“You have an hour yet. I’d like you to spend it with me.”

“Down to the last minute,” she promised.

The palace was quiet when they returned. He led her upstairs, but instead of taking her to her rooms, he turned to his own.

There was a table set for two, with candles flickering in crystal holders. This time the music was violins, as sensuous as it was romantic.

“Now I really do feel like Cinderella.”

“I had planned to do this before, on the night—the night I was to meet you at the theater.”

She’d walked over to touch the petals of the flowers spread in a low bowl on the table. “You had?” Surprise and nerves mixed together as she turned. Did a man set such a scene to break off an affair? She didn’t think so, not even if the man was a prince. “Why?”

“It seems I’ve given you too little romance, since you are so stunned by it. It’s something I intend to make up for.” He came to her, gathered her close and kissed her as he had longed to for days. “I thought I might have lost you.” His voice roughened with emotion as he took both her hands and buried his face in them. “I’ve made so many mistakes with you, but that one—”

“Alex, don’t. If you wouldn’t let me blame myself for bringing Russ here, how can you blame yourself for what he did?”

“And what you did.” He moved his hands from hers, to her face. “As long as I live I’ll remember that instant you stepped in front of me. I’ll relive it, but each time I do, I’ll have pushed you aside in time.”

There was such suffering in his voice, such bitterness, that the truth came out without a thought to pride. “If he had killed you, do you think I would have wanted to live? You’re all that matters. I’ve loved you since long before I understood what love meant.”

His breath came out like a prayer. No more mistakes, he promised himself. He would do this right. She had not only given him life, but a reason to live it.

“Would you sit?” he asked her.

“Please, don’t thank me again. I just can’t bear it.”

“Eve, sit down.” Impatience shimmered in his voice. Because she was more comfortable with that, she obliged.

“All right, I’m sitting. But I’m not being fed over here.”

“You’ll have all the dinner you want after I get through this.” Nerves were eating at him. He waited a moment until he had them under some kind of control. When he knelt at her feet, Eve’s eyes widened.

“I said I wouldn’t kneel for you. This one time it seems appropriate.” When he drew a box out of his pocket, her hand closed into a fist.