, not too loud so as not to scare the kittens, but when Sting’s song “Brand New Day” came on, she had to turn it off again.Luc liked Sting’s music.Too many memories there.She’d driven several kilometers from the palace when she heard the sound of a police siren.Glancing at the speedometer, she muttered under her breath as she realized she’d been going over the posted speed limit.Sure enough, the police car pulled her over to the side of the road.Sighing, she turned and reached into her purse for her license.“I’m sorry.I know I was going a bit too fast,” she began apologizing when she looked up at the official standing at her car door.It wasn’t any ordinary St.Michel police officer.It was Luc.Still wearing his royal uniform.She was stunned.“What are you doing here? How did you know where to find me? How did you even know I’d left?”“My grandmother saw you driving out.I had a security car trail you until I could get here and take charge of things myself.You are in serous trouble.You’ve been accused of stealing the King of St.Michel’s heart.” His voice and expression were stern, but his eyes—his eyes positively ate her up.“Do you have anything to say in your own defense?”“Yes.” No matter how he looked at her, she had to be strong.“I’m not the kind of queen you need.”“You’re the woman I need,” Luc fiercely interrupted her, yanking open the car door and tugging her into his arms.“You’re the woman I love.I’m nothing without you.”She blinked her tears away.“You’re the King of St.Michel.”“I’m Luc and I love you.Marry me.Help me.Laugh with me.Love me.”“Oh Luc, I already do love you! That’s why I had to leave.Don’t you see?”“All I see is you.”“That’s the problem then.You’re too close to me to see the situation objectively.Baron Severin isn’t.”Luc frowned.“What does he have to do with anything?”“He talked to me tonight, pointed out some things that I already knew.”“Like what?”“Like the fact that you need someone of royal blood, as you are.”Luc swore under his breath.“The baron is dead wrong.The dowager queen has already given us her blessing.”“The baron told me that I was hurting you by frolicking in the fountain with you,” she countered unsteadily.“The only thing that could hurt me is your leaving me.” She could see his pain in the clenching of his jaw, in the stormy anguish reflected deep in his blue eyes.“Promise me you’ll never do it again.Promise you’ll marry me.”“Luc, you haven’t thought this through—”“Of course I have.” He tilted his head at her, lifting one dark eyebrow in that way she loved.“I always think things through, you know that about me.”“I thought you didn’t believe in love, that it made a man vulnerable.”“It’s certainly made me vulnerable.” He placed her open palm on his chest right over his heart.He stared down at her, his compelling blue eyes smoldering with passion, desire and most important…love.“Do you feel that? My heart is beating for you.If being king means I can’t have you, then I’ll refuse the position, call off the coronation.”“You can’t do that!”“I certainly can.And I will if you don’t marry me.Because I’m not ruling as king without you by my side as my queen.” His voice was suspiciously hoarse, making him sound like a man at the end of his emotional rope.“Oh, Luc.” She lifted her hand to his face and stood on tiptoe to place a tender string of kisses across his beloved face.“I love you so much.I was just trying to do the right thing.”“The right thing is marrying me.Will you be my wife?”Here it was.That fork in the road of her future.Which should she take—the safe path that kept her life quiet or the risky one that kept her with Luc? In the end, the decision was inevitable.Knowing he loved her was the missing key.She couldn’t leave him.“Yes.Yes, I will.”“Thank God.” Luc lowered his mouth to hers for a kiss of dedicated passion and lifelong commitment.“We’ll just add a wedding ceremony to the coronation,” he murmured against her lips as he trailed kisses across her face
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