The Duke's Runaway Princess (Love By Accident) (4 page)

Ridiculous, she told herself firmly. That was just what she was used to. Her father or Rashid had protected her all her life so she was simply afraid of what was to come. Her mind was merely telling her that she needed to break free from those protections and find her own way in the storm. Which was exactly what she was doing now as the plane traveled over the Atlantic, taking her to a strange and very different life.

“Strong,” she finally said in response to Suzanne’s question, because there was no getting around the fact that she probably wouldn’t be attracted to a man who wasn’t physically fit. “And intelligent. Probably ambitious as well. I can’t abide a stupid or lazy man.”

“Well, those three go without saying,” Suzanne scoffed. “There’s a guy in the village who is a super hunk. He’s the only aristocrat I’ve ever known and he’s very sophisticated, if you like that kind of thing in a man.”

Zarah turned to face her friend with a curious expression. “Why do you say it like that?” she asked.

“Like what?” Suzanne asked as she pulled her magazine out of her extra large purse.

“I don’t know….Like aristocrats are a different type of human being. Or are you saying you’d never date him for some reason?”

Suzanne snorted and shook her head. “I’m not in that league,” she rolled her eyes as if to say she wouldn’t even try for this mystery man. “Besides, he has so many women coming through his bedroom and I’d rather not share.”

“Oh, he’s one of those men, huh?”

“Yep,” Suzanne confirmed. “Definitely a ‘player’.” She looked up from her magazine, staring off into space for a moment. “There’s some secret about him though. I’ve never been able to find out what it was.”

“Why do you think there’s a dark secret?”

Suzanne thought about that for a moment, not exactly sure how to respond. It was just a gut feeling she’d had for several years. “Because the older villagers protect him, treat him like he’s….I don’t know really. I can’t explain it exactly, but you’ll understand once you meet him and see the older people in action around him.”

“He sounds like a spoiled brat.” Zarah had seen too many aristocrats who thought they were still feudal lords who could treat people like dirt.

Suzanne instantly shook her head. “It isn’t anything like that,” she countered. “In fact, just the opposite. The villagers protect him in some sort of odd way, but he also looks out for them. I’ve heard it rumored that he owns most of the town but none of the shop owners pay rent. Or if they do, the rent is so ridiculously low that it doesn’t make any sense.”

“Because this guy owns everything he gives them a break on their rent?” She laughed and looked at Suzanne with knowing eyes. “He’s making up the difference somewhere else. I would put money on that!”

Suzanne considered that for a moment. “I don’t think so. Wait until you meet him. You’ll understand. Once you see them all in action, you’ll have to agree that there’s a deep, dark secret.”

“Skeletons in the closet, type of secret?”

Suzanne thought about that, then shrugged her shoulders. “Anything is possible.”

Zarah laughed. “He sounds like a strange sort of man. I’ll steer clear,” she said as she pulled out her book and flipped to the page she’d left off previously.

Suzanne looked at her beautiful friend and started to worry. There was no doubt that the man in question was a mystery. But he was also gorgeous, wealthy, charming and made women stop and stare when he walked down the street. Even the older ladies tittered with interest when he showed them even the smallest bit of attention. Since he always flirted with the blue and grey haired set, there was a great deal of giggling and blushing happening whenever he showed up.

Zarah was beautiful in an exotic, enticing way. Would ‘The Duke’, as everyone in the village referred to him normally, try to entice Zarah into his bed as well?

She thought of the man she’d met a few times and then shook her head. The Duke never flirted seriously with any of the younger women from the village. He seemed to have very strict rules about dating someone he might run into when he came to his country home for a visit. He would flirt outrageously with anyone over fifty while the younger women were treated with painful politeness, but he never flirted with any of them. No, Derrick Huntington, Duke of Waren was always the ultimate gentleman with women their age. Zarah was safe from his charms.

Chapter 3

Zarah almost danced down the street to the dress shop. She’d been living here in Willingham for six months now. It had been a wonderful six months too. Mary was a fun-loving boss with a wicked sense of humor and a gentle heart who loved to meddle in people’s personal business, but always with the best intentions and never maliciously.

