Along Came A Prince (33 page)

Clay grinned at
Stacia with a pleading look on his face. She read it to mean,
Please let’s
do it to see if it’ll work.
“I guess I have no choice but to try,” Stacia
said.

“You always have a
choice,” Claire said. “Life is made of them. Some right. Some wrong. So you
should choose carefully what’s right for you.”

“I think it’s
important to learn if the reason I’m afraid to be married is tied into a past
life.”

“I agree,” Claire
said. “And I’d like to help you in any way I can, but right now, we should get
back to the celebration. Call me when we get home if you want to talk further.”

Stacia and Clay
stayed by themselves after Claire left. “She seems very nice,” Stacia said.

“I agree – she’s just
like Josie. I’m glad you said yes to her, and I hope someday you’ll say yes to
me.”

“Are you referring
to tonight as the someday? We’ll be sleeping in the same room at the hotel,
only in separate beds, you know, compliments of Ryan and Josie.”

“Ryan agreed to
set us up like that?”

“It is surprising,
isn’t it? Ryan’s always so over-protective of me. Maybe he realizes you’re a
gentleman...or he could be a little over-eager. It seems to me the happier and
more in love a person is, the more he or she tries to set up a romance between
others. I know that’s true for Helen.”

“You mean you
caught on to her matchmaking skills?” Clay said. “By the way, what did your
parents say about us sleeping alone at your condo? Your dad didn’t bring his
shotgun, did he?” 

Stacia could see
the grin on his face in the moonlight. “No, but maybe I did,” she said and
grinned back at him. “Ryan told my parents I was a big girl and could make my
own decisions about when the time was right. He also told them you’d been
staying at my condo, and we hadn’t slept together yet, so that must have
reassured them enough, as they didn’t approach me about it at all. Funny thing
though, they never minded it when Ryan and Josie just lived together. I guess
maybe being a girl makes them more protective of me. Of course, Ryan’s older
and a detective, so they had to accept his decisions. Thanks to Ryan and Josie
walking the path first though, it made it easier for you and me to stay in the
same hotel and my apartment. That’s kinda a ‘wow’ thing for my parents to do in
my book.”

“Great. Now I have
to remain a gentleman tonight in order to keep their trust.”

“First and
foremost, you are always a gentleman,” Stacia said and patted him on the arm.

 “Clay. Stace. Come
over here,” Ryan called out to them. “We’re going to cut the cake.”

“We’ll be right
there. There’s something I have to do, first,” Clay said. He took Stacia in his
arms and kissed her. When the kiss was over, he released her. “There. I didn’t
want all that moonlight to go to waste on us, however, we’d better not leave
the bride and groom waiting any longer.” With his arm wrapped around her, they
walked together over to the cake table.

As Stacia watched
Josie and Ryan cut their wedding cake, she made a wish in the moonlight.
I
wish it were Clay and me cutting our wedding cake.
She rubbed her eyes as
she watched Claire standing next to her daughter. The candlelight caught the
silver and gold decorations on her dress, setting her aglow with glittering
sparkles all around her, almost as if a celestial being had just descended from
the heavens. Stacia was surprised Claire hadn’t sprouted wings, she looked so
angelic. Maybe Clay was right. Maybe with Claire’s help, they could convince
destiny to change its mind.

Clay opened the
door to the hotel room. When she entered the room, the first thing Stacia saw
was two double-beds. Now that the time was here, she wasn’t so sure she wanted
to spend the night in the same room with Clay. She didn’t seem to have much
choice because, according to Ryan, there were no other vacancies in this small
town. She went over and looked out the patio doors at the ocean. The moon cast
its light on the lapping waves that had picked up considerably since the
wedding. It was a night for romance, just like their very first night together
on the terrace at Hollywood’s Caviar-on-Ice gala.

“It’s a lovely
evening out there,” she said, as she turned and scanned the inside of the room.
It was clean and tidy but bare, except for the basic necessities. Beds. TV. Dresser.
Lamps. One table and two chairs. “This isn’t the kind of hotel room you’re
accustomed to, is it?”

“Are you?”

“When I traveled
with my family, this would have been an excellent choice, especially with the
ocean outside our door. But you’re right, since Hollywood, it isn’t what I’m
used to either.”

“What
difference does it make?” Clay asked. “It looks neat and clean enough to me.”

“I am so tired,”
Stacia said and sat down on one of the beds. “Since I’m supposed to share my feelings
with you, I hope you won’t mind me saying that this is awkward for me. When we were
in my condo and at the Bellagio, we each had separate bedrooms. Here...” She
spread her arms wide open to gesture her point.

“We have to
share
the entire night together,” he finished for her as he sat down on the other bed.
He grinned. “Maybe it’ll turn out to be as pleasant as
sharing
the job
of making omelets was.”

“This isn’t a good
time to tease me. I’m nervous enough already.” How could she possibly know how
to act when it was the first time she’d ever spent the night in the same hotel
room with a man? And that was enough to make any woman uneasy. Especially when
her sleeping partner was so delectably sexy. She wished they were back at the
villa in Vegas, or even in her condo. There was a wall separating them at both
of those places, and she was comfortable with that. Here, there was nothing…but
air…and temptation.

