âYouâve got me right where you want me, Princess.
And you know I canât walk away.â
âYou mean, not without your story?â
Gabriel got up and came around the table, then lifted her out of her chair. âNo, Princess, I canât leave because of you.â
He saw a new kind of fear in her eyes. A fear of having loved and lost. âI donât know what you mean.â
He tugged her close. âYes, you do. Youâre a smart woman. Surely you can see it?â
She lowered her gaze. âSee what?â
âThis,â he said, his fingers lifting her chin. âThis, Lara.â
LENORA WORTH
has written more than forty books for three different publishers. Her career with Love Inspired Books spans close to fifteen years. In February 2011 her Love Inspired Suspense novel Body of Evidence made the New York Times bestseller list. Her very first Love Inspired title, The Wedding Quilt, won Affaire de Coeurâs Best Inspirational for 1997, and Loganâs Child won an RT Book Reviews Best Love Inspired for 1998. With millions of books in print, Lenora continues to write for the Love Inspired and Love Inspired Suspense lines. Lenora also wrote a weekly opinion column for the local paper and worked freelance for years with a local magazine. She has now turned to full-time fiction writing and enjoying adventures with her retired husband, Don. Married for thirty-six years, they have two grown children. Lenora enjoys writing, reading and shoppingâ¦especially shoe shopping.
ONE
âYouâll probably get bored following me around, Mr. Murdock.â
Gabriel managed a smile, his gaze traveling over the regal woman standing in front of him. âI canât imagine that, Princess Lara. Many men would give their eye teeth to have my job right now.â
The princess stiffened at that comment. âIâm well aware of the paparazzi camped out down near the front gate, Mr. Murdock. Those photographers are more than willing to sell their soulsâand mineâfor a picture of me. Why, Iâll never comprehend. Iâve accepted that, but I donât have to like it. However, having a photojournalist follow me around day by day is going to be a bit daunting. And as I said, youâll get bored. My life is not as exciting as the tabloids seem to think.â
Gabriel didnât want to feel sorry for the beautiful woman standing by the fireplace, but the grief and doubt on her face did look real. And she had suffered a great loss. âIâm sorry,â he said, wondering why he felt the need, âabout your husband. In spite of my being a skeptic of the worst kind, I do believe you two were the real deal.â
She turned and stood against the backdrop of the marble fireplace and an exquisite painting of an Arcadian village over the mantel, her expressive blue-green eyes holding him. âWe loved each other. I donât care what the rest of the world thinks.â
Or him. She didnât really care what he thought. And Gabriel didnât blame the woman. Heâd read up on his subject enough to know the details. American heiress falls for European prince and the whole world goes wild with fascination at this match made in ratings heaven. In spite of the odds, they get married and will supposedly live happily ever after. But five years into their picture-perfect marriage, the prince is killed in a hunting accident. And the beautiful young princess is left grief-stricken and alone, to carry on their good works all over the world.
A widow for over two years now, Her Royal Highness Princess Lara Barrington Kincade had come home to New Orleans to continue her charitable work by holding an art fundraiser to benefit the Kincade Foundation and to continue building Kincade houses for the HRH Theodore Kincade Home Restoration Project in New Orleans.
Gabriel glanced up at the massive painting over the fireplace. Heâd seen pictures of it in displays and magazines. A Benoit, painted in the late-nineteenth century by the French artist Jacques Benoit. An authentic representation of the Arcadians whoâd been forced out of Nova Scotia in 1755, but depicted in New Orleans in the true Arcadian art theme of a place of contentment and harmony. This, and the title Arcadian Dreams, made the painting bittersweet. A village within a dreamâtwo distinct themes in one painting. And worth a lot of money, if his guess was right.