She was also so disorganized she could barely figure out what should be in her current inventory. Zarah had created a new inventory system, straightened out the financials so that Mary understood her profit margins better. She’d also brought in different designers but nothing too upscale because this was a sleepy little town, so the new designs were conservative, interesting and not too edgy which created a buzz around the town. The result was a one hundred and fifty percent increase in sales over the past six months for Mary.

Adding to Zarah’s happiness was that other businesses around the village were asking her to consult for them. They all wanted her to work her business magic for their shops as well. Zarah was more than excited to take on clients and she worked around Mary’s schedule so that she could go over the business details with the other shop owners, coming up with creative ways to increase both their revenue and profit margins. She’d already suggested several changes to the florist and the copy shop down the street and the coffee shop owner and restaurant owner were both waiting for her to help them.

Zarah loved her new life. She and Suzanne had a small, two bedroom apartment where her friend cooked their meals and Zarah cleaned up afterwards. She even enjoyed cleaning! It was very satisfying to restore order from the chaos of Suzanne’s excellent cooking. She’d never tell her brother that she liked cleaning. She could just imagine the look of horror on his face if she mentioned that part of her life to him. Rashid was an excellent ruler, but had very specific ideas about what was appropriate for his sisters.

This morning, she opened the shop for the morning, pulled up the shade for the window and ensured that the cash register was set and ready to go. As the morning hours passed by slowly and quietly, she built a new spreadsheet that would better calculate the return on investment for some additional advertising she was going to recommend to Mary. She was concentrating on the strategy when she heard the bells over the door ring and in walked a beautiful blond with a cloud of heavy perfume.

“Good morning,” Zarah greeted the new client, holding her breath as the woman came closer because the scent was so strong and cloying.

The blond walked in a bit more, examining the dresses on display and then pulling her hand away with disgust, as if she’d gotten some dust on her perfectly manicured hand from the fabric. “Its afternoon,” the woman stated with disdain, walking through the clothes and obviously finding the quality lacking. “Do you have anything more interesting?” she asked, a slight accent to her words that Zarah couldn’t exactly place.

Mary walked in the door behind the woman and stopped in her tracks, realized what was happening and rolled her eyes as she hung her sweater up on a hook behind the door. Zarah noticed Mary’s grimace and maintained a straight face, but it wasn’t easy. “Can you tell me a little bit about what you’re looking for? Is there a special event that’s coming in the future and you’d like a distinctive dress to wear? Or do you want to change your look?” Zarah asked, wondering if the woman would take the subtle hint and just leave. Zarah didn’t like snobs and this woman was a top of the line, pretentious snob who could hurt Mary’s feelings with the way she looked at the clothes her boss had carefully selected for her usual clientele.

The blond shook her head and waved that away, oblivious to Zarah’s comment about changing her look and continued through the racks of clothes. “No. Nothing like that. I just like shopping. I suppose I need to purchase something from each of these tedious village shops today. I suppose some accessories wouldn’t be too poor quality.”

Zarah ignored the woman’s insult and focused on making a sale despite the woman’s irritating attitude. She stepped back and surveyed the woman’s figure. She was painfully thin with small breasts and a gaunt expression that had a great deal of makeup which seemed to be hiding poor skin.

Zarah really didn’t think there was anything in the store that would suit the woman but she thought hard. Most of their styles were more suited to a rounder figure since that was their client base. The women in the village weren’t interested in keeping up with the fashions from Paris or Milan and they definitely wouldn’t starve themselves to fit into those looks. The dresses Zarah had convinced Mary to keep in stock were more down to earth, things that would appeal to the village women but with a small bit of an edge to spark curiosity and draw people in.

Zarah picked up a red wrap dress that generally flattered all figures, although it might make this blond woman appear a bit emaciated. “How about something like this?” she suggested and draped the fabric over her arm. “The deep V would show off your fabulous curves while the silk fabric clings alluringly to the body, making a man just want to pounce.”

