Prince and Single Mom Read Free

here.”
    “Ah, so you have only arrived today, as well. From America?”
    “Close. I’m Canadian.”
    “And your husband? He has retired for the evening?” Alex hadn’t seen a man with her, earlier. But that didn’t mean anything.
    “I’m not married. I’ve been a widow for nearly ten years. My daughter and her young son accompanied me.”
    “I, too, am widowed, also for a decade. Alone becomes a habit, does it not?”
    Alex wondered at the emotion that danced through her eyes before she answered him.
    “Yes, it does.”
    He watched as she glanced back toward the sea. Then, after a moment, she turned to face him again, and he had the sense that she’d made a decision.
    “Hannah Jones,” she said as she held out her hand.
    “Forgive me, I should have introduced myself straight off. Alex Cross, at your service.” The false name rolled easily off his tongue. Though the staff knew his identity, they had been sworn to secrecy. To the guests, he was simply Alex Cross.
    Taking her hand, he brought it to his lips. Her small gasp told him she hadn’t expected the simple courtesy. That seemed a crime. Her eyes filled with wonder and a smile kissed the corner of her mouth. Something about her touched him. He wanted to spend time with her, get to know her better.
    In all the years he’d been widowed, and all the subsequent summers he’d been coming to this resort for vacation, he’d never been drawn to a woman.
    “How does this resort compare to others you’ve visited?” he asked.
    “Well, now, I’m the wrong person to ask. This is the first resort I’ve ever stayed at.”
    “We are especially fortunate that you chose Boisdemer for your vacation, then. I never vacation anywhere else. There is much to see and do in my country.”
    “Oh, how I wish I could take credit for choosing to come here!” When Alex cocked his head to the side, she explained what had brought her to Boisdemer and ultimately this evening encounter on a deserted, moonlit beach.
    “What is it you do, Mrs. Jones, when you’re not winning contests?”
    Hannah laughed. “Hannah, please. And that would be all the time. I’m an accounting manager for a manufacturing company in my home town.”
    “Do you enjoy the work?”
    “I do, yes. I seem to have an affinity for numbers, and there is enough variety in my daily tasks that I don’t get too bored. And you, Monsieur Cross? Do you work for the department of tourism?”
    “You must call me Alex. And I have been accused of working for the tourism ministry before. But no, I do work for the government, but in a more administrative capacity. Would you like to walk?” He held out his arm, waiting to see if she would take it.
    She smiled. “Yes, thank you.”
    Alex deftly bent down and scooped up Hannah’s shoes.
    “Oh my. I completely forgot about them.”
    “I believe that is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
    The sound of her laughter washed over him, leaving him not only uplifted, but also aroused. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt that zing in the blood, that sense of something special and exciting just around the corner.
    “I think you need to get a new set of friends, in that case.”
    “I was quite serious when I said that ‘alone’ is a habit. A new friend is precisely what I need.”
    They walked slowly down the beach, and Alex used the skills he’d honed over a lifetime of service to his country to draw this intriguing, and somewhat shy woman out. He asked her about her children and grandchildren.
    “You said you had three children, but you’ve only told me of two.” And he’d caught the sadness in her tone.
    “I haven’t seen, or heard from my middle child since just after my husband died. I think… I know he blamed himself for his father’s heart attack. They fought constantly. Of course, I tried to tell him his father’s death wasn’t his fault. He’d just turned twenty at the time, though. I couldn’t get through to