“I’m sorry. But
you can’t blame a guy for hoping, can you?”

“Hoping or
joking?”

 Clay laughed.
“Maybe a little of both.”

Stacia glanced at
the clock on the nightstand. “It’s almost midnight. No wonder I’m so sleepy.
It’s been a long day.” She yawned.

“Was that real or
fake?”

A second yawn
followed, bigger than the first one. She tried to stifle it with her hand.

“If I was a
visitor in your home, I’d sure take that as a cue to leave.”

“I’m so sorry.
Aren’t you tired?”

“You’re kidding,
right? I’m ready to stay up all night. Who wouldn’t be with you as a roommate?
My adrenaline is jumping all over the place. I could run a 20k right now and
leave everyone miles behind me.”

She looked at him
and chuckled. “Are you serious?”

“I’ve told you
before I can’t resist you, even when you’re so adorable right now, trying to
convince me you’re exhausted. Tonight, believe me, my resistance is being
tested big time. Maybe I should go sleep in the bathtub.”

Stacia grinned,
“And trust me that I wouldn’t turn the water on?”

“Do you think I
need a cold shower?” He grinned too. “I changed my mind, now my only option is
sleeping in the car.”

She shook her
head. “Don’t be silly. Maybe I should though so you can get some sleep.”

“I wonder what
your parents and your brother would say about that, finding you sleeping in the
car in the morning.”

“You’re right, it
probably wouldn’t be such a good idea. I guess we’re stuck here together, you
with your resistance problem and me with my nerves out-of-whack.” She hadn’t
planned on feeling as nervous as a
bride on her honeymoon. That was the
role Josie was supposed to play tonight. A maid-of-honor was like an
understudy, Stacia guessed, but she had enough
opening night
jitters for
the lead part.

“Why are you
nervous around me? I’d never take advantage of you. I’m strictly a ‘whatever
the girl wants’ kind of guy.”

“Not always. Not
one afternoon by the waterfall. You thought I was a hussy.” She couldn’t help
but let out a tiny giggle. She could tease just as much as he could.

“Seriously?” he
asked. “That does it.” He got up and sat next to her on her bed. He made a big
production out of sitting on his hands. “There, see? We can get through this
together. Even if I have to sit on my hands all night.” He stood up and sat
back down on
his
bed.

They both started
to laugh at the same time.

“I don’t know
about you, but I think all my nerves just deserted me,” Stacia said.

“You’re still
irresistible. How do I control that?”

“Give me a few
minutes, and I’ll show you.” She picked up her suitcase and headed for the
bathroom. Before she’d left home, she’d packed a nice shapeless sweat suit to
sleep in. She had thought a lot about what she should wear to bed and decided
the casual approach would be best, and she didn’t think anything could be more casual
than her washed-out gray sweatshirt and matching sweatpants. She removed her
cosmetics and soaped and rinsed her face. After brushing her teeth and putting her
hair in a ponytail, she went back into their sleeping quarters. Clay was
outside, leaning on the balcony, bathed in moonlight, watching the waves
beneath him.

“A penny for your
thoughts,” she said as she joined him.

“For a penny, all
you get is generic thoughts on how beautiful everything is here. The moon, the
stars, the ocean, even the sandy beach. That’s one thing my father couldn’t
replicate at SwissDen – the ocean. I like to enjoy it every chance I get.” He
turned to face her. “Hmm,” he said. “You look...”

Stacia laughed. “Not
so irresistible, right? But don’t let me stop you from speaking your mind,
because I can’t wait to hear what you’re going to tack onto the end of that
sentence.”

“How about
well-scrubbed and wholesome? Aren’t you afraid to let me see you without your
makeup and designer clothes?” He grinned. “Whatever you were trying to downplay
didn’t work. You’re still gorgeous and sexy to me.”

She exhaled
quickly and was glad she was back to feeling close to normal. Her normal,
however, had changed quite a bit since she met Clay. “Well, let’s see what
you’re going to choose to wear tonight,” she said and grinned right back at
him.

He went back into
the room, picked up his suitcase and headed into the bathroom. “Guess you’ll
have to wait for the fashion show,” he said as he closed the door.

Stacia went inside
and turned down both beds. She decided to lie down in one, and because she was exhausted
from the day’s wedding, she closed her eyes and listened to the waves pounding
in their race to meet the shore. She relaxed completely and promptly fell
sleep.

♥♥

Later during the
night, the sounds of someone moaning and uttering, “No...No,” entered her
dreams and shoved her back to reality. “Leave her alone,” the gruff voice demanded.
“Stop it.”

Still groggy and with
her heart thundering, she glanced around the moon-lit room. Where was she? The
realization of where hit her instantly. Then she heard Clay whimpering quietly.

“I can’t help
you...Audra,” he cried out. “I’m sorry.”

Audra?
She
got out of her bed, her legs wobbling as if they had no strength. Feeling weak
all over, Stacia went to him and sat on the edge of his bed. She stroked his
forehead lightly. “Clay, you’re having a bad dream,” she soothed. “Everything’s
all right.”