The woman fingered the fabric and shook her head with an obvious sneer to her upper lip. “No. You’re wrong. This wouldn’t suit my figure at all. What else do you have?”

The bells over the door rang once again and Zarah turned to smile at the newcomer, grateful to have someone else to focus on besides this blond scarecrow. But her smile froze on her face as her eyes took in the tall, broad shouldered man stepping through the door. His dark eyes quickly took in the interior of the shop and settled on Zarah, making her heart race and her body tingle with awareness. His dark hair and dark eyes would have looked sinister, but the amusement in his eyes softened the devilish darkness.

He was very tall, almost needing to duck low to enter through the door. Goodness, could he actually be taller than her brother?

Zarah felt trapped, like a rabbit attempting to duck back down into its hole, sensing a predatory threat but unable to move because of some unknown force. She tried desperately hard to break the eye contact, but he wouldn’t allow it, forcing her to continue to stare and Zarah felt like a prisoner, captured and enslaved.

“Darling!” the woman exclaimed. “What are you doing in here? This is a woman’s domain!” she teased and floated over to the tall man, draping herself against his left side. It was the first smile she’d shown since entering the store and Zarah wasn’t fooled by the Cheshire-like look she passed back in Zarah’s direction. The blond woman was staking her claim, showing Zarah that this tall, fascinating man was her property. The look she tossed over her shoulder screamed “Back Off!” loudly and clearly.

The man looked down and Zarah took a deep breath now that she’d been freed. She turned away, eager to avoid that kind of intensity once again. She didn’t like feeling that powerless and put extra space between him and herself. Even going so far as to step behind the counter so that she had a barrier to help her. She didn’t care at all that she might appear weak. She needed a moment to get her racing heartbeat back to normal and clear her mind after that look.

Derrick glanced down at Elise, irritated by her falsetto voice and possessive attitude, not to mention her pretense about coming in to meet her. He knew she was playing games and wasn’t going to participate. “You told me to meet you in here,” he said by way of an explanation as to why he’d come into the shop.

The woman laughed and looked over her shoulder. “Silly me! I wasn’t sure how long I would be in here and forgot what I’d said.” She pulled herself away slightly and turned back to Zarah. “Would you be a dear and wrap up that red dress? I think you’re absolutely right. The dress would be perfect!”

Zarah raised her eyebrows slightly, wondering what was going on. She heard Mary come out of the store room and gasp.

“Good morning, Your Grace,” she said warmly and moved forward. “What brings you down to our sleepy little town today?” She was bustling about the store, moving this and that to better show the merchandise.

Derrick smiled warmly at the motherly woman who was full of life and always had a kind word for everyone. He walked over and gave her a warm hug, kissing her hand and winking at her. “Elise wanted to shop so I took her out for a bit while I visited with Gerald.”

Zarah didn’t understand that comment. The man had business with Gerald? He was the coffee shop owner about five doors down. Why would this man need to talk with a coffee shop owner?

She was wrapping up the dress and a wicked thought occurred to her. ‘Elise’ was obviously trying to impress this man with her common-folk appeal. Maybe Zarah could convince her to purchase a few other items. She smiled evilly at the possibility.

Turning to the blond with what she hoped was an innocent expression, she said, “You know, there are a few other items that might appeal to someone of your stature.” Zarah turned to a blue dress, playing to the woman’s vanity as well as her desire to show the male stranger that she was more than willing to support local shops. “But I’m not sure if they would be up to the design standards you’re obviously used to.”

Elise looked on uncertainly, obviously not sure how to avoid this trap. Her eyes narrowed as she turned away from the tall man. “Please, I’m eager to see anything your little store might have available. I love finding new, interesting places to shop and tell my friends about.”

Zarah picked up three other dresses, each one honestly might look good on the woman but Zarah suspected that, since they didn’t have a designer label, they would be considered inferior and unworthy. “How about this one?” she suggested, showing Elise one dress after another that were cute, but probably not the sophisticated style Elise normally purchased. Elise bought every one of them, still trying to show her man how she could support the local economy and blend in with the villagers.