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going to kiss me.”
    He grinned and twined a lock of her hair around his finger. “I never got around to it.”
    “No, you ended up getting shot, instead. I thought you were very heroic.”
    “I was.” He linked his arms loosely around her waist. “You know, if I tried to kiss you now, I’d feel as though I were making a pass at my sister.”
    “I know.” Relaxed, she rested her head on his shoulder. “I’m glad we’re friends, Ben.”
    “You wouldn’t happen to have a cousin, a half sister, an aunt, who looks anything like you?”
    “Sorry.” Smiling, she tilted her head back to look at him.
    “Me, too.”
    “Bennett.”
    It only took Alexander’s voice to have Eve springing back like a child caught in the cookie jar. She cursed herself for it, then balled her hands into fists at her side.
    “Excuse me.” Coolly regal, he stood just outside the terrace doors where the moonlight didn’t reach. “The ambassador is leaving.”
    “So soon?” Untouched by the biting tone, Bennett squeezed Eve’s shoulders. “Well, we should make our goodbyes. Thanks for the air.”
    “Of course.” But as he walked through the doors, she stayed where she was, hoping Alexander would follow him.
    “If you’d come back in for a moment, the ambassador would like to say goodbye. He was quite charmed by you at dinner.”
    “All right.” She walked to the doors, but found her way blocked. This time she didn’t step back, but angled her chin so she could see his face. It was in shadows, and only his eyes were clear. “Was there something else, Your Highness?”
    “Yes, it seems there is.” He caught her chin in his hand, surprising both of them. It was soft, with the pressure still a threat or a promise. It wasn’t a lover’s touch. He refused to allow it to be. “Bennett is a generous man, a compassionate one, but a man who has little discretion with women. You should take care.”
    From someone else, from anyone else, the comment would have made her laugh. Meeting Alexander’s eyes, she didn’t feel like laughing. “It appears you’re warning me I might get burned again. It wasn’t necessary this afternoon, and it isn’t necessary now.” Her voice was slow and sultry, but somehow managed to take on the sheen of ice. “You might have observed, Your Highness, that American women insist on taking care of themselves and making their own choices.”
    “I have no desire to take care of you.” There was a sting in his voice that might have made her shrivel if she hadn’t been so angry.
    “We can all be grateful for that.”
    “If you’re in love with my brother—”
    “What right do you have to ask me that?” Eve demanded. She didn’t know why the temper had come or why it was so fierce, but with every word it grew. “My feelings for your brother are
my
feelings and have nothing to do with you.”
    The words twisted inside him hatefully. “He is my brother.”
    “You don’t rule Bennett and you certainly don’t rule me. My feelings for your brother, or for anyone, are my business.”
    “What happens in my home, in my family, is mine.”
    “Alex.” Brie came to the door, her voice subdued to indicate theirs weren’t. “The ambassador’s waiting.”
    Without a word he dropped his hand and strode inside.
    “Your brother’s an idiot,” Eve said under her breath.
    “In a great many ways.” Sympathetic, Brie took Eve’s hand. “Take a deep breath and come in and speak to the ambassador and his wife a moment. Then you can go up to your room and kick something. That’s what I always do.”
    Eve set her teeth. “Thanks. I believe I will.”

Chapter 3
PRINCE BENNETT COURTS AMERICAN HEIRESS
    Eve read the headline with her morning coffee and nearly choked. Once she managed to swallow and take a second look, she began to giggle. Poor Ben, she thought, all he had to do was look at a woman and there was a romance. Ignoring her croissant, Eve read the text:
    Eve Hamilton, daughter of millionaire T.