He sat up and
reached for her. She put her arms around him and held him close.

“You’re okay,” he
said as he hugged her back. “
She
wasn’t.”

Moments later, he
moved and Stacia released him. “That was ugly,” he said.

“Nightmares
usually are,” she replied. She began to stand up. Her legs felt stronger now.  

He took hold of
her hand. “Stay, please,” he said softly. “I’ve never had a nightmare like that
before. It was horrible. I need to get grounded.”

“Do you want to
tell me about it? Would that help?” She wondered if he’d remember saying
Audra’s name.

“I saw a woman
being raped by two men while the third one watched, and I could do nothing. I
was powerless. It was like there was a transparent wall in front of me, and I tried
to beat on it…hard, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t get to her from the
other side.”

Shocked, Stacia
stared at him. That had happened to Audra, and he had called out
Audra
in his dream. What else did he remember? “Did she have a name?” she asked as
she sucked in her breath and held it.

“I don’t remember.
I knew she was my lover and my soulmate, and these men were hurting her. No, it
was more than that. They were torturing her. I knew she was going to die, and I
wanted to die with her. Then they killed her. And I knew that part of me died
with her.”

Stacia expelled
her breath and put her arms around him, and he clung to her. They lay back onto
the bed together, still clinging tightly to one another.

“Are you awake
enough for me to tell you something?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“When you were
talking in your sleep, you said,
I can’t help you, Audra
.”

“Audra? I have no
idea why I’d say her name.”

“I have more to
tell you, Clay. It’s something Helen told me in confidence and not many people
know about it. Under the circumstances, you should know, and I’m certain Helen
would agree. When Audra died, the studio hushed it up and didn’t disclose what
really happened. They said she was killed in a car accident. The truth was she
was raped and tortured...and killed. Just like you dreamed.”

He looked
bewildered. “What’s happening to us, Stacia? Why are we having dreams, or most
of the time, nightmares, like we do? Everything seems to center around Audra
and Mark. Do you think Josie’s right, could we possibly have been them in a
past life, and we’re remembering it?”

“You know what, if
we were Audra and Mark, we were in love then, and look what’s happening now.”

“What?” he asked.

“Hopefully, we’re
building a relationship with each other.”

“Right now, it
seems to me like it’s a one-sided relationship. I love you, but you evidently
don’t feel the same way about me. You’ve never said you did, so how am I
supposed to know?”

She jerked away
from him and sat up in bed. “Plus, I won’t sleep with you, right? That’s
one-sided too. I mean, because you will, and I won’t.”

“Where did that
come from? Do you think I’m in this for sex? Do you think so little of me that
you put me in that category of men? If that’s how you feel, I understand why
you can’t say those three little words.”

“Come on, Clay. If
I felt any of those things you just said were true, I wouldn’t be here in this
room with you alone. We wouldn’t be together at all. You are my hero. You
already proved that at SwissDen. I trust you implicitly under any conditions.
And you know what else? I do love you, and everything –”

He interrupted her
mid-way in her declaration of love. She didn’t get to finish because she found
herself cradled in his arms, and he was kissing her. When they came up for air,
he said, “Tell me you love me again.”

“I love you, and
I’ve never been in love before. You are it. You get all the firsts out of me,
except the first kiss. I did have a little practice with that.”

“God, Stacia, I
love you, and it’s much better and stronger now when I know you love me too.” He
drew her closer to him.

“And if we were
Audra and Mark, in this lifetime we have a head start on whatever future we
might have together. We’ve had more practice than other couples, right?”

 “Our future
together? Stacia, are you saying you’ll marry me today?”

“No, not until the
time is right. That hasn’t changed.”

Clay grabbed his
pillow from under him and stuffed it over his face.

Stacia laughed.
“What I do know is we can’t let everything happening to us take control of our
lives. We have to take control, like this.” She reached over and turned on the
light. “I wanted to see the fashion show I missed when I fell asleep.” Her eyes
traveled down his lean, muscular body, taking in his white T-shirt and dark
blue and green plaid pajama bottoms. She began to laugh harder. “Nice outfit. I
don’t think it’s any more glamorous than mine, however.”

“You mean I’m not
sexy?” he asked as he put his pillow back under his head. 

“I didn’t say
that.” She thought he had more sex in his little finger than most men had in
their whole bodies. She wondered how any guy could be so handsome and unaffected
about the total package that made him be the fantastic man he was.

“You know, there’s
a good side to having this nightmare,” he said.

“And what’s that?”

“It got you in bed
with me, and I’ve wanted that for a long time.”

“Oops,” she said,
“I guess it’s time to leave.” She started to sit up.

He pulled her back
down next to him. “You can’t. I might have another nightmare and need you to
comfort me.”

“You mean you’d be
happy just sleeping next to me all night?”

“You love me, right,
and I trust you and know you won’t take advantage of me like you did –”

Stacia grabbed her
pillow out from under her head and playfully hit him with it.

“When you do that,
there’s only one thing left for me to do.”

“A pillow fight?”

“No, this.” He gathered
her in his arms and kissed her.